Buy side

The legal decisions governing public pension developments tell a complicated story.

U.S. municipal pensions, weakened by decades of underfunding, now face a demographic double-whammy:people are living longer and baby boomers are reaching retirement age.

In the week ended Aug. 11, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index rose one basis point to 3.80% from 3.79% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

Municipal bonds issued for Tennessee-based Global Ministries Foundation housing projects were placed on S&P Global Ratings' CreditWatch and could face rating downgrades because of uncertainty related to a federal investigation.

Most of the top 10 debt-issuing states have only a limited ability to weather even a moderate recession, S&P Global Ratings said Tuesday.

Financial services technology provider Ipreo has launched a new municipal bond platform aimed at giving the company's customers a much more detailed look at how and to whom their bonds are selling.

At its recent investors’ conference, Chicago impressed analysts with a new plan to rescue the largest of the city’s four pension funds, but several attendees said the smooth presentations didn’t erase their worries about the city’s pensions and its budget.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, decreased one basis point to 3.79% from 3.80% in the previous week.

Chicago plans a tax on water and sewer services to save its largest pension fund from insolvency, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced.

Mom and pop investors veered from recent buying patterns on new issues and bought longer-maturity bonds in order to get higher yields on the New York City GO deal – even if it meant accepting lower coupons, according to a New York City underwriter involved in the deal.

Jacksonville, Florida, is asking voters for a half-cent sales tax to help pay down nearly $3 billion in pension liabilities, but a recent lawsuit threatens to derail the referendum.

The high-yield sector probably is headed for a slowdown in the second half of the year, after outperforming for the first six months, municipal experts said.

Chicago is selling a positive budget message at its annual investor conference Wednesday, but the theme is obscured by the city’s pension albatross.

The Associated Press Municipal Bond Index, AP’s first branded financial markets index to be introduced since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, launched Monday in preparation for a wider rollout later this year.

Atlantic City has tapped financial advisors PFM Group and NW Financial to assist with its recovery plan needed to avoid state intervention.

Moody's Investors Service placed $18 billion of lease-backed, moral obligation and comparable debt on review.

The small Florida city of Opa-locka is on the verge of bankruptcy, according to the head of a state-appointed oversight board.

Poised for Growth, San Diego and Chicago-based fund manager Gurtin Fixed Income Management promoted Michael Johnson to co-CEO.

Minnesota heads into the market Tuesday with its annual summer sale, bolstered by the restoration of one of its triple-A ratings.

In the week ended July 28, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index rose one basis points to 3.80% from 3.79% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.