News and Information from Bond Buyer

3/13/2014 State # Iss Amount ($000) # Iss Amount ($000) Chg in Amt ($000) Alaska 0 $0 1 $61,340 -$61,340 California 12 2,393,220 12 1,023,175 1,370,045 Hawaii 0 0 0 0 0 Idaho 1 3,845 1 3,845 0 Montana 0 0 0 0 0 Nevada 2 293,100 2 400,000 -106,900 Oregon 1 30,080 1 2,760 27,320 Washington 0 0 2 26,450 -26,450 Wyoming 0 0 0 0 0

Government

After a battle over how to expand Medicaid coverage in the state, Arkansas lawmakers have approved a $5 billion budget.

Bond Buyer indexes showed softening in the week ended March 13 as Treasury values climbed.

Municipal bond buyers finally got the supply flow they've been asking for since the New Year began. With $9.03 billion in new issuance this week through Thursday, market observers became players, picking up fresh paper and sending yields as much as four basis points lower.

Chicago pared down some of the expected interest rate penalty on its $880 million general obligation bond sale by drawing dozens of new investors in a market starved for issuance but still paid a steep price for its blemished credit.

The Financial Industry Regulatory has a growing list of arbitration claims related to Puerto Rico bonds on its plate as investors seek damages for what they claim was misleading advice about bond funds.

Morgan Stanley will form a joint municipal trading unit merging the firm's institutional and wealth management municipal desks.

The city of Portland, Ore., is planning to sell $30 million of new money and refunding general obligation bonds in a competitive offering next week.

Dealer groups are happy that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has exempted sophisticated municipal market professionals from its proposed best execution rule, but would like more guidance and economic analysis going forward.

Massachusetts plans a sale of MassDirect notes, a rolling program aimed to attract retail investors and modeled after the U.S. Treasury's TreasuryDirect.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed appointed a 16-member panel March 12 to search for wasteful spending in city government to support issuing infrastructure bonds.

Harrisburg, Pa., made a $4.7 million general obligation bond payment, its first such payment in three years.

Courtroom sparks continue to fly between California and former redevelopment agencies nearly two years after the state's highest court ruled in favor of dismantling the tax-increment financing program that had been created to fight blight.

Municipal bond buyers hungry for issuance had a wealth of new paper to choose from this past week, culminating today with large deals from Connecticut and Houston.

The federal government ran a $193.5 billion deficit in February, the Treasury reported Thursday.

The Treasury Department Thursday auctioned $13 billion of 29-year 11-month bonds with a 3 5/8% coupon at a 3.630% high yield, a price of 99.904729.

Federal Judge Kimba Wood, who imposed $5.6 million in fines and restitution on municipal bond bid-rigger David Rubin, called prison unwarranted for the founder of CDR Financial Products.

Tax-exempt money market funds generated $1.98 billion of inflows as total net assets grew to $270.62 billion in the week ended March 10, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Secondary rallying on Puerto Rico's new term bonds slowed Thursday morning after initial buyers took immediate profits and exited their positions.