Midwest

Secondary trading showed clear strength across the yield curve Thursday with bellwether names trading up significantly from recent prints and original pricing levels. New-issues in the primary benefited with issuers repricing to lower yields and tight to triple-A curves.

The municipal bond rally has brought two big Illinois issuers into the market with plans to sell refunding bonds this week.

Issuers should "absolutely be issuing if possible; the end of year outlook is positive on the surface but substantial volatility lies just below and could arrest or interrupt what have been easier primary market conditions," said MMA's Matt Fabian.

Joe Ferguson, who served as Chicago's inspector general under three mayoral administrations, replaces Laurence Msall, who died earlier this year.

The Plan of Action for Regional Transit asks lawmakers for $1.5 billion of new operating support for transit and at least $400 million annually of complementary capital investments.

The weakness came as the new-issue calendar grew to $5.9 billion with the addition of a $900 million refunding deal from the Illinois State Highway Toll Highway Authority slated for Thursday. Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply sits at $6.95 billion.

The top five bond financings have an average dollar volume of more than $1 billion.

The city of Chicago and its Sales Tax Securitization Corporation won The Bond Buyer's 22nd annual Deal of the Year award for its $1.7 billion financing that addressed initiatives related to affordable housing, homelessness support services, environmental justice, and community development.

A new deal with Microsoft may help fill the void left by the underperformance of a Wisconsin incentive deal to lure Foxconn to the village of Mount Pleasant.