Buy side

Investors shrugged off a rough patch for municipal bonds and continued plowing money into muni mutual funds last week.

An $800 million sale of general revenue bonds from the University of California Regents will kick off the activity in the primary market and will be part of an estimated $5.15 billion in total negotiated and competitive sales planned for pricing this week, according to Thomson Reuters.

Most of The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes rose this week, as the municipal market endured the last sessions of an 11-day string of rising yields prior to yesterday's unchanged market.

General Electric has removed 2 million underperforming private-label retail credit card accounts from its securitized master trust to shore up the performance of its bonds.

The investment case for tobacco bonds is that smokers are so hopelessly addicted they will continue buying cigarettes no matter what.

The assets of tax-exempt money market funds fell $149.4 million to $482.12 billion for the week ending March 2, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

A month after inclining to its steepest slope in decades, the municipal yield curve has flattened a bit.

Tobacco companies contending billions of dollars in legal settlement payments released $540 million to states last week to advance resolution of the dispute.

Cash influxes into municipal bond mutual funds slowed a bit again last week as muni prices continued to cool off.

The municipal market is poised to welcome an estimated $5.16 billion in total new volume his week - the highest level in recent months - anchored by a $450 million revenue issue from the California State University Trustees and $510.5 million of general obligation bonds from Maryland.

Even during the toughest of times, people still drink water and go to the bathroom.

Although outflows among tax-exempt money market funds slowed considerably during the week ending Feb. 23, the funds settled at $482.27 billion in total assets after losing $151.1 million, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes were narrowly mixed this week, despite tax-exempt yields rising modestly in each of the week's sessions.

Based on traditional measures of value, the high-quality municipal bond has returned to something approaching normal. Not so for lower-grade bonds.

Issuers in New York, Texas, and Pennsylvania will bring three of the largest deals to the primary market this week amid a relatively small slate of offerings, part of an estimated $3.97 billion planned for the negotiated and competitive markets combined.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. launched the biggest-ever municipal bond unit investment trust earlier this month as a rally in munis lured investors to the company's new low-cost structure.

Cash influxes into municipal bond mutual funds slowed a bit last week as a hot streak in munis cooled.

Most of The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes rose during this holiday-shortened week, as the market carried a weaker tone, with yields either remaining flat or slightly increasing in each session.

In his 25 years in the municipal bond industry, James Colby has learned that one obscure corner of the market sometimes offers substantial value for those privy to it. This is one of those times.

Tax-free money market funds fell by $4.31 billion to $482.42 billion for the week ending Feb. 16, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com of Westborough, Mass.