Buy side

Outflows from municipal bond mutual funds persisted for a 32nd straight week, at $1.47 billion.

Muni bond funds that report flows weekly recorded outflows of $1.49 billion for the week of Dec. 25, down from $1.71 in the week prior, Lipper FMI numbers showed.

Outflows, weak supply, rising interest rates, and mediocre returns are forecast for the municipal market as it rings in 2014 — in other words: more of the same.

Light issuance and the Federal Open Market Committee's decision to taper its bond-buying program drove the municipal market on the pre-holiday week.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla is proposing three measures to strengthen the commonwealth's and its municipalities’ finances.

When Standard & Poor's downgraded Jefferson County, Ala.'s school warrants to D, some people said the action was misleading and others were confused.

Outflows from weekly reporting municipal bond mutual funds persisted for the 30th straight week, at $1.71 billion.

Heavy outflows from municipal bond mutual funds persisted, Lipper FMI numbers for the week of Dec. 18 showed.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes were mixed in the week ended Dec. 19.

Battered by rising interest rates and credit concerns in 2013, the muni market may face additional obstacles next year as regulatory limits on broker dealers could crimp liquidity.

Moody's Investors Service is maintaining a stable outlook for public power utilities in 2014, citing modest growth in demand and low volatility in natural gas prices.

Volume is expected to trail off to less than $3 billion this week in what will be the last five full trading sessions of 2013 in which a pair of Northeast deals will lead an otherwise skimpy slate of new issuance in the primary market ahead of a holiday hiatus next week.

Muni bond mutual funds struggled through their 29th straight week of outflows, at $1.90 billion for the week ended Dec. 11.

Municipal bond mutual funds recorded heavy outflows, marking the 29th straight week money has left funds, Lipper FMI numbers showed.

Improved issuer disclosure breeds investor confidence which in turn boosts Massachusetts' bond ratings, according to state Treasurer Steven Grossman.

Tax-exempt money market funds generated inflows for a second week in a row as $2.29 billion of new cash boosted total net assets to $265.75 billion in the period ending Dec. 9, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

The not-for-profit health care sector has reached a negative tipping point, warned Standard & Poor's, which also said new health care law could start to impact states' larger credit profiles.

Discount bonds performed worse because of the dreaded de minimis rule, under which buyers pay taxes on the gain at maturity at the ordinary income rate when the discount is large. But there is a silver lining — taking a tax-loss can ease the pain.

Moody's will extend its stable outlook to the airport sector in 2014 as more passengers will provide more support for new money debt.

American Airlines emergence from Chapter 11 and merger with US Airways Group Inc. officially took off Monday as trading on the new company began.