Buy side

With the June rollover season officially getting underway this week, there should be strong demand for the large new issues scheduled for pricing in the primary as many investors are in need of fresh supply to reinvest their coupon, maturity, or redemption proceeds.

Weekly reporting municipal bond mutual funds had a net inflow of $903 million during the period ending May 28, AMG Data Services reported.

Nearly all The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes rose this week, as firmness that existed in the market prior to the three-day Memorial Day weekend eroded upon return due to rising Treasury yields.

May has been a stellar month for tax-exempt money market funds.

Weekly reporting municipal bond mutual funds had a net inflow of $815 million during the period ending May 21, AMG Data Services reported.

The arrival of a billion-dollar deal from Florida along with large utility offerings this week will keep the primary market busy despite the abbreviated trading in observance of Memorial Day yesterday. However, new-issue volume at the end of May won't be much higher than it was at the start of the month.

The Bond Buyer's weekly indexes were mixed this week, as slight gains were nearly washed away by a sell-off yesterday.

Tax-free money market funds continued on their record-breaking streak this week.

When June 1 officially kicks off the spring reinvestment season, bondholders will be faced with an estimated $51.6 billion in municipal bond redemptions for the month - approximately a 15% increase over June 2007, according to new figures from Interactive Data.

Weekly reporting municipal bond mutual funds had a net inflow of $695 million during the period ending May 14, AMG Data Services reported.

A handful of sizable deals will make their way to the primary market this week as the municipal market begins to show signs of the seasonal lull in volume that is typical ahead of the Memorial Day holiday next week.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes declined this week, as tax-exempt yields fell in all but one of the week's sessions.

Topping last week's haul of nearly $10 billion, tax-free money market funds raked in $11.9 billion, setting a record high of $511.5 billion in total assets for the week ending May 12, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneynet.com of Westborough, Mass.

Implementation of a unified global rating scale for both municipal and corporate bonds is unlikely to have a significant market impact, municipal bond investors say.

Weekly reporting municipal bond mutual funds had a net inflow of $881 million during the period ending May 7, AMG Data Services reported.

Except for two large school financings in Nevada and Florida to hold investors' attention this week, there will be a lull in primary market activity as new-issue volume declines by just over $1 billion from last week's total, continuing May's slow start.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes were mixed this week as market participants focused on new issues.

Tax-free money market funds gained nearly $10 billion during the week ending May 5, recouping twice the $5 billion-plus they lost in the previous week, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of Westborough, Mass.-based imoneynet.com.

Weekly reporting municipal bond mutual funds had a net inflow of $478 million during the period ending April 30, AMG Data Services reported.

While April ended with record-high volume of $43.8 billion, May is starting out on a sluggish note with new issuance expected to decline significantly from last week.