Finance

Following this week, the pace of issuance should pick up, Birch Creek strategists said.

The precedent and, if there were to be an appeals court affirmation, would have a greater impact on Louisiana than Florida, the attorneys said.

Underwriting spreads rose to $4.30 in 2025 from $4.23 in 2024.

The rating agency, which also put the bonds on CreditWatch Negative, cited weakening liquidity and aging assets. 

"Unsurprisingly, the market is taking these numbers in stride, with the bond market only slightly higher after a large rally over the last couple of days due to the equity market sell-off," said John Kerschner, global head of securitized products and portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors.

A California Department of Water Resources issuance, based on a resolution extending contracts with water agency customers, drew strong demand.

Currently, munis are largely operating "in their own world" — ignoring rich valuations and upcoming supply, said Kim Olsan, senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital, in a report.

"The bond market marked down the odds of rate cuts after the release," said FHN Financial Chief Economist Chris Low. "The fact long yields are still lower than two days ago suggests traders are skeptical of the quality of the employment data but are confident the Fed will use it as a reason to keep rates steady," he said.

The price drops follow a lawsuit filed Friday by bondholders alleging the mall's owners colluded with the city of East Rutherford to lower the property assessment.

Tuesday was a particularly heavy day of supply at an estimated $7.5 billion, per J.P. Morgan strategists.

This week's expected elevated $12.6 billion in supply" "coincides with a recent uptick in secondary offerings … and may skim some froth from the market, particularly where spreads have hit one-year tights," said J.P. Morgan strategists led by Peter DeGroot.

The downgrade reflects ongoing underperformance in ridership and revenues relative to Kroll's expectations.

The new-issue calendar is led by Washington with $1.3 billion of GOs selling by competitive bid in three series.

Longer-term bonds could ease financial pressure for Sound Transit's $54 billion long-range plans.

Munis enter this year with "strong credit fundamentals, elevated tax-equivalent yields, and a steeper curve that supports duration extension," said James Welch, municipal portfolio manager at Principal Asset Management.

Yields have seen "intermittent volatility from broader macro and geopolitical crosscurrents, keeping sentiment cautious despite relatively muted headline moves," said James Pruskowski, managing director at Hennion & Walsh.

Supply should be "well-received, given strong inflows and the increase in reinvestment capital for the new month," said Chris Brigati, managing director and CIO at SWBC, and Ryan Riffe, senior vice president of capital markets at the firm.

Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton analyzes how varied state funding priorities and overall charter school support, shifting enrollment patterns, policy uncertainty, charter renewal risk,  and varied pension practices affect charter school bond security—and outlines what issuers, advisors and investors should be communicating to the market.

Moody's Ratings downgraded Parkview Health System's revenue bond rating one notch, to A1 from Aa3, on Friday. It also revised the outlook to stable.

The market is well-positioned for February, after January's near-record tax-exempt supply, said J.P. Morgan strategists led by Peter DeGroot.