News and Information from Bond Buyer

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it has lowered its ratings on Michigan Finance Authority's series 2011 revenue bonds to A from A-plus and series 2012 revenues bonds to A-minus from A-plus, both issued for Detroit Public Schools.

The Federal Reserve's Labor Market Conditions Index, a compilation of 19 labor market measures, rose to 2.1 in August from a revised 1.8 in July.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) climbed to 128.82 in August from a downwardly revised 127.64 in July, and is up 4.5% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

Gov. Gina Raimondo and other Rhode Island officials will push for a bond rating upgrade when they meet with rating agencies.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said in a published interview he expects the Federal Reserve to raise rates this year, but wouldn't comment on whether this would occur at its next meeting next week.

Small businesses were slightly more optimistic in August than in July as the National Federation of Independent Business' Small Business Optimism Index gained to 95.9 from 95.4.

Tuesday, September 8 Issuer St Description Amount

Tuesday, September 8 Issuer St Description Amount

Week Of September 8 Issuer St Description Amount

Day Indicator Last Report Forecast Tuesday Consumer Credit June: +$20.7B July: +$18.0B Thursday Import Prices July: -0.9% Aug.: -1.2% Thursday Export Prices July: -0.2% Aug.: -0.3% Thursday Initial Jobless Claims 8/29: 282,000 9/5: n/a Thursday Continuing Claims 8/22: 2.257M 8/29: n/a Thursday Wholesale Inventories June: +0.9% July: +0.3% Thursday Wholesale Sales June: +0.1% July: +0.3% Friday PPI July: +0.2% Aug.: -0.1% Friday PPI Core July: +0.3% Aug.: +0.1% Friday Michigan Sentiment Aug.: 91.9 Sept.: 93.0 Friday Current Conditions Aug.: 105.1 Sept.: n/a Friday Expectations Aug.: 83.4 Sept.: n/a Friday Treasury Budget July: -$149.2B Aug.: n/a

Sep. 8, 2015 Southwest: Plain/Insured GO Yield Curve* State Ratings One-Year Five-Year 10-Year 30-Year Arizona Aa3/AA+/NR 0.28 1.52 2.44 3.4 Arkansas Aa1/AA/NR 0.25 1.44 2.3 3.24 Colorado Aa1/AA/NR 0.25 1.48 2.37 3.35 Kansas Aa1/AA+/NR 0.23 1.48 2.37 3.31 New Mexico Aaa/AA+/NR 0.23 1.42 2.28 3.25 Oklahoma Aa2/AA+/AA+ 0.27 1.51 2.39 3.35 Texas Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.25 1.46 2.37 3.3 Utah Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.23 1.37 2.19 3.13

CALIFORNIA

ALABAMA

9/7/2015 8/31/2015 State Amount ($000s) Iss Amount ($000s) Chg in Amt ($000s) Arizona 3 $41,900 2 $12,790 $29,110 Arkansas 2 6,630 4 45,335 -38,705 Colorado 0 0 5 38,835 -38,835 Kansas 9 198,795 4 28,380 170,415 New Mexico 4 51,580 3 82,980 -31,400 Oklahoma 5 248,560 6 22,270 226,290 Texas 32 1,428,800 24 514,605 914,195 Utah 0 0 0 0 0

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla announced Friday the planned start of construction of a train line between San Juan and Caguas.

According to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer, municipalities will sell an estimated $3.70 billion of total new volume, compared to the revised $3.32 billion that was priced in the past week as reported by Thomson Reuters.

Government

Suggestions for handling Puerto Rico’s fiscal crisis, including a control board, continue to circulate in Congress as it prepares to resume its session after Labor Day.

Prices of top-shelf municipal bonds closed out the week unchanged to stronger, traders said, as the market moved into holiday mode on Friday after the release of the August employment report.

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form decreased about $2.617 billion in August to a total of $214.026 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Friday.