Markets

The Federal Reserve opened the door to participating in a competitive bidding process for short-term notes, a requirement in Illinois law.

The Federal Reserve chair says it may take a while, but the U.S. economy will get back where it was before the coronavirus pandemic.

The system is managing the pandemic's impact on its campuses and hospitals, as well as a drop in the price of oil, which supports it financially. Neither situation is expected to shake its rating strength.

Uncertainty and volatility have caused a bifurcated market when it comes to credit, and widespread disparity between high-quality and high-yield is complicating matters for issuers.

The economy continues to take a beating, but the Empire State Manufacturing Survey suggests better times are expected in six months.

The offering of special tax obligation bonds comes as the state begins a four-phase reopening in its next response to the coronavirus.

Yields on all triple-A benchmark curves out to nine years are now below 1%. The largest bumps were again on the very short end of the curve. Lipper reported $580 million of inflows.

Jobless claims went down for the sixth week in a row and the figure is now below 3 million for the first time since the week of March 14.

Investors scooped up Illinois’ $800 million deal as the state dug deep into its pockets .

Investors are sending the message that higher-grade, longer-term issuers will fare far better than lower-rated, higher-yield ones amid a focus on credit.