Buy side

The municipal bond yield curve is the steepest in more than a quarter-century as investors continue to shun long-term munis in favor of short-term debt.

Cash continued to pour into municipal bond mutual funds last week as investors shrugged off a dip in the muni market and persisted in chasing relatively high tax-exempt yields.

As January comes to a close, a pair of New York deals - one to finance a new baseball stadium - and a utility offering in the nation's capital are expected to be the largest deals priced in conjunction with an estimated $2.975 billion in new competitive and negotiated volume, according to Thomson Reuters.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Naples, Fla.-based Wasmer, Schroeder & Co. has hired a new managing director and fixed-income strategist to run the firm's new office in Philadelphia.

It was one of the most tumultuous years in the history of the municipal bond market for tax-exempt portfolio managers.

Investors six weeks ago were practically unanimous in believing municipal bonds were cheap. Now some are not so sure.

Tax-exempt money market funds suffered outflows of $2.14 billion, ending the week of Jan. 19 with $501.1 billion in total assets, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com of Westborough, Mass.

Nearly all of The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes rose this week, ending the municipal market's string of gains since the beginning of 2009.

Fat yields, low inflation, and a turbulent stock market led to the largest cash influx into municipal bond mutual funds in more than half a year.

Issuers in Texas and the Northeast - led by Connecticut - will take center stage in the primary market this week when they deliver a handful of sizable deals as part of an estimated $3.71 billion in total competitive and negotiated volume, according to Thomson Reuters.

A municipal bond fund yesterday elected simultaneously to fire and not to fire UBS Global Asset Management Inc. as its adviser.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes fell sharply this week - the one-year note index hit a record low - as yields dropped in every session.

Tax-exempt money market funds saw inflows of $3.19 billion for the week ending Jan. 12, settling at $503.24 billion in total assets, according to the Money Fund Report. The total was slightly higher than the previous week, which saw inflows of $8.23 billion and settled at $500.05 billion.

Putnam Investments last week delayed the mergers of four municipal bond funds, saying turbulent markets have rendered the plan imprudent for now.

As the first quarter begins to take shape and the municipal market faces $16.89 billion of 30-day visible supply, a handful of issuers plan to test the primary market with sizable deals amid thriving demand for attractive returns, despite last week's drop in yields.

Investors poured money into municipal bond mutual funds last week for the first time in nearly four months, possibly stanching a bloodletting that began in September.

Considering he just sold a property he never made a penny off for a price tag in the six figures, Kevin Olson is feeling bittersweet.

UBS Global Asset Management next week hopes to fend off a shareholder revolt seeking to wrest control of a closed-end municipal bond mutual fund from the beleaguered bank.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes declined as investors returned to work after the holidays and finished the week to date with four consecutive firmer sessions.

Tax-free money market funds rang in 2009 with inflows of $8.23 billion, the highest single-week gain since the massive fourth-quarter outflows spurred by the national economic crisis. As a result, the funds reached $500.05 billion in total assets for the week ending Jan. 5, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.