News and Information from Bond Buyer

Issuers in the Southwest sold $42.8 billion of municipal bonds in the first half of 2015, according to data from Thomson Reuters, a 39% year-over-year increase

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were mixed, as the three-months incurred a 0.105% high rate, down from 0.125% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.245% high rate, unchanged from the week before.

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

Municipal bond prices were mostly steady at mid-session, traders said, as the market looks to the week’s $6.5 billion new-issue calendar, which is headlined by the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority’s $750 million bond sale and Detroit's first post-bankruptcy bond deal.

Bondholders could receive up to a 30% recovery on Nevada County, Calif. dirt bonds that went into default 23 years ago as part of a bankruptcy workout.

Municipal investors shouldn’t be preoccupied with fears about inflation, interest rates, or credit quality, according to municipal analysts and managers.

Standard & Poor’s stripped the Chicago Public Schools of its investment grade rating with a three notch downgrade saying a proposed budget does little to solve its structural or liquidity woes.

Aug. 17, 2015 Northeast: Plain/Insured GO Yield Curve* State Ratings One-Year Five-Year 10-Year 30-Year Connecticut Aa3/AA/AA 0.32 1.64 2.68 3.57 Delaware Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.25 1.33 2.18 3.06 Maine Aa2/AA/AA 0.26 1.43 2.28 3.17 Maryland Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.25 1.37 2.23 3.07 Massachusetts Aa1/AA+/AA+ 0.27 1.42 2.37 3.28 New Hampshire Aa1/AA/AA+ 0.26 1.41 2.28 3.19 New Jersey A1/A/A 0.6 2.22 3.19 4.02 New York Aa1/AA+/AA+ 0.25 1.35 2.24 3.24 Pennsylvania Aa3/AA+/AA+ 0.47 1.79 2.78 3.65 Rhode Island Aa2/AA/AA 0.33 1.59 2.59 3.5 Vermont Aaa/AA+/AAA 0.25 1.35 2.24 3.1 Dist. of Columbia Aa1/AA/AA 0.29 1.44 2.39 3.31 Puerto Rico B2/BB/BB+ 9.25 11.24 11.24 8.57

8/14/2015 8/7/2015 State # Iss Amount ($000s) # Iss Amount ($000s) Chg in Amt ($000s) Connecticut 4 $91,850 $4 $108,795 -$16,945 Delaware 0 0 0 0 0 Maine 2 17,970 3 138,190 -120,220 Maryland 1 6,315 2 19,115 -12,800 Massachusetts 6 344,957 7 77,110 267,847 New Hampshire 0 0 1 2,895 -2,895 New Jersey 8 224,209 5 218,394 5,815 New York 20 928,600 12 141,843 786,757 Pennsylvania 11 245,109 8 125,459 119,650 Rhode Island 0 0 0 0 0 Vermont 0 0 2 25,995 -25,995 District of Columbia 2 241,110 0 0 241,110 Puerto Rico 1 750,000 0 0 750,000

Monday, August 17 Issuer St Description Amount

Monday, August 17 Issuer St Description Amount

Week Of August 17 Issuer St Description Amount

Week Of August 17 Issuer St Description Amount

ALABAMA

Day Indicator Last Report Forecast Monday Empire State Manufacturing July: 3.86 Aug.: 4.60 Monday NAHB Housing Index July: 60 Aug.: 60 Tuesday Housing Starts June: 1.174M July: 1.171M Tuesday Building Permits June: 1.343M July: 1.200M Wednesday CPI June: +0.3% July: +0.1% Wednesday CPI Core June: +0.2% July: +0.2% Thursday Initial Jobless Claims 8/8: 274,000 8/15: n/a Thursday Continuing Claims 8/1: 2.273M 8/8: n/a Thursday Existing Home Sales June: 5.49M July: 542,000 Thursday Philly Fed Manufacturing July: 5.7 Aug.: 6.2 Thursday Leading Indicators June: +0.6% July: +0.2%

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) on Chicago Board of Education's general obligation (GO) bonds to 'BB' from 'BBB' and removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with negative implications on July 2, 2015 while we monitored the board's decisions in constructing its fiscal 2016 budget.

Government

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has proposed several changes to clarify its proposed Rule G-42 on core duties of municipal advisors but declined to ease a controversial provision that would bar an MA giving advice from acting as a principal in the same transaction.

Standard & Poor's announced Friday that it is withdrawing its rating on Palm Drive Health Care District, Calif. after repeated attempts to get necessary information from the issuer failed.