Buy side

Healthcare bond issuance is expected to continue its increase next year, with an estimated $34 billion, according to a BofA Merrill Lynch report.

Columbus, Ohio, Auditor Hugh J. Dorrian intends to ask for authority to refund up to $475 million of Build America Bonds and recovery zone economic development bonds if federal subsidies are cut under sequestration or in a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

Moderate trading in the secondary market continues to characterize an otherwise quiet session for the municipal market Thursday.

Poseidon Resources, the builders of a seawater desalination plant in California, pulled off a $734 million bond sale in the midst of a massive sell-off.

The municipal market faces another day of modest trading and trace elements of issuance reaching the primary. In the secondary, though, there is activity in the intermediate part of the yield curve.

Wells Fargo Securities expects not-for-profit hospitals to experience challenging conditions in 2013.

Highmark, Inc. and state lawmakers are pushing the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to step up its review of the West Penn Allegheny Health System affiliation, but the agency wants more details.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's announcement that the city will explore leasing Midway International Airport to private operators came with a full court press to portray any eventual deal as a good one for taxpayers.

Some state attorneys general are hailing settlements with major tobacco companies resolving a dispute over payments, but Herbert J. Sims analyst Dick Larkin believes tobacco companies may be the big winners.

The tradition of extremely low issuance for the week between Christmas and New Year's continues this December as the municipal bond market should see paltry activity next week.

The Illinois Finance Authority board signed off on a $90 million financing package for Clare Oaks continuing care retirement community in suburban Chicago as part of a Chapter 11 reorganization plan submitted by bondholders.

This week, municipal bond funds saw their largest outflows since January 2011 and the fifth largest on record.

Municipal bond issuance is expected to increase to $458.0 billion in 2013, a 9% jump from the $420.3 billion of munis issued in 2012 through mid-December, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's annual survey of dealer firms.

Chicago is exploring a second try at privatizing its Midway International Airport, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration announced Friday.

The tax-exempt market struggled throughout most of the week with yields jumping as dealers cleaned out inventory ahead of year-end and buyers were fed up with record-low yields.

As the market prepares to ring in 2013, municipal experts have mostly positive expectations for interest rates, credit quality, investor demand, and the viability of municipals' tax exemption in the New Year, mixed with some lingering apprehensions about the fiscal cliff and overseas turmoil.

Holders of bankrupt American Airlines' New York City airport debt are weighing a settlement offer that would pave the way for the carrier to assume its lease at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Municipal experts say 2012 turned out to be a banner year for municipal bonds — as both demand and mutual fund inflows were strong and the market hit record levels.

A plan proposed by the National Institutes of Health could pressure United States universities, according to a report from Fitch Ratings.

After two hefty weeks, issuance in the municipal bond market should enter its holiday period and ride out the rest of the year.