Buy side

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.

As cash-strapped governments like Illinois and Chicago eye non-traditional revenues like gambling and marijuana, economists and government officials warned that so-called sin taxes are no panacea for budget shortfalls.

A San Francisco-based airline's April Fool's joke triggered a disclosure notice on EMMA; the trustee for bonds issued for the airport in Branson, Mo. Wanted to be sure bondholders new that Virgin America was just kidding about its plans to serve Branson.

Despite the bankruptcy of its current operator, the Indiana Toll Road continues to show the benefits of privatization, as does the new $5.7 billion bid for the road, Wells Fargo says in a new report.

For the week ended April 2, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, increased two basis points to 4.22% from 4.20% in the week ended March 26.

For the first time in 12 weeks, municipal bond funds reported a cash outflow as retail investors cashed out ahead of the April 15 tax filing date.

As the municipal market was winding down on Thursday ahead of the Good Friday observance, traders and underwriter were preparing for an upcoming $871.26 million sale of revenue bonds from the North Texas Tollway Authority.

Municipals offer higher quality than corporate bonds, tax advantages, diversity, as well as higher yield and less duration risk than their Treasury counterparts, two municipal analysts said in reports this week.

If estimates hold, the market is heading into a 12th week in a row with supply more than $8 billion, as issuers look to take advantage of historically low interest rates.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, decreased five basis points to 4.20% from 4.25% for the week ended March 19.

Franklin Templeton Investments filed its first brief on March 25 appealing the ruling that allowed Stockton to exit bankruptcy.