Buy side

Tax-free money market funds achieved record asset growth for the week ending March 31, gaining $3.78 billion, up significantly from last week's $1.26 billion, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneynet.com.

In an effort to give retail investors more accessibility, selectivity, and diversity when it comes to buying and trading fixed-income securities, Fidelity Investments has not only enhanced its online trading platform, but also significantly expanded its inventory of bonds through a new joint venture with TheMuniCenter LLC.

Weekly reporting municipal bond mutual funds had a net inflow of $368 million during the period ending March 26, AMG Data Services reported.

A $1.2 billion offering of New York City variable-rate demand bonds and $617 million of debt for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority lead the way in the primary market this week.

For the 11th consecutive year, the nation's commercial and savings banks experienced positive growth of their municipal bond portfolios in 2007 - increasing assets by 5.2% to $144.0 billion on a cost basis and by 4.3% to $144.9 billion on a fair-value basis over 2006 figures, according to new data from Highline Financial LLC.

Nearly all The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes increased this week, as yesterday's weakness provided some direction to what had otherwise been a sideways market for most of the week.

Tax-free money market funds continued to see positive growth for the week ending March 24, gaining $1.26 billion, down from last week's $5.22 billion increase, according to Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneynet.com.

It has been a shaky couple of months for retail municipal bond investors.

Tax-free money market funds continued to see positive growth for the week ending March 17, gaining $5.225 billion, though down from last week's $7.251 billion, according to Money Fund Report, a service of imoneynet.com.

Two $700 million offerings - one from the Utah Transit Authority and the other from Washington's Energy Northwest - and a $600 million deal from the Georgia State Road & Tollway Authority lead the way in the new-issue market this week, which will see a slight uptick in activity.

The Bond Buyer's yield indexes mostly declined slightly in this holiday-shortened week, as municipals remained little changed through most of the sessions.

Citing an increased need for professional management of municipal bond investments an the increasingly volatile market, Miller Tabak & Co. launched a subsidiary investment advisory firm specializing in the management of high-quality municipal bonds for individuals.

After being postponed for nearly two months, the San Francisco Airport Commission is expected to make an appearance in the primary market this week with a $573.3 million sale of revenue bonds against a backdrop of continued conversions of auction-rate securities.

The amount of outstanding tax-exempt debt grew to $2.618 trillion in 2007, and money market funds continue to be the fastest-growing category of bondholders.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes were mixed this week, as positive sessions were slightly outweighed by negative ones, particularly away from the short end of the municipal yield curve.

Tax-free money market funds reeled in a whopping $7.251 billion of inflows during the week ending March 10, after netting just $264.4 million the week before, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of imoneynet.com.

Large issuers in California, New York, Texas, and Maryland will test the choppy waters of the primary market this week as part of an estimated $8.2 billion in new-issue volume expected to debut as the market continues to grapple with ongoing turmoil in the auction-rate and credit sectors.

Weekly reporting municipal bond mutual funds had a net outflow of $338 million during the period ending March, AMG Data Services reported.

Nearly all of The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes declined this week, fueled by a flood of investor demand that helped turn around the municipal market's period of prolonged weakness.

Tax-exempt money market funds saw positive inflows during the week ending March 3, taking in $264.6 million, after two consecutive weeks of suffering outflows, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of imoneynet.com.