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Tax-exempt money market funds continued to lose cash for a second week in a row as total net assets decreased by $679 million to $266.74 billion in the week ended Oct. 22, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Moody's said the ongoing wave of mergers sweeping the non-profit health care sector led to an uptick in upgrades during the third quarter and could reverse earlier expectations that downgrades would outpace upgrades for the full year.

The municipal market can expect another middling week of new issuance. Estimates hold that anticipated volume for the week should reach $7.64 billion.

Standard & Poor's downgraded local and state governments more than it upgraded them in the third quarter 2012, but did the opposite with public utilities.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw inflows for the 27th consecutive week. Funds that report their flows weekly recorded inflows of $621 million for the week ended Oct. 17.

As a veteran with 26 years of experience in munis, Guggenheim Partners' Jim Pass talks about investment strategy, political risk, and what he's seeing in the market.

The municipal bond market adopted a slightly weaker tone this week. Muni indexes mostly followed tax-exempt and Treasury yields higher.

Two weeks of gains among tax-exempt money market funds were washed away this week as $2.49 billion escaped and total net assets decreased to $267.42 billion in the week ended Oct. 15, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

BondDesk Group LLC gave its chairman Howard Edelstein the added role of chief executive officer today.

Natixis Global Asset Management, S.A. today acquired fixed-income asset manager McDonnell Investment Management, LLC.

The municipal bond market can expect issuance to come in on par with what the market has seen in recent weeks and market participants expect demand to continue to outweigh supply.

The New York Superintendent of Financial Services has filed a rehabilitation plan for bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Company that will initially pay 15% on policy claims.

Investors' attitudes towards premium bonds have changed. They realize that they are at the bottom of the interest-rate cycle and facing a potentially volatile period in the markets. So they are adopting a defensive stance with the muni bonds they are buying.

Tax-exempt money market funds generated new cash as $1.50 billion of inflows boosted total net assets to $269.91 billion in the week ended Oct. 8, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Standard & Poor's expects slightly negative economic conditions for state and local governments in 2013.

Estimates for municipal bond volume are expected to ratchet up this week. An anticipated $8.26 billion in long-term bonds should reach the market, versus a revised $7.54 billion last week.

Moody's Investors Service is retaining its negative credit outlook on local governments.

Recent declines in graduate school enrollment numbers are a credit negative for the higher education sector, Moody's Investors Service said in a recent report.

Despite speculation over what may befall the municipal market in the fourth quarter, portfolio managers and strategists are not letting concerns over the upcoming presidential election, potential tax reform, or an expected seasonal supply surge derail their plans for year-end investment strategies

Municipal bond mutual funds saw inflows for a 25th straight week. Funds that report their flows weekly recorded inflows of $553 million for the week ended Oct. 3, Lipper FMI numbers show.