Buy side

The rate at which investors stuff money into municipal bond mutual funds continues to break every record.

Given the recent summer doldrums in the municipal market, investors should be eager to sink their teeth into meaty new issues on the primary market calendar this week.

Retail investors face a drought of new tax-free municipal bonds.

The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes mostly declined slightly this week as the summer doldrums set in for the muni market, and several large new issues in the primary market were stuck with lethargic trading and little movement.

The total assets of tax-free money market funds dipped slightly by $1.49 billion to $446.87 billion for the week ending Aug. 3, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Burgeoning demand for short-term municipal bonds has stretched the muni yield curve to an unusually steep slope.

Strengthening risk appetite and the prospect of an end to the recession continued to galvanize the current of cash flooding municipal bond mutual funds last week.

Build America Bonds will make a prominent appearance in this week's primary market as three of the largest deals will offer a sizable amount of the taxable securities amid an estimated $6.33 billion in total competitive and negotiated volume, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes were mixed this week, as municipals traded quietly and sluggishly in the secondary market amid a light new-issue calendar.

The total assets of tax-exempt money market funds dipped slightly to $448.36 billion after experiencing outflows of $1.95 billion for the week ending July 27, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Investors and traders continue to punish Build America Bonds for their novelty and illiquidity.

Investors continued to pour unprecedented sums of cash into municipal bond mutual funds last week, pushing assets further into record territory.

Issuers in Texas and California will dominate the primary calendar this week - bringing a fresh supply of Build America Bonds to the new-issue market - as the end of July marks the arrival of an estimated $5.91 billion of total competitive and negotiated volume, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes were mixed this week, as the municipal market meandered in both directions at times, leaving the market at roughly the same levels from a week ago.

With all the hullabaloo over California’s budget crisis, one might get the impression things in the other 49 states are going swimmingly.

A week after posting the fourth heaviest outflows of the year, tax-exempt money market funds declined by $4.48 billion and finished the week of July 20 with total net assets of $450.32 billion, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., today will urge Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to quickly issue guidance on qualified school construction bonds, specifically how to strip and sell the bonds' tax credit in the secondary market.

Municipalities plan a moderate slate of new deals this week during the seasonally slow summer period.

Municipal bond mutual funds continue to bore into uncharted territory at an unprecedented speed.

The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes declined this week, as strength during the early stages of the week held off weakness permeating the market during the last few sessions.