News and Information from Bond Buyer

South Dakota’s Sanford Health is bringing $176 million of A-plus rated hospital bonds to market this week in a deal that will mark the final financing of the system’s largest construction project to date.

Former Chicago Public Schools leader Barbara Byrd-Bennett entered a guilty plea Tuesday to one corruption count leveled against her by federal authorities for allegedly steering contracts to her former employer for promised kickbacks.

Prices of top-shelf municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, according to traders, with yields on some maturities weakening by as much as one basis point.

Standard & Poor’s has lowered St. Anthony’s Medical Center by two notches to A-minus over dents in its operating performance.

Moody’s Investors Service dropped Good Samaritan Hospital in Knox County, Indiana by one level to Baa2 and warned of the potential for further deterioration by leaving a negative outlook on the rating.

Securities and Exchange Commission officials updated National Association of Municipal Advisors members here on the status of the commission’s municipal advisor examinations and fielded individual questions about continuing compliance with the program.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were mixed, as the three-months incurred a zero high rate, unchanged from zero the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.080% high rate, up from 0.065% the week before.

The Treasury Department said Tuesday it will sell $5 billion of four-week discount bills Wednesday.

Consumers’ view of inflation was fairly stable in the past month, according to the September Survey of Consumer Expectations, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Tuesday.

Richard Raphael, Managing Director and head of U.S. Public Finance at Fitch Ratings, will retire from the firm Oct. 30 after almost 27 years. Jessalynn Moro has been named to succeed him. Laura Porter takes over from Moro as head of the local government team and will also remain head of the state ratings group.

Heavy lifting remains after political and transit leaders announced an agreement for a five-year New York MTA capital program.

School districts in Michigan have suffered enrollment declines tied to aging demographics and competition from neighboring public schools and charter schools.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered San Juan-based Santander Securities on Tuesday to pay $6.4 million for supervisory failures related to Puerto Rican municipal bonds.

The local property tax exemption for non-profit institutions has come under attack in recent years, as municipalities, coping with diminishing tax bases, have sought new sources of revenue to bolster their treasuries.

The market is back up and running after taking Columbus Day off and the action is expected to get started in the primary on Tuesday as the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York will be selling three issues competitively.

Tuesday, October 13 Issuer St Description Amount

Tuesday, October 13 Issuer St Description Amount

Week Of October 13 Issuer St Description Amount

Week Of October 13 Issuer St Description Amount

Day Indicator Last Report Forecast Tuesday Treasury Budget Aug.: -$64.4B Sept.: +$95.0B Wednesday PPI Aug.: unch Sept.: -0.2% Wednesday PPI Core Aug.: +0.3% Sept.: +0.1% Wednesday Retail Sales Aug.: +0.2% Sept.: +0.2% Wednesday ex-Autos Aug.: +0.1% Sept.: -0.1% Wednesday Business Inventories July: +0.1% Aug.: +0.1% Thursday CPI Aug.: -0.1% Sept.: -0.2% Thursday CPI Core Aug.: +0.1% Sept.: +0.1% Thursday Empire State Manufacturing Sept.: -14.67 Oct.: -7.40 Thursday Initial Jobless Claims 10/3: 263,000 10/10: 270,000 Thursday Continuing Claims 9/26: 2.204M 10/3: 2.195M Thursday Philly Fed Manufacturing Sept.: -6.0 Oct.: -1.0 Friday Industrial Production Aug.: -0.4% Sept.: -0.2% Friday Capacity Utilization Aug.: 77.6 Sept.: 77.4 Friday Michigan Sentiment Sept: 87.2 Oct.: 88.7 Friday Current Conditions Sept: 101.2 Oct.: 101.5 Friday Expectations Sept: 78.2 Oct.: 79.0