Buy side

Outflows among tax-exempt money market funds continued for a third consecutive week as $879.7 million exited the funds and total net assets fell to $262.78 billion.

Non-profit hospitals in states that have opted not to expand their Medicaid programs under the new federal health care law will face financial problems and rating pressure next year, Fitch Ratings warned.

The network of muni credit professionals in Philadelphia has spawned a local analyst group that will launch next month with a Logan Square reception.

The steady rise of inter-dealer trading of municipal bonds since the financial crisis has spurred debate in the market. Does their trading produce more liquidity or less-reliable price levels?

Drexel Hamilton LLC, a veteran-owned full service institutional broker dealer, added to its municipal infantry with the appointment of John M. Donovan as senior vice president of municipal institutional sales.

While Connecticut’s $600 million special tax obligation financing will top this week’s slate of primary market deals, an overall drop in supply may leave investors starved for paper after a rally last week that dropped municipal yields to three-month lows.

Oppenheimer Funds, manager of 12 of the top 14 funds in exposure to Puerto Rico, has suffered the biggest outflows in the industry over the past six weeks as investors continued to shy away from the commonwealth’s debt after yields surged.

Investors continued to pull money from municipal bond mutual funds for a 22nd straight week, at $746 million.

Tax-exempt money market funds continued their downward trend as $1.26 billion exited the industry and total net assets settled at $263.66 billion in the week ended Oct. 21, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Banks extended their record holdings of municipal bond debt in the first half of 2013 to the highest level since 1991 as they cashed in on an unprecedented opportunity for higher yields amid volatility, municipal sources said.

A $1.61 billion California various purpose general obligation offering will headline the primary market this week and contribute to the more than $8 billion of new supply, as volume nearly doubles from last week.

A burst of activity in the secondary market has pushed intermediate and long-term tax-exempt yields lower as the day's session crosses into the afternoon.

Municipal market participants foresee mostly a quiet Friday, in anticipation of a growing calendar projected to arrive next week.

Outflows from municipal bond mutual funds continued their stranglehold on the market as demand faltered for a 21st straight week.

A sizeable anticipated calendar, an end to the standoff in Washington and cash-laden investors have provided some downward momentum to yields in the municipal market.

Lebenthal Holdings LLC next month will continue its expansion by starting a private wealth advisory division for retail and institutional clients and adding two Wall Street veterans to lead the endeavor.

Puerto Rico's efforts to stave off a growing financial crisis could turn its bonds into junk-rated debt, BlackRock's municipal bonds group said Thursday.

The municipal market opened Thursday's session with slightly lower yields following news that the U.S. government proved capable of stepping away from the financial abyss.

Tax-exempt money market funds lost $973.2 million reducing total net assets to $264.92 billion in the week ended Oct. 14, as outflows resumed after the prior week's gain, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Bond insurers are poised to withstand the possible fallout from ratings downgrades or defaults on the industry's $16 billion of Puerto Rico bond exposure.