Buy side

The Bond Buyer’s 20-Bond GO Index of 20-year general obligation yields dropped to its lowest level in at least six months as it fell 11 basis points in the week ended Dec. 3 to 3.83% from 3.94% in the previous week.

Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday it is maintaining its negative outlook on the non-profit health care sector for 2015, warning that key economic and financial conditions are expected to remain weak.

Long-term municipal bond issuance rose for the fourth month in a row as volume increased 15.3% in November.

Municipal strategists say intermediate securities, premium bonds with short calls, and investment-grade paper, top their holiday wish lists of must-have securities as 2014 winds down, while they forecast continued steady performance by municipals into early 2015.

The weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, was unchanged at 4.40% in the week ending Nov. 25.

New municipal deals will be almost as scarce as Thanksgiving leftovers this week when traders, underwriters, and investors take a holiday hiatus and volume dips to less than $1 billion.

Kentucky's Paducah Power System board will be asked to take bankruptcy off the table as an option to deal with its struggling finances, said manager Mark Crisson, because the system is solvent.

The weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, fell two basis points to 4.39% in the week ending Nov. 20 from 4.41% in the previous week.

JEA, north Florida's largest utility, rejected a plan by Jacksonville's mayor to contribute $400 million to the city's pension liability, but agreed to consider negotiating a smaller amount and may issue pension obligation bonds.

Volume is forecast to more than double to nearly $7.9 billion this week as Connecticut makes its way to the helm of the primary market with its $550 million offering of general obligation bonds.

Innovative businessman James A. Lebenthal — whose family was often referred to as the first family of New York City municipal bonds — is widely credited as the first broker to use the media to sell tax-exempt investments to individual investors. He coined such phrases in his ads as "bonds are my babies" and championed the debt of projects like the World Trade Center.

In a bid to boost its sagging economy, Puerto Rico is contemplating its biggest tax overhaul in decades.

The fall meeting of the Municipal CFO Forum slated for Thursday and Friday in Chicago will focus on "financial communications."

A renewed interest in subdivisions that stalled during the recession is likely the main reason the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission reported doubling of refunding volume in land-secured Mello-Roos bonds from fiscal year 2011-12 to 2012-13, according to government consultant Larry Kosmont.

While taxable century bond deals have recently gained in popularity among select issuers, they are less likely to become a household name in the municipal market due to their longer-than-usual lifespan and limited liquidity in the secondary market, muni experts said.

After a two-week climb, volume in the primary market may dip below $6 billion this week as a general obligation offering from Hawaii will lead the limited trading activity.

The $37 billion of bonds approved by the nation's voters Nov. 4 included 13 of the 15 largest initiatives but fell far short of the record $69.6 billion approved in 2006.

Municipal bond fund inflows rose after declining for three straight weeks.

The weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, rose three basis points the week ending Nov. 6 to 4.38%.

Warnings of a "death spiral" for regulated electric utilities caused by distributed generation such as rooftop solar panels are premature, according to Moody's Investors Service.