Southwest

With falling oil prices taking the bloom off the Lone Star State's economy, bond issuers and industry executives will examine the future at The Bond Buyer's Texas Public Finance Conference in Austin.

Moody's Investors Service has upgraded Glendale, Ariz.'s rating to A2 from A3, citing improvements in the city's "modest" financial position.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit expects savings of $47 million or about 9% on a $483 million advance refunding of 2008 bonds.

Texas will spend $1.3 billion on 14 highway projects aimed at reducing traffic congestion in five cities.

While lower oil prices are likely to have a stimulative effect on the national economy, we are wary of impacts on the finances of local credits in the Oil Patch.

Two of the top broker-dealer and financial advisory firms in the Southwest officially combined under the management of Hilltop Holdings on Monday.

The University of Utah won a Standard & Poor’s upgrade to AA-plus en route to the bond market with $76 million of bonds.

Montgomery County, Texas, officials estimate that investors' flight to quality during a severe downturn in the equities and commodities markets helped reduce interest costs on a $112 million bond deal by nearly $27 million.

Texas school bond volume doubled to $2.2 billion in January compared to the same month last year.

A continuing decline in oil prices will strain the budgets of five producing states to varying degrees, according to Standard & Poor's.