Finance

New Jersey is poised to sell up to $2.4 billion of bonds for its transportation infrastructure, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. 

All eyes are on Jackson Hole and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech this week, noted Cooper Howard, a fixed-income strategist at Charles Schwab.

"Investor reception will remain the ultimate arbiter of muni performance and … the current state of the tax-exempt space to be well-positioned, even though munis are likely to continue to underperform USTs," said Jeff Lipton, a research analyst and market strategist.

Clyde, Texas, missed payments on certificates of participation due Aug. 1, the same day it declared a water emergency. Bond insurers are paying the holders.

As investors contemplate rate policy for the remainder of 2024, "there have been a few strategies from which to choose to boost yield — short positioning, curve extension and credit quality," noted Kim Olsan, senior fixed-income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.

New York state's issuers topped the Northeast charts as issuance rose in nearly every sector of the market during the first half of 2024.

Barclays rate strategists believe the 10-year part of the Treasury curve has room to cheapen. "In that case, tax-exempts will likely not only follow, but underperform."

Municipal bond mutual funds saw inflows as investors added $528.7 million to funds after $674.1 million of inflows the week prior, according to LSEG Lipper. This marks seven straight weeks of inflows.

Long-term liabilities have gone down and revenues have gone up, Fitch said.

Underwriting spreads rose to $7.11 in the first half of 2024 from $3.70 in the first half of 2023.