Buy side

The municipal market had little momentum to propel it forward to start the week.

Investors pulled more money from municipal bond mutual funds than they have all year as funds that report flows weekly recorded outflows of $1.47 billion for the week ending June 5.

Muni money funds continue to struggle to recoup the billions they lost this year — particulary around income tax season — and the arrival this week of $411 million is not much of a boost.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management unveiled two exchange-traded funds Tuesday that are the first devoted entirely to infrastructure revenue bonds and regulated utilities.

Michael K. Farr, president of Farr, Miller & Washington, delivers a yield kick to his savvy retail clients via market inefficiencies in the secondary market to offset the lack of return in the plain-vanilla market.

Note season will get underway this week with a $1 billion sale of tax and revenue anticipation notes from Los Angeles County, while the commonwealth of Massachusetts will also sell $1 billion of general obligation debt amid more than $5 billion of expected new volume.

Issuance numbers for long-term municipal bonds in May continued to underwhelm market expectations, decreasing 28% for the month.

Muni bond mutual fund flows fell back into the red at $157 million, entering territory they occupied for most of the spring.

Outflows among tax-exempt money market funds continued to fluctuate in the week ended May 27 as $1.84 billion fled the industry and total net assets settled at $257.43 billion, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Academy Securities, an investment bank with a municipal business started by a retired naval officer, wants to put those who've served in the armed forces to work in the securities industry.

A $500 million offering from NY's MTA is among the $4 billion of new issuance estimated to be priced this week as investors scramble to find bonds ahead of the heavy upcoming June 1 redemption date.

The tax-exempt market traded softer every session this week as buyers refused to put money to work at such high prices.

Income improvements among mortgage insurers this year are a credit positive for housing finance agency single family whole loan programs, according to Moody's.

Flows into municipal bond mutual funds scraped and clawed into positive territory the week of May 22, at $63 million.

Flows into tax-exempt money market funds continued to see-saw this week as $906.5 million arrived in the week ended May 20, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Aside from an $800 million New York City general obligation refunding planned for Wednesday, there will be few large deals to grab investors' attention in the municipal market this week as approximately $5 billion in new issuance is expected on the heels of a quiet end to last week's activity.

Stronger inflows made their way into municipal bond mutual funds, at $306 million for the week of May 15.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes were again mixed the week ended May 16.

Tax-exempt money market funds had a hard time holding onto what little inflows they regained last week as $1.72 billion exited the industry and total net assets settled at $258.36 billion in the week ended May 13, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

For Bill Walsh, there isn't much room in a retail investor's muni bond portfolio for volatility or variability. That's why the 33-year municipal market veteran and president of Hennion & Walsh prefers high-quality paper and low risk for his pre-retiree clients, as well as personalized portfolio planning that is tied to clients' life goals and objectives.