Buy side

Investors clamoring for new supply will be faced with slim pickings this week when long-term volume in the tax-exempt market sinks to an estimated $2.61 billion — less than half of last week’s total — as trading and underwriting begins to wind down ahead of Labor Day, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

Nearly all The Bond Buyer’s yield indexes declined this week, with two reaching 43-year lows, as tax-exempt yields plunged to record lows in three sessions during the week.

Outflows slowed to $597.3 million the week ending Aug. 23 after hemorrhaging $4.99 billion the week before, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com. Total assets declined slightly to $340.75 billion from $341.34 billion.

J.J. Kenny Drake has launched three new municipal total-return indexes intended for use as benchmarks by mutual funds, private account managers, swaps traders and exchange-traded funds.

Cash continues flooding into municipal bond mutual funds as retail investors embrace yields many once scorned as being far too low.

While the seasonal note calendar is in full swing, the dog days of summer are plaguing the long-term bond market.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes declined this week as municipal yields marched steadily downward, setting new record lows in 10-year munis on a daily basis.

When asked whether municipal bonds can continue their record-setting ways, one of the most common refrains from market participants is: "why not?"

The total assets of tax-free money market funds thinned to $341.34 billion following outflows of $4.99 billion during the week ending Aug. 16, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Retail demand for municipal bonds continued to surge last week as mutual funds that invest in state and local government debt posted their second biggest weekly inflow of the year.

The municipal market is expected to see a mixed bag of state general obligation and revenue financings this week, including two taxable Build America Bond issues for transportation projects, as an estimated $6.86 billion of new long-term volume is slated for pricing amid strong demand, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes declined during the seven-day period ending Thursday as tax-exempts continued to rally to historical lows.

Tax-free money market funds regained some of their luster the week ending Aug. 9, as total net assets increased by $941.5 million to $346.3 billion, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMonetNet.com.

Low yields continue to do little to deter investors from stuffing more cash into municipal bond mutual funds.

A municipal bond market starved for a hearty batch of tax-exempt paper is not going to get it this week.

CHICAGO — There is cautious optimism for the nonprofit health care sector as operating performance and debt-market access show improvement after two years of financial turmoil.

Tax-free money market funds caught a small breather last week with their smallest outflow in a month.

Nearly all of The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes fell during the seven-day period ending Thursday as firmness persisted in the municipal market.

Natalie Cohen has become the latest new hire in the burgeoning market for high-profile municipal research analysts.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Environmental sustainability. That was the main factor driving the California-based nonprofit RSF Social Finance to invest through its customized fixed-income portfolio in a municipal bond deal from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in March.