News and Information from Bond Buyer

Texas service sector activity “continued to increase in December,” according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index held at 24.4.

The consumer confidence index decreased to 122.1 in December from a revised 128.6 last month, The Conference Board reported Wednesday.

Pending home sales rose 0.2% to an index reading of 109.5 in November, from an unrevised 3.5% gain to 109.3 in October.

The market shouldn't expect a lot of rulemaking in 2018, but there will still be plenty of regulatory developments to look out for.

Regulators will focus on helping dealers and municipal advisors comply with recently adopted rules and will also monitor how tax reform legislation impacts muni market practices.

The new tax law and imminent scarcity threaten to change market dynamics for muni buyers in 2018.

Municipal bonds strengthened Tuesday as the primary market shifted to holiday mode after breaking the December record for issuance.

The project to protect environmentally sensitive areas like the Florida Everglades from toxic algae could cost close to $2 billion.

The number of people employed in Puerto Rico during November fell 1.8% from July.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $26 billion of two-year notes with a 1 7/8% coupon at a 1.922% yield, a price of 99.908366.

The Regional Transportation Authority of Northeastern Illinois and its three service boards remain starved for new state capital dollars as 2018 marks a fourth year without an infusion of state help.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were higher on Tuesday.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, “expanded strongly in December.”

Marcia Clark, head of California’s Fixed Income Academy, says business schools need to offer more bond classes. Co-hosted by Paul Burton and Keeley Webster.

The municipal market will be staffed by skeleton crews as the calendar has no negotiated deals and only small competitives, which don't even total $3 million — and another long holiday weekend right around the corner.

Service sector activity saw “continued growth in December.”

Manufacturing growth in the central Atlantic region was “moderate” in December.

Home prices rose 6.2% on an annual basis in October, not seasonally adjusted, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, released Tuesday.

The SEC's muni enforcement focus in 2018 will include offering and disclosure-related fraud, broker-dealer abuses, municipal advisor misconduct, public corruption, and pay-to-play practices.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said lawmakers must agree to replace $1 billion in expiring revenues by Jan. 19 or he will cut the budget.