Buy side

Bondholders for a failed private jail would receive about 55 cents on the dollar under a proposed sale of the $35.4 million lockup to Burnet County, Texas, according to a trustee's disclosure.

Last week's aborted Louisiana State University bond deal stemmed from what an analyst called a “shell game” in which state lawmakers try to balance budgets by cutting aid to localities.

Chapter 9 guru James Spiotto says states are increasingly realizing the importance of early intervention in their distressed cities to avoid the crisis of a municipal bankruptcy where everyone loses.

Older companies often face challenges in adapting to new challenges, but they have advantages as well, according to chief executives, including Alexandra Lebenthal, at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference.

Variable rate debt represents 8% of the bond portfolio of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority — well below its 25% threshold, said finance manager Patrick McCoy.

Municipal volume is forecast to plunge in the week ahead, with no negotiated deals bigger than $209 million and only eight issues larger than $100 million.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, increased three basis points to 4.26% from 4.23% for the week ended April 16.

Rhode Island's serious financial challenges extend well beyond the headline 38 Studios bond financing controversy, said a report by Gurtin Fixed Income Management.

Muni managers are earning attractive yields from lower quality bonds and minimizing their exposure to the long end of the yield curve.

Gary Binkiewicz, a 35-year veteran in the municipal bond market, has joined R. Seelaus and Co. as a senior vice president and head municipal bond analyst after just over two years at First Southwest, where held the same position.

A network interruption brought down the financial market’s largest inventory management system Friday morning, stifling municipal bond trading on some platforms and highlighting vulnerability of the market to technological failures.

Municipal bond issuance is set to jump in the coming week led by deals from the West Coast, as issuers look to lower borrowing costs.

For the week ended April 16, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, increased one basis point to 4.23% from 4.22% in the week ended April 9.

The firm, which opened its doors in Philadelphia on April 11, 1975, is now one of the nation's leading providers of independent financial advisory services to state, local, and regional government and non-profit institutions and clients throughout the country.

Lower pump prices are boosting fuel consumption and vehicle miles traveled, leading to higher gas tax collections, a trend Moody’s Investors Service expects to continue over the near-term.

Municipal bond volume is poised to rebound in the coming week, led by a deal from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, stayed the same at 4.22% from the week ended April 2.

The more than $3.5 billion coming to market from Puerto Rico in coming months will be geared to non-traditional buyers, further distancing retail investors from debt they once coveted for its universal triple-tax exemption.

Counterparty Wells Fargo has so far refused to lower the rating threshold for three Chicago swaps that reached termination events through recent downgrades, a source said.

A bill proposing that the rates of the Florida Municipal Power Agency should be regulated by a state agency could jeopardize its credit ratings, according to Moody Investors Service.