News and Information from Bond Buyer

A Nov. 11 announcement that Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves will be building a new stadium in suburban Cobb County and will receive some form of local government funding has brought an age-old debate on whether public dollars for sports facilities makes economic sense for municipalities back to the forefront. The question of governments such as Cobb County utilizing public money for sports venues was raised on Nov. 6 during a panel called “Stadium Financing: Boon or Bane” at the Bloomberg State & Municipal Conference in New York. Gregory Carey, managing director at Goldman Sachs & Co. who heads the investment banking company’s sports finance and surface transportation finance group, argued that the pros of governments investing in stadiums and arenas for their sports teams outweighs the cons. One example cited by Carey was how the $400 million the state of Minnesota is putting in toward a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings comprises roughly the payroll tax paid by the National Football League franchise that would be lost should the team have relocated out of the area.

October import prices posted -0.7% in their biggest drop since April, and ex-fuel import prices were flat.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "conditions weakened somewhat for New York manufacturers," the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Friday as the general business conditions index fell to negative 2.21 in November from positive 1.52 in October.

With motor fuel tax in a long-term slide, transportation advocates need to get better at convincing the public and elected officials about the link between infrastructure and regional economic health, transportation experts here at the Bond Buyer's transportation conference said Thursday.

The Puerto Rico Treasury is taking a variety of steps to crack down on tax evasion, including hiring 195 professionals to crack down on the practice.

Indicator Last Report Forecast Actual Initial Claims Nov. 2: 341,000 Nov. 9: 330,000 Nov. 9: 339,000 Continuing Claims Oct. 26: 2.874M Nov. 2: 2.870M Nov. 2: 2.874M International Trade Aug.: -$38.7B Sept.: -$39.0B Sept.: -$41.8B Productivity Q2: +1.8% Q3: +2.0% Q3: +1.9% Unit Labor Costs Q2: +0.5% Q3: +0.5% Q3: -0.6%

Monday, November 18 Issuer St Description Amount

Monday, November 18 Issuer St Description Amount

Friday, November 15 Issuer St Description Amount

Friday, November 15 Issuer St Description Amount

Nov. 15, 2013 Far West: Plain/Insured GO Yield Curve* State Ratings One-Year Five-Year 10-Year 30-Year Alaska Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.18 1.18 2.64 4.2 California A1/A/A+ 0.2 1.37 3.2 4.85 Hawaii Aa2/AA/AA+ 0.18 1.28 2.87 4.38 Idaho Aa1/AA+/NR 0.2 1.3 2.86 4.43 Montana Aa1/AA/AA+ 0.2 1.31 2.84 4.39 Nevada Aa2/AA/AA+ 0.23 1.37 2.96 4.55 Oregon Aa1/AA+/AA+ 0.18 1.23 2.75 4.3 Washington Aa1/AA+/AA+ 0.21 1.29 2.9 4.44 Wyoming NR/AAA/NR 0.18 1.25 2.72 4.26

11/14/2013 11/7/2013 State # Iss Amount ($000) # Iss Amount ($000) Chg in Amt ($000) Alaska 0 $0 0 $0 $0 California 15 1,236,085 6 206,835 1,029,250 Hawaii 0 0 0 0 0 Idaho 1 3,845 0 0 3,845 Montana 1 26,000 0 0 26,000 Nevada 0 0 0 0 0 Oregon 0 0 2 39,570 -39,570 Washington 0 0 0 0 0 Wyoming 0 0 0 0 0

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Government

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes rose the week ended Nov. 14.

The triple-B ratings assigned to Jefferson County, Ala.'s $1.7 billion sewer warrant deal should be considered "borderline non-investment grade," Standard & Poor's said.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is considering launching a campaign urging municipal issuers to lobby federal regulators and lawmakers against underwriter restrictions contained in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s final municipal advisor registration rule.

Investor demand for municipal bond mutual funds remained sluggish for a 25th straight week, with outflows of $903 million for the week of Nov. 13.

The Las Cruces School District has a brighter outlook on its Aa2 rating from Moody's Investors Service as it prepares to issue $10 million of general obligation bonds.