Buy side

As new-issue volume begins to build a little more momentum than last week, a two-pronged negotiated deal from the Arizona Transportation Board totaling $706.2 million will headline the activity, which includes an estimated $5.62 billion in primary issuance, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

More municipal bond investors have shown an affinity for actively managed muni ETFs.

Eaton Vance wants to be an industry leader in non-transparent actively managed muni exchange-traded funds.

Inflows returned to the market for municipal bond mutual funds with a vengeance, at $1.55 billion for the week ended Jan. 9.

The Bond Buyer weekly yield indexes declined the week ended Jan. 10.

West Penn Allegheny Health System, bondholders and Highmark are continuing talks about a $475 million affiliation agreement, with West Penn possibly avoiding bankruptcy.

Net Inflows among tax-exempt money market funds were $6.18 billion in the week ended Jan. 7, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Investors who hold some of the $4.5 billion of revenue bonds issued for the controversial Prairie State Energy Project can take heart that the project's long-term economics remain favorable for participating public power agencies despite cost overruns, says Moody's Investors Service.

Build America Mutual says it is now offering secondary market insurance, and has hired Hans Hanf to lead the secondary market desk.

The United States not-for-profit sector outlook is stable for 2013, but less favorable than past years, according to Standard & Poor's.

Municipal bond volume estimates this week suggest issuers are emerging slowly from their seasonal hibernation. Potential volume is expected to total $2.74 billion, up from total sales of $11.7 million last week.

Flows to muni bond mutual funds, though still negative, recovered much of their lost ground over the previous two weeks.

After another year of record low municipal bond interest rates, next year is expected to see a slight increase in yields, according to municipal research analysts.

The 12th-hour deal to keep the U.S. from plunging over the fiscal cliff and the yearly rollover of rates provided the impetus for municipal bond yields and indexes on the week to climb.

Natixis Global Asset Management, which recently acquired McDonnell Investment Management, has launched a new municipal bond fund.

Long-term municipal bond volume rose modestly for the month of December, closing the door gently on a year that saw record low interest rates spur an upsurge in refundings.

Volume in the municipal bond market should climb incrementally from the holiday week, to $161.3 million, up from total sales of just $14.0 million last week.

For a second consecutive week, flows to muni bond mutual funds got hammered. Funds that report their flows weekly recorded outflows of $423 million for the week ended Dec. 26.

Slight activity in the municipal market during the holiday week left tax-exempt yields mostly unchanged since last Friday, but accounted for mostly lower indexes.

Traders took a varied view of the municipal market Thursday. While some secondary market traders reported a decent amount of activity in the intermediate part of the muni yield curve throughout the day's session, others said they heard little more than crickets over the span.