Buy side

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, was unchanged at 4.01% for the third consecutive week.

Lord Abbett’s Dan Solender and Eric Friedland join the Bond Buyer’s John Hallacy to discuss the market tone, rates, sectors, and credit quality. The colleagues give a frank assessment of the landscape, including federal policy, state financial trends, relative strengths of revenue bonds and the shape of the yield curve and the outlook for rates.

The state of Texas is riding into the market this week with the biggest short-term deal of the year.

The municipal market got off to a fast start in terms of issuance this year, picking up in January right where it left off from 2016’s record-setting totals. However, the pace of issuance has since slowed, leaving 2017 first-half volume lagging last year's levels.

Short-term note issuance rose less than 5% in the first half of 2017 as municipalities relies less on cash flow needs.

Part of the reason for munis' gains may be the reduction in issuance as governments wait for a federal infrastructure plan.

In the week ended Aug. 17, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index was steady at 4.01% from the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

How can muni managers produce consistent returns while managing risk efficiently? Invesco’s Mark Paris, CIO & Head of Municipals, and Stephanie Larosilliere, Vice President & Senior Client Portfolio Manager, talk about their high-yield municipal fund, which tends to focus on seven to 10 sectors, with Tobacco, CCRC, IDB and Charter schools among the most active. John Hallacy is our host.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices fell one basis point to 4.01% from the previous week's 4.02%.

Peter DeGroot, Strategist and Head of Municipal Research at JPMorgan, joins us to discuss his views on the municipal market for the second half from both the technical and credit aspects. Hosted by John Hallacy.