Market looks ahead to next week

Municipal bond traders on Friday are looking ahead to next week’s new issue calendar, which seems a bit lighter than this week's slate.

Secondary market
U.S. Treasuries were mostly stronger on Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury held at 1.36% from 1.36% on Thursday, the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.18% from 2.20% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond decreased to 2.76% from 2.78%.

Top-rated municipal bonds ended weaker on Thursday. The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation rose one basis point to 1.88% from 1.87% on Wednesday, while the 30-year GO yield gained one basis point to 2.76% from 2.75%, according to the final read of Municipal Market Data's triple-A scale.

On Thursday, the 10-year muni-to-Treasury ratio was calculated at 85.6%, compared with 85.3% on Wednesday, while the 30-year muni-to-Treasury ratio stood at 99.3% versus 98.5%, according to MMD.

Week’s primary market
This week's calendar was headlined by Siebert Cisneros Shank's pricing of New York City’s $857.59 million of Fiscal 2018 Subseries B-1 and Series 1 general obligation bonds.

In the competitive arena, the city sold $250 million of taxable GOs in two separate offerings. Bank of America Merrill Lynch won the $190.62 million of Fiscal 2018 Subseries B-2 taxables with a true interest cost of 2.62%. Jefferies won the $59.38 million of Fiscal 2018 Subseries B-3 taxables with a TIC of 3.05%.

The deals are rated Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced the Board of Regents of the University of Texas System’s $265.5 million of Series 2017B revenue financing system bonds. The deal is rated triple-A by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch.

Morgan Stanley priced the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System’s $117.05 million of Series 2017 A&B system enterprise revenue refunding bonds. The Series 2017A bonds are subject to the Colorado State Intercept Program and are rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA-minus by S&P while the Series 2017B bonds are not subject to the state intercept and are rated Aa3 by Moody’s and A-plus by S&P.

JPMorgan Securities priced the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina’s $110.19 million of Series 2017 taxable general revenue refunding bonds for the University at Chapel Hill. The deal is rated triple-A by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch.

RBC Capital Markets priced the Regents of the University of Minnesota’s $410.05 million of tax-exempt Series 2017A general obligation bonds and Series 2017B GO refunding bonds. The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.

Morgan Stanley priced the West Valley-Mission Community College District, Calif.’s $100 million of Series 2017C election 0f 2012 general obligation bonds. The deal is rated triple-A by Moody’s and S&P.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch priced the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Fla.’s $199.42 million of Series 2017A ad valorem tax bonds. The deal is rated Aa3 by Moody’s and AA-minus by S&P and Fitch.

Citi priced the state of Ohio’s $114.33 million of Series 2017A turnpike revenue refunding bonds. The deal is rated Aa3 by Moody’s, AA-minus by S&P and AA by Fitch.

Barclays Capital priced Colorado Springs, Colo.’s $239.82 million of Series 2017A-1, 2017A-2 and 2017A-3 utilities system refunding revenue bonds. The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P and Fitch.

Raymond James & Associates priced Memphis, Tenn.’s $155 million of Series 2017 electric, gas and water systems revenue bonds. The electric system bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P, the gas system bonds are rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA-minus by S&P and the water system bonds are rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AAA by S&P.

Citi priced Arlington, Texas’ $110.895 million of senior lien special tax revenue refunding bonds. The 2020 through 2024 maturities are uninsured and carry ratings of A1 by Moody’s, A-plus by S&P and AA-plus by Fitch, while the 2025 through 2034 maturities are insured by Assured Guaranty Municipal and rated AA by S&P.

In the competitive arena, the Maryland Department of Transportation sold $425 million of Series 2017 second issue consolidated transportation bonds. Citigroup won the bonds with a true interest cost of 2.28%. The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody’s, AAA by S&P and AA-plus by Fitch.

Seattle, Wash., competitively sold $385.37 million of Series 2017C municipal light and power improvement and refunding revenue bonds. Morgan Stanley won the bonds with a true interest cost of 3.17%. The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.

The state of Louisiana sold $300.09 million of Series 2017B general obligation bonds, which were won by Bank of America Merrill Lynch with a TIC of 2.95%. The deal is rated Aa3 by Moody’s and AA-minus by S&P and Fitch.

Prince George's County, Md., sold $104 million of Series 2017 certificates of participation for the Regional Medical Center. Robert W. Baird won the bonds with a TIC of 3.21%. The COPs are rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA-plus by S&P.

And the state of Michigan competitively sold $119.58 million of GOs in two separate sales. Goldman Sachs won the $79 million of Series 2017A tax-exempt GO environmental program and refunding bonds with a TIC of 1.70% while Fifth Third Securities won the $40.58 million of Series 2017B taxable GO environmental program bonds with a TIC of 2.11%. The deals are rated Aa1 by Moody’s, AA-minus by S&P and AA by Fitch.

Bond Buyer reports 30-day visible supply
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $1.34 billion to $9.66 billion on Friday. The total is comprised of $4.02 billion of competitive sales and $5.65 billion of negotiated deals.

Lipper: Muni bond funds see inflows
Investors in municipal bond funds once again put cash into the funds, according to Lipper data released late Thursday.

The weekly reporters drew $241.383 million of inflows in the week of Sept. 13, after inflows of $250.368 million in the previous week.

Exchange traded funds reported outflows of $71.425 million, after inflows of $2.169 million in the previous week. Ex-EFTs, muni funds saw $312.807 million of inflows, after inflows of $248.199 million in the previous week.

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The four-week moving average was positive at $396.692 million, after being in the green at $483.038 million in the previous week. A moving average is an analytical tool used to smooth out price changes by filtering out fluctuations.

Long-term muni bond funds had inflows of $289.549 million in the latest week after inflows of $105.638 million in the previous week. Intermediate-term funds had inflows of $84.525 million after inflows of $74.141 million in the prior week.

National funds had inflows of $347.544 million after inflows of $290.814 million in the previous week.

High-yield muni funds reported inflows of $293.763 million in the latest week, after inflows of $165.070 million the previous week.

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