News and Information from Bond Buyer

Government

More than half of the US states have improved pension liability levels in fiscal 2013, Moody's found in a report on U.S. state pension medians Thursday.

The last of the big pre-holiday new issue supply hit the municipal bond market on Thursday, with the state of Connecticut taking over as the leader of the pack.

The Massachusetts Development Finance Agency and the Wentworth Institute of Technology have entered into a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service to resolve tax issues relating to land located in Concord, Mass. that was acquired with bond proceeds. The institution sold the land in 1998 without redeeming bonds or finding alternative qualified use for the sale proceeds at the time.

The state of Michigan may come to market in the next several weeks with a $450 million bond deal to finance a controversial new hockey stadium in Detroit.

Northern Virginia Transportation Authority will sell $69 million of revenue bonds to finance regional transportation infrastructure.

The outcome of the Detroit bankruptcy will not affect Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' recovery assumptions for city general obligation debt because it believes that there was no precedent set by the recent Detroit outcome that is widely applicable to GO debt.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon tasked a newly formed commission with advising him on social and economic policy changes in the aftermath of violent protests in Ferguson Missouri sparked by the police shooting of an unarmed civilian.

A court ruling that South Carolina failed to provide a "minimally adequate" education to poor children is credit positive for low-income school districts, said Moody's.

California's total reserves could grow to over $4 billion by the end of fiscal year 2016, according to estimates by the state's Legislative Analyst's Office.

Clarity in communication from the Federal Open Market Committee makes policy more effective, but improvements can be made because the Great Recession caused the Fed to alter its behavior, making it difficult for markets to read how it will react to economic developments, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President and Chief Executive Officer Loretta J. Mester.

Moody's Investors Service said it has changed the outlook to positive for the state of Wisconsin, assigned the Aa2 rating to the current $296.9 million general obligation refunding bonds of 2014, Series 4 and affirmed the Aa2 rating on the state's $7.7 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds.

The Treasury Department sold $13 billion of inflation-indexed nine-year 8-month TIPs at a 0.497% high yield, an adjusted price of 96.736675, with a 1/8% coupon.

Trends in the San Bernardino bankruptcy case put the city's bondholders on track to feel more pain than other creditors.

The last of the big pre-holiday new issue supply hit the municipal bond market on Thursday, with the state of Connecticut leading the pack.

Moody's Investors Service said it has assigned Aa1 underlying and Aaa enhanced ratings to Katy Independent School District, Texas's $119.4 million unlimited tax refunding bonds, Series 2014-A and $18 million limited tax refunding bonds, Series 2014-B, and upgraded the district's underlying general obligation rating to Aa1 from Aa2, affecting $1.2 billion in outstanding debt.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $13 billion one-year 11-month 0.053% floating rate notes on Tuesday, Nov. 25.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $29 billion seven-year notes on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $24 billion 90-day bills and $28 billion 181-day discount bills Monday.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it lowered its rating to AA from AA-plus on Dixie Elementary School District, Calif.'s existing general obligation debt.