News and Information from Bond Buyer

Raymond James is continuing its public finance expansion in the West with the recent addition of Parker Colvin in San Francisco.

Kentucky plans to price $747 million on Dec. 10-11 to finance the major portion of the "Downtown Crossing" of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

For the first time in five years, Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook for U.S. local governments to stable from negative, as housing markets continue to stabilize, municipalities' fund balances remain healthy and cities and school districts control their costs.

Business leaders expect higher sales will lead to more business spending and hiring in the next six months, an industry survey of chief executives said Wednesday.

Municipals started softer Wednesday morning after economic data from ADP showed more job growth than expected.

According to Fitch Ratings, the December 3 ruling by a federal bankruptcy court judge that the city of Detroit is eligible for Chapter 9 was not a surprise, although the ruling regarding pension obligations provided unexpected clarity to a question that has puzzled many municipal market participants.

The unemployment rate will drop below 6.5% by the third quarter of 2015, but the inflation threshold won't be breached for some time after that, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland researchers Edward Knotek and Saeed Zaman estimate.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn promised a prompt signature on the pension overhaul lawmakers delivered Tuesday, setting the stage for battles over its legality and effectiveness.

About 5,171,500 online job postings appeared on leading Internet job boards in November, an increase of 244,700 from October, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The pace of new single-family home sales surged 25.4% to a 444,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in October from a 354,000 pace in September, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a slightly slower pace in November as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 53.9 in the month, compared to 55.4 in October, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.

After 14 straight quarters of revenue growth, most U.S. states are heading into the new year with a stable outlook even as local governments will continue to feel the financial pressures they experienced over the course of the economic downturn, according to Fitch Ratings.

The U.S. October trade report was about as expected, showing better U.S. exports and implying the trade sector will add to real growth in Q4.

After 14 straight quarters of revenue growth, most U.S. states are heading into the new year with a stable outlook even as local governments will continue to feel the financial pressures they experienced over the course of the economic downturn, according to Fitch Ratings.

Moody's Investors Service said it has downgraded Millcreek Township School District, Pa., to A2 from Aa3 affecting $8.7 million of rated general obligation debt.

Dec. 4, 2013 Midwest: Plain/Insured GO Yield Curve* State Ratings One-Year Five-Year 10-Year 30-Year Illinois A3/A+/A+ 0.87 2.46 4.38 5.55 Indiana Aaa/AAA/AA+ 0.2 1.3 2.83 4.28 Iowa Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.17 1.23 2.77 4.22 Michigan Aa2/AA/AA 0.24 1.39 3.03 4.48 Minnesota Aa1/AA+/AA+ 0.17 1.19 2.71 4.15 Missouri Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.17 1.17 2.66 4.11 Nebraska NR/AAA/AA+ 0.19 1.29 2.86 4.3 North Dakota Aa1/AA+/NR 0.19 1.26 2.8 4.27 Ohio Aa1/AA+/AA+ 0.19 1.26 2.88 4.34 South Dakota NR/AA+/NR 0.2 1.33 2.91 4.37 Wisconsin Aa2/AA/AA 0.19 1.27 2.88 4.34

12/3/2013 11/26/2013 State # Iss Amount ($000) # Iss Amount ($000) Chg in Amt ($000s) Illinois 16 155,552 14 152,542 3,010 Indiana 20 181,225 15 126,885 54,340 Iowa 7 144,605 7 121,545 23,060 Michigan 6 128,325 3 76,335 51,990 Minnesota 23 74,165 19 65,505 8,660 Missouri 6 232,115 4 223,415 8,700 Nebraska 1 28,500 0 0 28,500 North Dakota 2 13,180 2 13,180 0 Ohio 8 173,565 0 0 173,565 South Dakota 1 39,340 1 39,340 0 Wisconsin 21 126,865 9 67,175 59,690

Wednesday, December 4 Issuer St Description Amount

Wednesday, December 4 Issuer St Description Amount

Week Of December 2 Issuer St Description Amount