Bond ratings

Two rating agencies upgraded Los Angeles Unified School District's bond ahead of multi-billion dollar refunding.

"We withdrew the rating because we have determined we do not have sufficient information to maintain a forward-looking credit opinion on the city," S&P said.

The criteria should result in a nearly equal number of upgrades and downgrades in the next half year, according to the rating agency.

S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on the university's debt to negative a month after Moody's Ratings took similar action as the school faces financial difficulties and management changes.

John Hallacy of John Hallacy Consulting and Rich Ciccarone, president emeritus of Merritt Research Services, talk with Chip Barnett about the municipal bond business over the past 40 years. They take a look back at where the industry has been, where it is and where it will be going.

Rating agency cited built up reserves as a key to the city's "better financial footing."

Under the proposed deal, the city would sell $650 million of judgment bonds to fund back pay for firefighters, whose wages would increase by up to 34% over the life of a new five-year contract.

Moody's Ratings hiked Detroit's issuer and general obligation unlimited tax bond ratings to Baa2 from Ba1, a milestone for the formerly bankrupt city.

Fitch analysts cited improved financial metrics, a full recovery on enplanements and great clarity on its capital program.

Separately, Fitch raised Orlando's $159.87 million of Series 2017A senior tourist development tax revenue bonds, 6th-cent contract payments, to A from BBB.

"The risk of future budgetary pressure is further elevated due to pension contributions falling short of their actuarially determined contribution amounts in each of the past three years and a relatively high level of unfunded pension liabilities," said S&P's Rob Marker.

"In Kentucky, we're working hard to ensure our place as a leader in economic development, and this growth in exports shows our efforts are succeeding," said Gov. Andy Beshear.

The state's largest healthcare district by land mass is at risk of breaching financial covenants, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Pensions funds are increasingly investing in riskier asset classes, with more than half their investments in 2022 in these, according to some estimates.

This decision will accelerate foreign buyers' reduced presence in the muni market, said Vikram Rai, head of municipal markets strategy at Wells Fargo.

The rating agency cited traction on its financial turnaround in revising the outlook on the junk-rated hospital to stable from negative.

The upcoming fiscal 2025 budget will take "some first steps" to address a structural gap of about $158 million, Melissa Dubowski said.

Colorado's sole public safety net healthcare provider faces rising uncompensated care costs, driven in part by treating thousands of uninsured migrants coming from the southern border.

Fitch Ratings downgraded the private-activity bonds supporting LAX's people mover bonds to junk, but said they could fall lower if the airport doesn't reach an agreement on delay concessions.

The ratings agency cited federal support and military spending on the island as keys to its decision.