News and Information from Bond Buyer

Top-quality municipal bonds finished steady on Monday, traders said, as they awaited $12.7 billion of new supply, which is set to start hitting the market on Tuesday.

The Port of Los Angeles board of commissioners approved a $1.17 billion budget Friday that includes no immediate plans for long-term debt.

Cook County, Illinois heads into the market next week with positive news from two rating agencies and a downgrade from another.

Lawyers with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe are concerned about a ruling by a federal appeals court last week that found a constitutional challenge to the Securities and Exchange Commission's use of administrative proceedings to impose penalties in enforcement cases could not move forward until the proceedings end.

Using new criteria, Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings warned that eight federal prisons operated privately for profit could see downgrades or upgrades.

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form decreased about $153 million in May to a total of $215.712 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Monday.

Community banks are jumping at the chance to invest in local bond issues, realizing that such participation allows them to show their dedication to hometown causes.

Triple-A rated Georgia will auction $1.4 billion of general obligation bonds Tuesday, with analysts seeing the state benefiting from six years of positive revenue performance.

A Dowling College alumni group has launched a campaign to save the 48-year old Long Island school after it announced plans to close last week.

Massachusetts officials acknowledge a $311 million year-to-date revenue shortfall that could complicate efforts to finalize a state budget.

With a "largely favorable" view of the economy, despite "recent signs of a slowdown in job creation [that] bear close watching" and inherent uncertainty, Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen said Monday, monetary policy is currently "generally appropriate," but hikes will be needed "gradually over time."

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin voiced regret that the newly approved state budget did so little to solve structural imbalances.

Top-quality municipal bonds were steady at mid-session, traders said, as the market got ready to take on the first sales from a hefty $12.7 billion new issue calendar.

The New York City Housing Development Corp. intends to issue more than $455 million in bonds and provide more than $115 million in additional financing for affordable housing.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were lower, as the three-months incurred a 0.285% high rate, down from 0.340% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.430% high rate, off from 0.475% the week before.

The Treasury Department said Monday it will sell $40 billion of four-week discount bills Tuesday.

States like Colorado will continue to forego revenue, as well as the opportunity to borrow against that revenue in the bond market, until the cannabis industry gains access to the banking system.

The Federal Reserve's Labor Market Conditions Index, a compilation of 19 labor market measures, fell to negative 4.8 in May from a revised negative 3.4 in April, first reported as negative 0.9.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) declined to 126.81 in May from an upwardly revised 128.53 in April, and is up 0.7% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

Economic growth will slow this year before picking up next year, while inflation will increase this year before hitting the Fed's 2% target next year, according to predictions by participants in the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's annual Automotive Outlook Symposium, released Monday.