Buy side

Tax-exempt muni money market funds ushered in the first full week of the year with $5.80 billion of new cash — its sixth week of positive inflows — as total net assets grew to $296.57 billion in the week ended Jan. 9, according to iMoneyNet.com.

Now as 2012 gets underway, mom-and-pop investors are back and looking to glean some of the performance that made the sector shine in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Primary market volume for the week appears to be less than some in the industry expected following last week's paltry pickings. But this should be positive for pricing and involve less need to unload paper.

Most investors agree that municipal bonds in 2012 will not match 2011's robust returns. But there are opportunities at various points in the yield curve and among lower investment-grade credits.

Muni bond mutual funds continued their hot hand for a fifth straight week.

Muni bond yields have mostly started 2012 where 2011 left off: outperforming Treasury yields.

Tax-exempt money market funds started the new year on a positive note, as a modest $857 million of new cash increased total net assets to $290.77 billion in the week ended Jan. 2, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

When it comes to direct bank loans, the profile of the borrower should determine disclosure standards, said panelists on a recent webinar hosted by the Council of Development Finance Agencies.

Nearly all of The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes declined this week, as the municipal market followed Treasuries and grew firmer by several basis points in each session.

The municipal market didn't need to do a lot to have a decent week.

As the end of the year nears, tax-exempt money market fund flows are back in positive territory thanks to modest inflows of $643.2 million in the week ended Dec. 19, increasing total net assets slightly to $290.43 billion, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

New issuance in Muni Land kicks into holiday mode this week.

For the third consecutive quarter, households continued to shed some of the municipal bonds they own, while the total volume of outstanding muni debt also declined slightly compared to the previous three months, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Board.

Investors don't see too many avenues for yield in the financial markets these days. But municipal bond mutual funds must still look attractive to them, because they continued to pour money into them for a second straight week.

Municipal bond yields are so far capping an interesting year with a fine run to the holiday season.

After tax-exempt money market funds last week experienced their largest weekly inflows year to date, seeing a one-week increase of 1.9%, assets this week fell by $157.4 million and settled at $289.78 billion for the week ended Dec. 12, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

A year ago, Fitch Ratings had a negative outlook on states, but now it has a stable outlook for the coming year.

After 16 years as a municipal research analyst on the buy side of the market, Tom Weyl, vice president and director of research at Eaton Vance Management in Boston, will start the new year off with a new career on the sell side.

Bond buyers place more weight on Moody's Investors Service ratings than on Standard & Poor's ratings, according to a recent Loop Capital Markets study.

With trading active on much of bankrupt American Airlines' $3.2 billion of special facilities revenue bonds, some market participants are sounding a cautionary tone in assessing their value, as bargain hunters eye the airline's discounted bonds secured by collateral.