News and Information from Bond Buyer

Week Of July 7 Issuer St Description Amount

ALABAMA

CALIFORNIA

Arkansas' finance office says the state ended the fiscal year with a nearly $79 million budget surplus despite a slight reduction in net revenues.

A Puerto Rico court has said the struggling bank Doral Financial will be able to have a court hearing for its claim against Puerto Rico's Treasury Department.

Government

A hearing officer is recommending throwing out new pension rules enacted last summer by the city of Los Angeles, but a city official says it is still early in the process.

The Bond Buyer's muni bond indexes were narrowly mixed in the week ending July 2.

At least two bond insurers in the Detroit bankruptcy case will now enjoy the exclusive right to vote on the city's bankruptcy exit plan in place of individual bondholders.

The yield spike on bonds from Puerto Rico's massive March $3.5 billion issuance has caused some market participants to question the paper's continued value.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla came out swinging with a defense of his economic and fiscal programs after Moody's Investors Service lowered the island's credit ratings farther into junk territory.

President Obama challenged Congress Tuesday on its inability to resolve the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund.

Moody's Investors Service placed a negative outlook on Sutter Health’s revenue bonds, based on the system's poor operating performance and significant capital needs.

Detroit alerted the federal bankruptcy court Wednesday of plans to issue a subpoena to the Bond Buyer for information about the city's controversial $1.4 billion pension certificates of participation sale, and a bond insurer subpoenaed a trio of public finance professionals for depositions in their case.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group INC., a Japanese bank and financial services company, aims to become one of the top 10 banks in the U.S. and has identified public finance as a growth area to achieve that goal.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it raised its long-term rating on Orange, Conn.'s general obligation (GO) bonds to AAA from AA-plus.

Fitch Ratings said it has upgraded to AA-minus from A $34.3 million Bridgeport Hospital series D, issued by the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority.

Moody's Investors Service said it has downgraded to A1 from Aa3 the general obligation rating of the city of Beaver Dam, Wis.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation and a consortium of eight Long island Rail Road unions are scheduled to meet before the National Mediation Board.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said has removed its A long-term rating on Citronelle, Ala.'s general obligation debt from CreditWatch, where it had been placed with negative implications March 14, 2014, and has simultaneously suspended the rating.