Markets

Buena Vista, Va., will stop making payments on a golf course bond issue that its officials say has become an albatross around the small city's finances.

Credit rating agencies have made strides in implementing mandatory reforms, the SEC said in recent reports that found the raters also need to improve in several areas, including the way they handle conflicts of interest.

For the week ended Dec. 24, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, gained three basis points to 4.31% from the 4.28% the previous week.

Municipals delivered solid performance overall thanks to the strength of the long duration and high-yield segments.

Standard & Poor's gave an investment-grade A-minus rating to a series of bonds Detroit recently sold as part of its exit from bankruptcy.

Deals for the coming holiday-shortened week are looking scarce, after a sell-off toward the end of last week. Traders said some issuers may have thrown in the towel until the New Year after interest rates spiked on Thursday.

For the week ended Dec. 18, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, was lower four basis points from the previous week at 4.28%.

Revenue and demand pressure on not-for-profit healthcare providers as they navigate federal healthcare reform will weigh down the sector for another year, Standard & Poor's said.

As state and local governments struggled in the recession, debt grew faster than both revenues and expenditures, climbing 22% from $2.4 trillion in 2007 to $2.9 trillion in 2012.

Spending on fuel for cars and trucks in 2015 is expected to reach the lowest level in 11 years due to falling pump prices and more efficient engines, according to the Energy Information Administration.