Markets

As the next surface transportation reauthorization bill takes form in Congress, the transit sector is making a case for its slice of the pie and expanding the use of private activity bonds.

"Once the damage is done, it takes a little longer for it to come back," said Elaine Brennan, executive director of the public finance department at Roosevelt and Cross, of the muni market.

Chicago returns to market March 10 with $800.29 million of general obligation bonds, following bond rating downgrades from Fitch Ratings and KBRA.

Monday saw a more muted tone, but Tuesday munis are playing a little bit of a catch-up to the backup in rates, said Chris Brigati, managing director and CIO at SWBC.

A recent report from The Bond Buyer found that data quality and accuracy was the top concern among AI skeptics in the industry.

Major Texas cities are prepping big bond issues to finance convention center expansions, with Houston hitting the market this week with $1.425 billion of debt.

First thing this morning, there wasn't much action as market participants waited to see what would happen, but as the day went on, munis got progressively weaker, said Kyle Gerberding, director of trading, a portfolio manager and partner at Asset Preservation Advisors.

Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton assesses the early impacts of Operation Epic Fury on rates, spreads, shifting inflation expectations, and flows, arguing that elevated tax-exempt income, disciplined sector allocation and a quality bias can help muni investors navigate headline-driven volatility.

Issuance was $40.336 billion in 632 issues, down only 1.1% year-over-year from $40.772 billion across 731 transactions.

The Vermont Bond Bank debuts a new indenture when it sells $56 million of bonds this week. It's following a nationwide trend in bond bank structures.