News and Information from Bond Buyer

Utah Treasurer Richard Ellis has been tapped to serve a second three-year term as a public member of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the AA-minus rating on Bay Area Toll Authority, Calif.’s approximately $5.7 billion outstanding senior lien toll bridge revenue bonds.

Bond insurer ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. will lay out a restructuring plan next week for holders of $160 million of defaulted debt issued by the Chicago suburb of Lombard for its still struggling hotel and conference center.

Washington State Treasurer James McIntire announced late Wednesday that he is pleased with the results of the state’s general obligation bond sale this week, including its first ever green bonds.

With employment near its “natural rate” and inflation expected to “gradually” approach the Fed’s 2% target, interest rates should be raised before the end of the year, unless economic developments suggest otherwise, according to Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and CEO John C. Williams.

Bondholders would get 40 cents on the dollar for $23 million of bonds outstanding for a detention facility in South Texas that defaulted on its debt, according to a notice on the Municipals Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA Web site.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences plans to sell $349 million in revenue bonds next week to fund construction of its film museum.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded Illinois-based Anderson Hospital two notches citing multi-year operating improvements.

Chapman and Cutler LLP said it was mourning the loss of retired partner Ronald E. Rokosz, described as a “tour de force” who was instrumental in the development of credit enhancement, liquidity facilities and other bank products used in the public finance sector.

Prices of top-quality municipal bonds were slightly stronger at mid-session, traders said, as yields weakened by as much as one basis point on some maturities.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $24 billion three-year notes on Oct. 6.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $21 billion 9-year 10-month 2% notes on Oct. 7.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $13 billion 29-year, 10-month 2 7/8% bonds on Oct. 8.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $21 billion 91-day bills and $21 billion 182-day discount bills Monday.

Connecticut lawmaker Scott Frantz said the state nearing its “soft cap” bond limit for the year should concern rating agencies.

Puerto Rico introduced a 4% professional services and business to business tax to increase revenue amid the commonwealth’s liquidity crisis.

Indicator Last Report Forecast Actual Initial Claims 9/19: 267,000 9/26: 271,000 9/26: 277,000 Continuing Claims 9/12: 2.242M 9/19: 2.236M 9/19: 2.219M Construction Spending July: +0.4% Aug.: +0.5% Aug.: +0.7% ISM Manufacturing Aug.: 51.1 Sept.: 50.8 Sept.: 50.2

The overall economy grew for the seventy-sixth straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the thirty-third consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management reported Thursday.

Construction spending increased 0.7% in August, the Commerce Department said Thursday, and is 13.7% above the August 2014 level.

The municipal bond market was seeing the last of the week’s bigger issues come to market on Thursday after a deluge of new supply kept traders busy the day before.