Finance

The Finance Committee signed off on new money, refunding, and scoop-and-toss debt restructuring deals and finance teams to assemble and sell the bonds.

A supply/demand imbalance allowed New Jersey and Massachusetts to reprice to lower yields while the beleaguered New York MTA will head back to the Fed for liquidity.

The strong demand amid a dearth of new municipal issuance by states and a reach for yield also allowed New Jersey to skip a planned taxable portion and officials announced it would not need to access the Fed's Municipal Liquidity Facility.

Such moves could reduce costs by up to $180 million in present-value savings, Joe Torsella said.

The state has been coping with the economic fallout of COVID-19 and a burgeoning second wave that is expected to challenge the commonwealth’s finances and burden its healthcare system.

Municipals were steady to stronger ahead of $11.5 billion of supply as requests for new municipal bond identifiers surged almost 40% last month.

Municipals firmed Friday, with yields falling by as much as two basis points, as coronavirus threats grow and a flight-to-safety resumes.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot's budget plan strikes the right balance between structural and one-time measures amid the coronavirus, says Jennie Huang Bennett.

Municipal bonds strengthened Thursday as yields fell by as much as four basis points on AAA curves but coronavirus vaccine rally in stocks slowed and UST, munis regained ground.

The rating agency cited higher leverage from borrowing plans to fund expansions and renovations and passenger traffic losses from the coronavirus pandemic.

S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on Vermont’s AA-plus general obligation bond rating to negative from stable.

Light primary easily absorbed while secondary trading showed a steadier market as it closes for Veterans Day. Massachusetts announces $1.4 billion of GOs for next week.

Municipal yields rose as much as five basis points on the long end, but the losses were not as pronounced as UST. Light dealer inventories and scarce secondary trading let munis outperform Treasuries.

As the week drew to a close, municipal bond market participants looked ahead to a smaller-than-usual supply slate dominated by revenue bond deals.

To little surprise, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged. Refinitiv Lipper reported tax-exempt muni bond funds lost about $954 million.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker says preservation of the investment-grade status is "very important;" Illinois bonds traded wider after the income tax referendum failed.

Top-rated muni yields fell by as much as 10 basis points on the AAA curves on Wednesday the largest move better for the market since late April, early May. ICI reported $1.2B of muni bond fund inflows.

Mark Nitcholas will will focus on local and state governments, state agencies and school districts within Texas and the Southwest.

The only major deal slated on the calendar, the Maine Turnpike Authority, came to market on Tuesday.

The move would not resolve structural budget gaps, according to the rating agency.