State of California

The municipal bond market is in for another action-packed week, with above-average issuance and COVID-19 still spreading rapidly.

Taxable bonds and COVID-19 are two of the main catalysts that helped February municipal bond volume ascend to its highest level since at least 1986.

Municipal market technicals were already driving performance and so the strong quality bid has deepened the rally across the curve as the asset class really didn’t need to grab the U.S. Treasuries coattails all that tightly.

Issuers in the Far West sold $85 billion of municipal bonds in 2019, a 23% increase from 2018.

Municipal bond yields were unchanged at record low levels, according to late reads.

As COVID-19 fears run rampant, investors continued to sell off equities, resulting in muni yields again following Treasury yields down to all-time lows.

Municipal bonds yields continued their descent and once again rewrote the record books, as the flight to safety on fears of COVID-19 that took place Friday picked up right where it left off.

Slightly more than half of likely California voters support Proposition 13, according to a poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California.

The market got technically stronger and the new-issue calendar builds.

New deals started to flow in and take advantage of historic lows of muni yields and rates.

Issuance is set to seesaw, as new-issue volume was the heaviest of the year last week, at almost 40% larger than 2019 weekly average. And this is expected to be one of the lowest-volume weeks of the year to date.

Lack of supply continues while professional money keeps market liquid.

The municipal market started off the week like gangbusters, but was ending very quietly on Thursday as the holiday-shortened week approaches.

The municipal primary saw billions of new deals hit the market, but the final yields on the biggest deal of the day result in something that the market hadn’t seen in a while — a repricing to higher yields.

The muni primary saw a flood of issuance on Tuesday, with the majority of it being from Texas issuers including one deal that got majorly upsized.

Issuers are coming to market in droves this week as they try to take advantage of excellent market conditions and get deals done before upcoming holiday shortened week.

Municipal investors should go long as the short end is expensive, strategists say.

It's a win-win situation for both buyers and sellers as volume continues to flow into the market.

The muni market was weaker again on Wednesday with yields on the rise, yet that did not slow down the primary. It did not matter if it was tax-exempt or taxable — they were gone in a flash.

The municipal market has been on a tear in terms of fundamentals and technicals that are driving the market and there isn’t much in the near-term likely to stymie that tone.