Markets

Issuance as of Wednesday is at $345.327 billion, a 32.7% increase over 2023. The Bond Buyer 30-day visible calendar on Monday was at $20.02 billion, the largest in nearly four years.

Municipals lagged the UST moves again, cheapening ratios and creating a valuable entry point for investors looking for compelling taxable equivalent yields, particularly 10-years and out.

Fitch also upgraded the city's Georgia Municipal Association certificates of participation (city of Atlanta public safety projects) to AA-plus from AA.

Stagnant per-pupil state funding amid rising costs led to budget deficits, lower reserves, and ballot proposals to raise property tax rates for some districts.

"Despite the underperformance of tax-exempt yields last week, we could see some more pressure on both spreads and ratios due to the heavy supply calendar," said Vikram Rai, head of municipal markets strategy at Wells Fargo.

Piper Sandler has hired Joe Kinder and Brent Blevins as managing directors on its public finance team. Both will focus on Missouri school districts and issuers.

Massachusetts drew multiple bidders for all four tranches when it sold $850 million of general obligation bonds competitively last week.

Municipal supply continues to grow as Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply sits at $20.02 billion and the municipal market will see one of the largest weeks of new-issuance at an estimated $13.35 billion, led by three billion-plus deals from Washington, D.C. ($1.6 billion), the New York City Transitional Finance Authority ($1.5 billion) and Illinois ($1 billion).

"The numbers are weak, but not cusp of recession weak," Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, said.

Ciraolo, who spent more than 17 years at Goldman Sachs, has been brought on as a senior vice president in corporate and municipal short-term securities to help expand SWS' taxable muni franchise through commercial paper trading.