Buy side

The spread between MCDX's Series 22 and Series 21 presents investors with another way to short Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bonds.

To grow and expand its platform of services, retirement and financial services provider TIAA-CREF has acquired Nuveen Investments in a $6.25 billion transaction expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

With volume expected to return to its recent paltry levels this week, the municipal market will look to a $321 million sale of North Carolina general obligation bonds for direction.

Municipal funds reported the biggest inflows in seven weeks, as interest rate concerns faded and investors sought high yields.

The Bond Buyer's muni bond indexes strengthened in the week ending April 3, as Treasury yields declined.

Tax-exempt money market funds increased total net assets by $1.58 billion to $270.38 billion in the week ended April 7, reversing recent weeks’ outflows, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Municipal fund flows rebounded the week ending April 9, as funds reported the largest amount of inflows since the start of 2014.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. launched a fund designed to avoid risk, protecting investors’ capital by focusing on high-grade intermediate maturities.

While Detroit and Puerto Rico make the headlines, a cautious and conservative approach is the best bet, according to two municipal bond portfolio managers, whose strategies are representative of about three-quarters of municipal fund managers.

An uptick in volume this week will bring a handful of sizable deals to the primary market, but won't be enough to relieve the supply shortage that has prevailed so far in 2014, municipal traders said.

Susannah Page, a former director in the municipal research sector at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has joined Roosevelt & Cross Inc.

Municipal funds reported outflows for the second week in a row after six-straight weeks of inflows.

Tax-exempt money market funds had outflows of another $1.48 billion as total net assets dipped to $268.81 billion in the week ended March 31.

The second quarter will begin as the first quarter ended, with volume this week on the sparse side.

Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer anticipate long-term new volume will hover around $4.19 billion this week, versus last week's revised $4.78 billion reported by Thomson Reuters. The dearth of supply is frustrating for some traders.

The six-week streak of municipal bond fund inflows has ended as concern over rising interest rates weighed on the market.

For yet another year, uncertainty surrounding the potential loss or cap of the municipal tax exemption concerned panelists at the National Municipal Bond Summit.

Continuing a recent pattern, $195 million trickled out of tax-exempt money market funds as total net assetsdipped to $270.29 billion in the week ended March 24, according to The MoneyFund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Municipal strategists are recommending non-traditional ways to manage the risk of rising interest rates after a surge in the price of short term bonds.

Expectations for rising interest rates, continued low supply, and credit spread tightening are prompting municipal portfolio managers preparing for the second quarter to tweak the duration and credit quality of their tax-exempt holdings, while keeping a wary eye on the economy.

A trio of financings from California, Georgia, and New York will lead the primary market as the first quarter winds down with another week of meagre supply.