Buy side

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.

Investors last week withdrew the most cash from municipal bond money-market funds since April as minuscule returns continued to chase unparalleled sums of money out of the industry.

Municipalities borrowing short term are increasingly taking on "refinancing risk" - a risk that used to fall on the investor, according to a Fitch Ratings report released yesterday.

Municipal bond sales are set to pick up this week following an unusually light slate of offerings last week.

The six-month torrent of cash into municipal bond mutual funds pushed the industry to its most bountiful level of assets under management ever last week, according to AMG Data Services.

Most of The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes declined this week as municipals mainly showed gains in the sessions following the three-day holiday weekend.

To understand how vulnerable municipal bonds are to inflation, consider this: the triple-A 10-year is the same price it was six months ago, and by one measure almost 100 basis points weaker.

The exodus of cash from municipal money-market funds took a breather last week.

Municipal bond mutual funds just missed setting the record for assets under management last week as a tempered appetite for risk slowed the river of cash inundating the industry.

With most of the municipal market still in holiday mode this week, the short-term market will dominate the official first full week of the third quarter with a planned $700 million note sale from the New York State Thruway Authority.