Buy side

Bonds that funded the stalled minor-league baseball stadium in Hartford, Conn., could appeal to investors with appetite for risk, said Richard Larkin of Stoever Glass.

After 54 straight weeks of inflows, municipal bond funds reported outflows, according to Lipper data released on Thursday.

In the week ended Oct. 20, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index rose two basis points to 3.94% from 3.92% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

Michael J. Belsky, co-founder of The Vector Group, avoids timing the market and focuses on limiting volatility in the municipal bond portfolios he manages.

Illinois' arrangement to directly place $600 million of existing floating-rate debt with four banks received a positive review from Moody's Investors Service though its Baa2 rating and negative outlook are unchanged.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, rose seven basis points to 3.92% from 3.85% in the previous week.

Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co., one of the top municipal bond firms in the United States and the largest African-American, Latino and woman-owned investment bank in the nation, celebrated its 20th anniversary on Thursday.

In the week ended Oct. 6, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index rose four basis points to 3.85% from 3.81% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

Chris Ryon, who manages municipal bond funds totaling $11 billion at Thornburg Investment Management, favors the safer end of the risk spectrum, keeping durations lower than usual, and maintaining higher reserve positions.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, fell two basis points to 3.81% from 3.83% in the previous week.

The UCLA Anderson Forecast economists discussed what impact policies proposed by the presidential candidates would have on economic growth.

Sweet Briar College saw its revenue bonds upgraded four notches, although still within junk territory, because of efforts to keep the 114-year-old Virginia women's institution open.

A second edition of Chapman and Cutler LLP’s “Municipalities in Distress” was released Wednesday four years after book’s debut.

Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies and Department of Accountancy announced the availability of a new draft taxonomy that will enable analysts to compare financial information over time and between governmental units.

Municipal experts say the fourth quarter municipals should continue to garner strong demand from investors in the last three months of 2016.

Some strategists say they will increase credit quality and shorten duration for overall risk protection, while others are identifying premium bonds, bonds with short calls, and those with average life structures to boost yield.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. said it expanded its execution choices for its municipal bond platform to include Muni Offerings.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, rose three basis points to 3.83% from 3.80% in the previous week.

Investors have yet to reward green bonds with better pricing, but there is growing demand for the niche, according to one speaker at the Bond Buyer’s California Public Finance conference.

Two new municipal, high-quality, AMT-free ETFs launched by VanEck Global this week offer flexibility for both conservative and yield-oriented investors, and are listed on Bats Global Markets Inc., the Kansas City-based exchange for ETF trading.