Organization Root Tag

Municipals were firm as Massachusetts offered almost $727 million of general obligation bonds to retail buyers.

City Budget Director Melanie Hartzog discusses the $89.16 billion fiscal 2019 budget, spending priorities, reserves and the dynamic between Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office and the City Council. Chip Barnett and Paul Burton host.

The revenue index dropped to 21.5, from 25.4, a three-year high.

Service sector “activity was robust in August,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey.

Firms reported difficulty finding skilled workers, as manufacturing expansion continued.

The municipal bond market will see under $4 billion of new paper to close out the month and market participants remain hopeful volume will spike in September and stay strong into the fall.

Wilshire Consulting said the aggregate funded ratio for U.S. state pension plans remained unchanged between and first and second quarters of 2018 at 70.8%, up 0.7 percentage points from the previous 12 months.

A huge surplus and strong state economy could drive demand for the upcoming $989 million offering.

While flattening yield curves may signal a rising risk for recession, the curve that has proven most accurate in foretelling a downturn is far from inverting.

The municipal bond market will see under $4 billion of new paper to close out the month and market participants remain hopeful volume will spike in September and stay strong into the fall.

Texas factory activity growth, as measured by the production index, “maintained its strong momentum in August.”

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for July declined to 0.13 from an upwardly revised 0.48 in June.

A COFINA bondholder group welcomed the plan as a step toward consummating the COFINA restructuring agreement-in-principal.

S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on the state’s general obligation bond rating to stable from negative and affirmed its AA-minus rating.

Municipal bond buyers will get another chance to get some Massachusetts and Texas paper as both issuers head into the market.

The Rahm Emanuel administration told aldermen that a POB could save $6 billion and ease future tax and fee hikes.

DASNY finished the first half of 2018 as the nation’s second largest issuer with $3.2 billion in bonds sold.

Massachusetts and Texas will be in the market next week as the unofficial summer season winds down during the last week before Labor Day.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said the case for raising interest rates is “pretty compelling” given the economy’s strength.

At the moment, gradual rate hikes remain appropriate, given no signs that inflation will accelerate beyond 2%, despite broad risk factors.