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Daily report for April 08, 2020.

Financial advisors in the municipal bond market accumulated $74.48 billion, up from the $65.03 billion in the first three months of 2019. The top four places remained the same but the rest of the top 10 all saw big changes.

Despite a muted month of March due to the COVID-19 pandemic which included two weeks of no negotiated deals, muni bond issuers still sold more long-term debt than they did during the first three months of 2019. Issuers accounted for a total of $84.87 billion of bonds throughout 2,119 transactions, compared to $75.84 billion in 1,809 deals in first quarter of 2019. The top 10 features five newcomers from a year ago, including the top spot.

Underwriters of municipal bonds did the majority of business during the first two months of the year, before COVID-19 swept the country with sickness and severe spreading. The top underwriters accounted for $87.84 billion of bonds throughout 2,119 transactions, compared to $75.84 billion in 1,809 deals in first quarter of 2019.

Laura Kelly is promoting the plan as an economic stimulus.

Moody's says the downturn in activity will put additional pressure on the Caa3-rated issuer.

Tax-exempt and taxable deals priced as dealers opened up their balance sheets to new issues while the market still awaits word from the Fed on coronavirus-led purchase programs.

Tuition revenue headwinds made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic cost New Jersey’s Rider University its investment grade rating.

Marshall Medical Center in Placerville was cut to BB-plus.

The state's ratings are low investment grade, but the secondary market is pricing its bonds as high-yield.

GASB is considering postponing the effective dates of eight statements and five implementation guides.

State Departments of Transportation said $50 billion would provide states the ability to meet existing debt obligations.

Municipal market participants are confused, to say the least, about the Federal Reserve and its ability to buy long-term municipal securities. And there’s a good reason for the puzzlement.

More federal rescue moves are necessary for the nation’s largest mass transit system, according to the advocacy group Reinvent Albany.

Lee Igel, a professor at New York University's Tisch Institute for Global Sport, examines the ripple-effect economic impact, tangible and psychological, of sports cancellations due to the coronavirus. Paul Burton hosts.

Lawmakers granted Kevin Stitt authority to shift money where it's needed amid a coronavirus-driven fiscal crisis.

Only a skeleton service will remain for essential workers who need to leave home to do their jobs.

With Fed purchases on short end, more deals are showing up on the calendar and this week may become the testing ground for reopening the primary as participants gauge volatility and rates.

Michael Bartolotta, who built his career at Hilltop Securities' predecessor firm, returns to its Houston office.

The central bank is creating a facility to provide financing to banks participating in the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.