Buy side

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.

New deals have arrived, but the tenor the municipal market has taken on has moved toward one of higher yields.

The municipal market is waiting for the week's primary issuance to arrive Tuesday and set a tone for yields.

As this year's note season ramps up, market participants expect strong demand and steady levels of issuance with last year's seasonal total of almost $39 billion.

Following Friday's shellacking, the municipal market has largely paused to catch its collective breath. Participants report activity in trades of smaller size, as the market overall is slackening somewhat to get deals done.

The municipal market sees traces of activity Monday, showing a slightly softer market.

Municipal market volume may improve this week from last, though municipal experts say issuance continues to be thin for this time of the year as the spring reinvestment season approaches.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw inflows into weekly-reporting funds, at $22 million, for the first time in 10 weeks.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes were mixed the week ended May 9.

Moody's Investors Service said the settlement between MBIA Inc. and Bank of America Corp. is a credit positive for the company and its subsidiaries, but kept their ratings on review for downgrade.

Modest inflows arrived on the heels of the $4.49 billion that escaped in the week ended April 29 — typically the tail end of heavy seasonal outflows associated with individuals and corporations paying income tax debts to Uncle Sam.