News and Information from Bond Buyer

Dennis Hunt will head the public finance team at Stephens Inc. upon the retirement of Mark McBryde after 40 years at the firm.

The municipal bond market saw more than $2 billion of competitive new issues on Tuesday led by offerings from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin and California. Meanwhile, prices of top-rated municipal bonds were substantially weaker, traders said, with some yields up by as much as nine basis points at the close.

A proposal in President Obama's budget that would impose a minimum tax on U.S.-controlled foreign income could have major ramifications for Puerto Rico, analysts said.

Senate public works panel will continue development of multiyear transportation bill without proposed tax on corporate overseas profits.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's requested fiscal year 2016 budget of $1.722 billion would allow the commission to hire hundreds of examination staff and step up enforcement, as well as help the muni office coordinate with self-regulators.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it lowered its underlying rating for credit program to A-minus from A on North Vermillion Community School Building Corp., Ind.'s series 2013 ad valorem property tax first-mortgage bonds, issued for North Vermillion Community School Corp.

Moody's Investors Service said it has upgraded the rating on the city of Le Center, Minn.'s general obligation debt to Ba3 from B1.

The Iowa Finance Authority hits the market Wednesday with $323 million of new-money and refunding state revolving bonds that will carry a “green” designation.

With inflation still below 2% and there for probably "a few years" further, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota Tuesday repeated his call for the Fed to keep rates near zero, with no increases this year.

Standard & Poor's revised the outlook to negative and affirmed an A-plus rating on Kern County, California's long-term debt after the county declared a fiscal emergency when oil prices fell.

Conduit bond issuers for two Texas counties failed to make full debt payments on private detention facilities that they were forced to take over, according to recent disclosures.

Moody's Investors Service upgraded to Aa3 from A1 Redmond, Oregon's Water Enterprise revenue bonds and removed the bonds from review.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it has raised its underlying rating on Fort Bend County Municipal Utility District No. 129, Texas' general obligation debt one notch to BBB-plus from BBB.

The municipal bond market saw over $1.7 billion of new supply hit the screens in less than an hour as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and a Virginia issuer all sold bonds in the competitive arena.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $25 billion of 364-day bills at a 0.205% high yield, a price of 99.792722.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $40 billion of four-week bills at a 0.020% high yield, a price of 99.998444.

Ex-JPMorgan bankers have asked a federal judge to dismiss federal pay-to-play charges related to the sewer deals that helped push Jefferson County, Ala., into bankruptcy.

Indicator Last Report Forecast Actual Factory Orders Nov.: -1.7% Dec.: -2.2% Dec.: -3.4%

New orders for manufactured goods dropped 3.4% in December, after falling a revised 1.7% in November, first reported as a 0.7% decline, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Trinity Health this month prices its first significant bond deals since it merged with Catholic Health East in 2013, with three transactions totaling $1.45 billion including its first taxable deal.