Southwest

After eight oil-producing states recovered from the 2014 oil price collapse, they face another downturn, S&P Global Ratings said.

The municipal market was hammered Wednesday by the COVID-19 pandemic with a more than quarter point correction in AAA benchmarks, issuers pulling deals off the shelves and more reports of pricing and evaluation confusion.

Less than six years after the last oil price collapse, producing states of the Southwest are facing another sharp drop and the prospect of recession.

As fear and uncertainty over COVID-19 rapidly grow, it has sent yields for both municipals and Treasuries to never before seen low levels — begging the question if we could see zero or negative yields here in the States?

The world remains on edge about the rapidly spreading COVID-19 and those fears once again have Treasury yields digging down even deeper. COVID-19 fears have now impacted fund flows, as municipals suffers outflows for the first time in 60 weeks.

It was a busy day in the primary, as the markets continue to deal with crosscurrents of COVID-19 and election results.

Richard G. Bartow and his son Richard T. Bartow joined the office this week and will focus on K-12 education.

The Federal Open Market Committee cut the fed funds rate 50 basis points to a range between 1% and 1.25%. The decision to cut rates was unanimous.

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

With major projects in its future, Dallas Area Rapid Transit is making the most of record low rates in a $260 million bond sale.