Markets

With Fed purchases on short end, more deals are showing up on the calendar and this week may become the testing ground for reopening the primary as participants gauge volatility and rates.

Public finance advocates are focused on the reinstatement of advance refunding and higher limits on bank-qualified issuance.

With Atlantic City casinos closed, Fitch Ratings revised the outlook to negative from stable on Casino Reinvestment Development Authority bonds.

The corporate bond business appears to enjoy greater liquidity than tax-exempts, said Lee Deviney, executive director of the Texas Public Finance Authority.

The coronavirus has ravaged nerves worldwide and spread its gloom into the financial sector. The U.S. municipal bond market is slipping into park from neutral as most issuers and underwriters await a better day.

While some economists expect a V-shaped recovery, others say it will not be as sharp as the decline, and it could be years before output rises to pre-coronavirus levels.

S&P Global Ratings moved its outlook on Illinois' BBB-minus to negative from stable on "worsening economic conditions," an action that also impacted sales tax, convention center and sport facilities' bonds.

There will be more queasiness ahead of any calm in municipals as adjustments to the coronavirus-induced climate continue to test the market’s resolve.

Coronavirus-driven job losses are way beyond predicted, and expected to get worse, but most still see a V-shaped recovery.

The bond-financed $420 million expansion project moved forward over the objections of board members who questioned the timing amid plummeting tax revenues.