News and Information from Bond Buyer

A group of Detroit's creditors, including bond insurers, asked the bankruptcy court overseeing the city's case to appoint a committee to assess the value of the city art collection and propose ideas for monetizing it.

Government

Standard & Poor's and Moody's both changed their outlook on Arizona to positive from stable based on the state's improved budget stabilization fund balances.

The weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, was unchanged this week, at 5.08% for the week ending Nov. 28, 2013; it remains above its 5.07% average from three weeks ago.

Demand for bonds in the secondary market outweighed a light new issue calendar of under $540 million this week, allowing muni prices to gain for a second session.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane is expected to issue a decision on the American Airlines bankruptcy at a hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday in New York.

Collingswood, N.J.'s general obligation bond rating is "back where it always should have been," its mayor said after Standard & Poor's assigned it a AA-minus rating.

The Chicago City Council overwhelmingly approved a $7 billion 2014 budget that is balanced but with little buffer to absorb a $600 million pension payment spike looming in 2015.

Amid light new issue supply, the tax-exempt market firmed for a second session as triple-A rated South Carolina auctioned bonds in the competitive market that came richer to Monday's benchmark scales.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says its case against former JPMorgan bankers Charles LeCroy and Douglas MacFaddin should go to trial.

Indianapolis, which has privatized its water, sewer and parking systems, is now eying a public-private partnership for the city's parks.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman have called off talks for a potential merger.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Detroit-based Ambassador Capital Management and portfolio manager Derek Oglesby with fraud for investing in risky securities and passing them off to investors, including municipalities, as safe money market funds.

The Treasury Department auctioned $35 billion of five-year notes, with a 1 1/4% coupon, a 1.340% high yield, a price of 99.566562.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed the far-reaching transportation bill that lawmakers enacted last week after lengthy debate.

Detroit's proposed $350 million debtor-in-possession financing would mark the largest such deal in Chapter 9 history, but not the first: that honor goes to Orange County, Calif.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $45 billion of four-week bills at a 0.065% high yield, a price of 99.995125.

Mitre Media plans the beta launch in February of a web-based tool designed to connect buyers and sellers, in the latest online marketing venture aimed at munis.

UBS AG offered to repurchase some shares of its Puerto Rico bond funds after the commonwealth's debt has lost 16 percent this year.

Texas service sector activity picked up in November, according to business executives responding to the Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index grew to 11.4 from 5.3.