The municipal bond market on Thursday will see the last of this week's big new issues. On Wednesday, more supply priced with the Los Angeles Community College District, Calif., coming to market with almost $2 billion of bonds.
Thursday's Primary Market
- JPMorgan Securities is slated to price the Bonneville Power Administration, Ore.'s $189 million taxable bonds. The issue is rated Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service, AA-minus by Standard & Poor's and AA by Fitch Ratings.
- JPMorgan is also set to price the Omaha Public Power District, Neb., $100 million Series B refunding bonds. The issue is rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA by S&P.
- Loop Capital Markets will price the Houston Independent School District, Texas' Public Facility Corp.'s $85 million school projects bonds. The issue is rated Aa1 by Moody's and AA by S&P.
- On the competitive slate, Jersey City, N.J., is offering $35 million of general improvement bonds for sale. The issue is rated A1 by Moody's.
Wednesday's Primary Market
- On Wednesday, about $1.9 billion of bonds were priced for the Los Angeles Community College District, Calif., consisting of both tax-exempt and taxable issues. Morgan Stanley priced the district's $1.797 billion tax-exempt general obligation and general obligation refunding bonds. Ramirez & Co. priced the $97.075 million taxable portion.
- JPMorgan priced the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust's $228.355 million green bonds.
- JPMorgan priced the $346 million New York City Housing Development Corp. multi-family housing revenue bonds.
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced $145.89 million Palm Beach County, Fla., School Board certificates of participation.
- JPMorgan won the competitive sale of $200 million Baltimore County, Md., metropolitan district and consolidated public improvement bonds with a true interest cost of 3.0093%.
Secondary Market
Treasury prices were mostly higher on Thursday, with the two-year note yield rising to 0.59% from 0.58% on Tuesday. The 10-year yield slipped to 2.17% from 2.18% while the 30-year decreased to 2.82% from 2.85% on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, high-grade municipal bond prices were slightly higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year general obligation was off one basis point to 2.01% from 2.02% on Tuesday while the yield on 30-year GOs dropped two basis points to 2.90% from to 2.92%, according to the final read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.
The 10-year muni-to-Treasury ratio closed on Wednesday at 93.1% versus 91.0% on Tuesday; the 30-year muni to Treasury ratio closed at 102.6%, compared with 101.5% on Tuesday.
MSRB: Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 42,630 trades for Wednesday on volume of $16.335 billion.
Most active on Wednesday, based on the number of trades, was the Bay Area Toll Authority's toll bridge revenue bonds, San Francisco Bay Area, 5s of 2054, which traded 113 times with an average price of 110.661 and an average yield of 3.703.
Second most active was the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority transportation program bonds, Series AA 4 1/4s of 2044, which traded 105 times with an average price of 100.131 and an average yield of 4.21%.
Report: Atlantic City May Sell Notes This Month
Atlantic City, N.J., may cut the size of its delayed bond sale, turn it into a note sale and sell it before the end of the year, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The city had planned to sell $140 million of refunding bonds last month, but the deal may now be turned into a $40 million note sale, Reuters quoted city revenue director Michael Stinson as saying.
Reuters said the deal was changed because the financial uncertainties surrounding the closure of several casinos have made it difficult for the city to borrow money.
