Buy side

Rhode Island's Investment Commission on Wednesday chose BNY Mellon as its custodian bank for the state's assets of roughly $8 billion, General Treasurer Gina Raimondo announced.

Fitch Ratings has dropped 26 U.S. municipal bonds supported by three major Japanese banks.

Stockton, Calif. asked bondholders and bond insurers to take major hits during the mediation process that preceded the city's Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing.

If municipal bond market observers feel there are other time bombs out there waiting to detonate that resemble the accusations surrounding the manipulation of Libor, they won't be found in variable-rate debt tied to the SIFMA municipal swap index.

The municipal market expects a dip in supply for the primary this week

Fitch Ratings is preparing to possibly drop nearly all of its charter school ratings.

Excerpts from "Investing in the High-Yield Municipal Market," by Triet Nguyen:

Credit matters. That is the crux of the newly-released book, "Investing in the High-Yield Municipal Market," written by Triet Nguyen, a 30-year veteran of the fixed-income market who used his years of experience in research and trading within the complex segment of the industry as a springboard for the 254-page publication.

A new 3.8% tax on investment income that's part of the federal health care overhaul will boost demand for tax-free municipal bonds starting next year, say some market experts.

Largely stable rates highlighted a subdued municipal market this week.

Analysts are warning that weak investment returns for pension funds are likely to pressure state and local government budgets.

Tax-exempt money market funds lost $2.03 billion -- nearly half of the unusually high bounty they amassed last week – as total net assets dipped to $272.67 billion in the week ended July 16, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

The Pittsburgh firm will manage the Massachusetts Municipal Depository Trust bond portfolio, ending Boston-based Fidelity's 35-year run.

Municipal bond mutual funds continue to see strong and growing demand from investors. Even though, the week was marked by modest moves in prices throughout most of the yield curve, money poured into bond funds for the week ended July 18.

Budget balances for states remain too low relative to annual expenditures, according to the National Governors Association and National Association of Budget Officers.

Law firms interested in working on future state of Wisconsin bond sales have until August 6 to submit their qualifications for review.

Morningstar entered the analyst research sector for public finance Monday as it unveiled its fundamental municipal research offering. The research will focus on 100 municipal issuers and reports for about one million muni bonds.

A regulator will allow bond insurer MBIA Inc. to make a payment on surplus notes issued in 2008, the company said.

The outlook for bond-financed transportation infrastructure remains stable, but could possibly see a downturn if the slow economic recovery loses momentum or if banks are downgraded. according to a new mid-year report from Fitch Ratings.