Markets

Why try to match the market when you can beat it?

Issuers in New York and Massachusetts are headed to the primary market with large financings this week earmarked for transportation, environmental, and education purposes as part of a $4.11 billion in expected new volume, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

The pace of new money flooding into municipal bond mutual funds appears to be picking up again after a lull.

Retail investors have much less apprehension about the municipal bond market heading into 2010 than they had at the start of 2009, according to market participants.

All The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes rose this week, as tax-exempts weakened in nearly all the past few sessions, particularly on the long end of the curve.

After yield-hungry investors yanked nearly $7.7 billion from tax-exempt money market funds last week, outflows slowed to $2.65 billion the week ending Jan. 25, leaving total assets at $390.97 billion, according to the Money Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday voted 4 to 1 to approve a series of changes to its Rule 2a-7 on money market funds aimed at boosting the resilience of funds during market crises, and promised to move forward with additional rules in the future.

The Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. and Illinois will each bring billion-dollar financings to the primary market this week that will contribute to a $5.47 billion slate in estimated new volume, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

Investors last week handed municipal bond mutual funds the puniest slug of cash in nine months as the cascade of new money continues to moderate.

UBS Global Asset Management is surrendering one of its municipal bond closed-end funds following a coup by activist shareholders.