Buy side

Standard & Poor's lowered its ratings on Sweet Briar College's bonds to B-minus from BBB due to a recent decision to close the central Virginia woman's college.

Portfolio manager Michael Pepe is buying bonds with 10-year call provisions and hospital bonds with attractive yields to cope with a flat yield curve and tight spreads as the market awaits higher interest rates.

Hospital credits could be hurt if the Supreme Court strikes down federal health insurance subsidies established by the Affordable Care Act, Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday.

Strong overall demand for municipals and opportunities for relatively attractive yields in the new-issue market should propel interest in next week's primary market sized at nearly $9 billion.

Standard & Poor's had more than two times more upgrades than downgrades in 2014.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, declined one basis point to 4.25% from 4.26% for the week ended Feb. 19.

In a review of key public finance sectors affected by falling oil prices, Moody's Investors Service analysts see an upside for transportation and those supported by consumer spending.

There are few lay-ups in muni bond investing, but jettisoning buy-and-hold for dynamic tax management may be one of them.

Some portfolio managers have moved beyond merely matching benchmarks as they strive to match clients’ goals.

While municipal bond volume was essentially flat by par value in 2014, there were significant variations from sector to sector.

Total long-term municipal bond issuance did what no one thought it would do in 2014: beat 2013's total issuance.

Note volume was 17% lower than it was last year as state and local governments continued a period of austerity, supported by a stronger United States economy that helped strengthen finances and curtail the need for short-term cash flow.

The municipal bond market will be more robust for the week of Feb. 23, with roughly $5.652 billion more issuance than in the past holiday-shortened week.

Stifel Financial Corp. reportedly is in talks to buy Sterne Agee Group Inc., continuing an acquisition spree that's vaulted the St. Louis based brokerage and investment banking firm into the top 10 among municipal underwriters.

For the week ended Feb. 19, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, jumped five basis points to 4.26% from 4.21%.

With hospital issuance up so far in 2015 and likely to stay that way, investors may not be sufficiently compensated for the sector's risks, according to Municipal Market Advisors.

As taxable fixed-income rates remain near all-time lows, Kentucky is one of several states eyeing pension obligation bonds to deal with unfunded retirement obligations.

It looks like it will be pretty quiet trading in the week ahead. Only about $4.6 billion of new municipal bonds are scheduled to be sold during the holiday-shortened week as issuers and underwriters will be watching market conditions closely.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, rose 9 basis points to 4.21% from 4.12% for the week ended Feb. 5.

Moody's Investors Service reported more upgrades than downgrades by number and par value in the fourth quarter, marking "economic and financial stabilization" in public finance.