There will be few deals in the primary market for investors to digest this week as many issues will be put on hold until after the Thanksgiving holiday. The result will be a drop in volume to an estimated $2.25 billion after reaching as high as $5.09 billion last week - the strongest in several weeks after supply gradually inched its way up amid the nation's ongoing fiscal recovery effort, according to data from Thomson Reuters.
Negotiated volume is estimated to be $2.11 billion this week versus $5.04 billion last week, while competitive sales will total $135.8 million compared with $496.5 million last week, according to the data.
The seasonal slump will put the anticipated sale of mental health facilities revenue bonds from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York in the spotlight when JPMorgan prices the offering tomorrow.
An underwriter said that the size and structure were still being finalized at press time on Friday. The deal was listed Thursday on the negotiated calendar distributed by Ipreo for $326 million, maturing from 2009 to 2031, and pricing tomorrow after an expected retail order period.
A spokesman for DASNY, however, said Friday that the issuer was hoping to market the deal around the $395 million range, and that market conditions would determine if the deal is priced as expected this week or postponed.
The deal will consist of a Series 2008F tentatively structured to mature serially from 2009 to 2018 with term bonds in 2023, 2028, and 2031, and Series 2008G set to mature serially from 2009 to 2018 with a term in 2025.
The mental health bonds are rated AA-minus by Standard & Poor's and A-plus by Fitch Ratings.
DASNY made an appearance in the market a week ago with a $765.6 million offering of state personal income-tax revenue bonds with a final maturity in 2038 that was priced with a 51/4% coupon to yield 5.53%. The bonds were rated AA by Standard & Poor's and AA-minus by Fitch. At the time of the pricing, generic triple-A general obligation paper due in 2038 was yielding 5.24%, according to Municipal Market Data.
This week, the generic triple-A GO yield curve scale in 2038 ended at 5.25% yield at the close of trading on Friday, according to MMD.
Three deals scheduled for pricing this week are under $200 million in size and will hail from two issuers in the Southwest and one in the Southeast.
Arlington, Tex., is expecting to price $169.8 million of special tax revenue bonds tomorrow after a retail order period taking place today. The deal, which is being priced by JPMorgan and is insured by Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corp., is a conversion of auction-rate securities to fixed rate.
The bonds, which have underlying ratings of A2 from Moody's Investors Service and AA from Standard & Poor's, are structured to mature from 2017 to 2020, and bonds due in 2027 and 2031 are term bonds.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan is slated to price a $165.8 million sale of gas project revenue bonds on behalf of Public Gas Partners Inc., a Georgia nonprofit that acquires reliable and economical long-term gas supplies for participating agencies and large public natural gas or power systems.
The deal will be priced tomorrow, following the completion of a two-day retail order period today.
The issue is expected to consist of $110.3 million of Series 2008A tax-exempt bonds maturing from 2011 to 2018, with a term bond in 2022, and $55.5 million of Series 2008B taxable portion, which contains one term bond maturing in 2022. The bonds are rated A2 by Moody's and A by Standard & Poor's and Fitch.
