Buy side

While backers tout the benefits of green bond certification, municipal issuers must examine whether it's the best fit. Concerns include costs, procedural burdens and redundancies.

Standard & Poor’s is reassessing some existing ratings and deferring some new ones in certain sectors because of errors in its credit scoring models.

More than half of the top 50 local governments ranked by outstanding debt by Moody’s now have higher pension liabilities than debt, the rating agency said Friday.

Providence, R.I., Mayor Jorge Elorza said his city's three-notch upgrade from Fitch Ratings, to A-minus from BBB-minus, reflects a move in the right direction.

In the week ended Nov. 3, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index fell one basis point to 3.94% from 3.95% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

With the presidential election just days away, the potential impact on the municipal tax exemption, demand for public debt, and tax reform are among unresolved concerns for buy-side market participants.

Clarity Bidrate Alternative Trading System, a division of Arbor Research & Trading LLC that aims to rejuvenate the variable rate municipal market, has won its first new bond issue.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, rose one basis point to 3.95% in the week ended Oct. 27 from 3.94% in the previous week.

The not-for-profit healthcare sector is holding steady but may have peaked as persistent long-term challenges threaten to undercut gains that have bolstered margins, says S&P Global Ratings health care analyst J. Kevin Holloran.

A large drop in foreclosures through the first half of this year means lower loan losses for state housing finance agencies’ bond programs, according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service.

Fixed income software provider Kalotay Analytics has licensed its patent-pending tax-neutral municipal bond valuation and risk analysis methodology to BlackRock.

Any delays in Illinois' monthly contributions pose a negative credit risk to the state, Moody's Investors Service said Friday.

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

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.