Buy side

Christopher Brogdon, who was at the center of more than a dozen problematic healthcare municipal bond deals for which at least $2 million was unaccounted for, will resign from the board of healthcare firm AdCare.

BMO Global Asset Management has hired three municipal veterans to its municipal fixed income portfolio management division.

Alaska, North Dakota and Wyoming are the states most "in the crosshairs" as energy revenues look to remain low well into next year, Fitch Ratings said.

An attorney for Jefferson County, Ala., has asked an appellate court to consider the analysis of a federal judge who dismissed the final appeal in Detroit’s bankruptcy case.

Municipal bond funds stayed on a fund flow see-saw, reporting inflows for the latest week.

In the week ended Oct. 8, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index fell one basis point to 4.37% from 4.38% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

Kroll has weighed in on Chicago’s 2016 budget, praising the spending plan for a key property tax increase but warning of unresolved challenges and one-shot revenue boosts.

Some municipal bond strategists are adding risk to boost fourth-quarter yields following the Federal Reserve Board’s decision on Sept. 17 to keep rates unchanged, while other are playing a more defensive game.

In the midst of a spate of municipal bankruptcies and a credit crisis in Puerto Rico, a report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency highlighted a divergence among the credit rating services.

Municipal bond funds experienced another turn around and reported outflows, after recording inflows last week, according to Lipper data released on Thursday.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, was four basis points lower to 4.38% for the week ended Oct. 1 from 4.42% in the previous week

Chicago's steep borrowing costs should come down if the City Council adopts Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed 2016 budget and property tax hikes, the city's chief financial officer, Carole Brown, told council members.

Interactive Data announced on Tuesday the launch of its Liquidity Indicators Service for municipal and corporate bonds. The service will let subscribers access a series of security- and portfolio-level “Liquidity Indicators,” which are aimed at helping companies manage liquidity risk in any type of economic cycle, the company said.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel brought the case for a budget proposal that hikes property taxes to fund police and firefighter pensions before the municipal bond market on Monday. Speaking in Manhattan to the Municipal Forum of New York, Emanuel said that the only alternative to his budget is to make massive cuts in the city’s workforce and services.

A water banking agreement between Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a credit positive, Moody’s Investors Service said.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez wants to extend protections under the Investment Company Act of 1940 to Puerto Rico, saying their absence caused Puerto Ricans to suffer losses when they invested in mutual funds heavily stocked with the financially struggling commonwealth’s bonds.

Municipal bond funds reported inflows for the first time in four weeks, according to Lipper data released on Thursday. Weekly reporting funds experienced $231.252 million of inflows in the week ended Sept. 23, after outflows of $411.069 million in the previous week, Lipper reported.

In the week ended Sept. 24, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index was down five basis points to 4.42% from 4.47% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

Faltering projects designed to boost the economy can expose municipalities to the perils of backing such ventures, Moody's Investors Service said in a commentary.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his finance team can expect tough questions from the muni buyside Friday at the city’s closed-door annual investor conference.