News and Information from Bond Buyer

Week Of January 27 Issuer St Description Amount

Week Of January 27 Issuer St Description Amount

Day Indicator Last Report Forecast Monday New Home Sales Nov.: 464,000 Dec.: 458,000 Tuesday Durable Goods Nov.: +3.5% Dec.: +1.0% Tuesday Durable Goods ex-trans Nov.: +1.2% Dec.: +0.6% Tuesday Consumer Confidence Dec.: 78.1 Jan.: 79.1 Thursday GDP Q3: +4.1% Q4: +3.3% Thursday GDP Core PCE Q3: +1.4% Q4: +1.5% Thursday GDP Final Sales Q3: +2.5% Q4: +3.6% Thursday Initial Jobless Claims 1/18: 326,000 1/25: n/a Thursday Continuing Claims 1/11: 3.056M 1/18: n/a Thursday Pending Home Sales Nov.: +0.2% Dec.: +0.3% Thursday Employment Cost Index Q3: +0.4% Q4: +0.4% Thursday Personal Income Nov.: +0.2% Dec.: n/a Thursday Consumption Nov.: +0.5% Dec.: n/a Thursday Core PCE Nov.: +0.1% Dec.: n/a Friday Chicago PMI Dec.: 59.1 Jan.: 58.3 Friday U. of Mich. Sentiment Dec.: 82.5 Jan.: n/a Friday U. of Mich. Current Dec.: 98.6 Jan.: n/a Friday U. of Mich. Expectations Dec.: 72.1 Jan.: n/a

IOWA

ALABAMA

Municipal bond issuance will stay light in the coming week, rising to $4.89 billion, as the calendar offers little to sate investors' growing hunger for tax-exempt paper.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has placed its general obligation (GO) and appropriation debt ratings on the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico on CreditWatch with negative implications. Standard & Poor's has also placed its debt ratings on Puerto Rico's Employee Retirement System, the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority, the Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority, and the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority on CreditWatch with negative implications. We have not taken a rating action on sales tax-secured debt of the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. (COFINA).

Travis County, Texas, will not call a vote on $300 million of bonds for a new courthouse until next year.

Lack of new bonds and persisting economic woes drove municipal yields down Friday, capping a three-week really that gave bonds the strongest start to a year since 2009.

Former Florida state Rep. Steve Precourt has declined an offer to be the executive director of the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority.

Government

The Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla has signed into law bills setting up a city sales tax bond structure.

The Michigan treasurer said that a state review team has found Royal Oak Township and Highland Park, both Detroit area cities, to be in a state of financial emergency.

Fitch Ratings upgraded Mendocino County, Calif.'s pension obligation bonds Series 2002 ratings to A from BBB-plus affecting $74.2 million in debt, and also boosted the implied general obligation rating two notches.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco appointed Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, to the board of its Los Angeles branch.

Alaska Department of Revenue Commissioner Angela Rodell has appointed the state's former comptroller to lead the treasury division.

Moody's Investors Service dropped Alabama State University's bond ratings to Baa1 from A3 amid a forensic audit that began in 2012, and remains incomplete.

Fitch Ratings said it has downgraded to B from BB-plus North Las Vegas, Nev.'s $365,000 limited tax general obligation (LTGO) bond series 2002B; $131 million LTGO bonds (additionally secured by consolidated tax pledged revenues); and $290.7 million LTGO water and wastewater improvement bonds (additionally secured by water and wastewater system pledged revenues).

Blank Rome LLP's public finance team is joining Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC in Philadelphia, becoming the firm's only public finance attorneys based in the city, officials said.

Minnesota plans to sell $468 million of general fund appropriation-backed bonds for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium on Monday, two weeks after the state pulled the deal due to an 11th hour legal challenge.