Buy side

The trustee for the Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority's defaulted bonds wants a toll increase for the Garcon Point Bridge but north Florida residents are opposing the plan.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded healthcare giant Catholic Health Inititiatives to A2 from A1 after a year of declining operating performance.

Some seldom seen issuers are returning to the municipal bond market in the upcoming week as sales slip slightly. Total new issue volume is estimated at $6.138 billion for the week, according to Ipreo and The Bond Buyer. This is down from the $6.992 billion of new supply that priced last week, Thomson Reuters said.

In the shadow of the biggest Wall Street empires, Hennion & Walsh has managed to thrive for a quarter of a century.

California's long-term ratings from all rating agencies could hit double-A levels if current conditions continue, according to a Municipal Market Analytics report.

Municipal volume is forecasted to rise in the holiday-shortened week, with three of the four biggest deals tied to oil.

The Government Finance Officers Association is levelling strong criticism at Moody's Investors Service for failing to provide its credit ratings to EMMA and urging the agency to do so.

Short term municipal bonds, after posting negative returns in December, may still have value as an alternative to staying in cash while waiting for the Federal Reserve Board to raise interest rates.

Muni Bond Indexes Strengthen Again in Latest Week

Standard & Poor's maintains a negative outlook on the nonprofit higher education sector in 2015.

Analysts attribute the spate of municipal bankruptcies since 2011 to the aftereffects of the 2008 credit crisis and Great Recession, as well as changing attitudes about debt.

Municipal bond defaults, which increased to record levels last year as Detroit's bankruptcy boosted the total, may remain elevated this year.

The Charlotte, N.C., City Council agreed to restructure two non-recourse bank loans obtained as part of the financing to build the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Investors will celebrate a $3 billion boost in volume this week, highlighted by a large, well-known New York credit, following the seasonally-light first official week back to market.

Tennessee has $5.9 billion in outstanding debt, and reduced its GO bonds by $175 million, state comptroller Justin Wilson said in the state's semi-annual debt report.

For the week ended Jan. 8, 2015 the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, fell eight basis points to 4.21% from 4.29% in the previous week.

Chris Mier, chief strategist at Loop Capital along with Tom Kozlik, director and credit analyst at Janney Capital Markets, will be presenting their forecasts for the municipal bond market at the Jan. 15 meeting of the Philadelphia Municipal Analyst Society.

Vanguard is expanding its existing lineup of municipal bond funds with the upcoming launch of its first-ever national municipal bond index fund.

Proposed changes in how Moody's Investors Service rates $6.5 billion in tax allocation bonds in California could mean upgrades for many Golden State redevelopment credits.

Illinois and Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner face a sea of red ink because shrinking income tax revenue will fail to keep pace with rising pension and health insurance costs, according to outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn's latest three-year budget forecast.