Buy side

In one of the biggest rallies in recent memory, municipal bonds surged on Friday after Britain voted to leave the European Union. Yields on some top-rated municipals fell by as much as 17 basis points to record low levels, in a move that some analysts said signaled yields will remain near all-time lows for longer than anyone had expected, and that negative U.S. interest rates may be on the horizon.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices was steady at 3.80% from the previous week.

Bond industry veteran Tony Miscimarra is the new managing director of business development at BondWave LLC, as the financial technology company and registered investment advisor prepares to launch a suite of new technology products.

The political and financial dysfunction of Illinois cost the state $12 million on Thursday’s $550 million bond pricing compared to its previous sale in January, according to a report from the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

Illinois paid a steeper penalty to borrow Thursday after a fresh round of downgrades but a municipal market offering historically low yields helped disguise the spreads.

In the week ended June 16, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, was six basis points lower to 3.80%, from 3.86% the previous week.

The city of Los Angeles is set to offer $1.46 billion of tax and revenue anticipation notes on Tuesday, June 21, in what will be the largest TRAN offering in the United States this year.

Municipal bond investors are in a good position to wait out the Federal Reserve, after policy makers left the target interest rate unchanged and signaled increases will be gradual, strategists said.

California's new, higher legal smoking age of 21 heralds more trouble for tobacco securitization debt, said analyst Richard Larkin.

New Jersey bonds could see spread tightening after a state Supreme Court decision upholding the 2011 suspension of cost of living adjustments to retiree pension benefits, but any boost will likely be short-lived, according to Municipal Market Analytics.

Mesirow Financial has appointed Blake Anderson to a newly-created position leading client portfolio strategy in its institutional sales and trading group.

U.S. banks' holdings of municipal bonds increased to $507.5 billion in the first quarter of 2016, a 1.7% gain from the $499 billion of holdings in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, fell four basis points to 3.86% from 3.90% in the previous week.

BlackRock’s municipal group said that although June may present some headwinds, any pullback in the market could be seen as restoring value and presenting a buying opportunity.

Although credit quality has stabilized since the Great Recession, pension liabilities threaten municipalities with reduced revenue supply and growing expenses.

Michael Ruvo, the new CEO of financial technology provider BondWave LLC, wants to create a premiere fixed income intelligence platform with improved transparency and enhanced market liquidity.

In the week ended June 2, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index was unchanged at 3.90% from the previous week.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and California State Controller Betty Yee are urging public pension funds to embrace board-diversity practices inclusive of LGBT interests.

The Nuveen High Yield Municipal Bond Fund outperformed its benchmark by 10% over the last five years by keeping duration a bit longer and adding value through security and sector selection.

Tennessee's general obligation bonds got a boost to AAA Thursday by S&P Global Ratings, which cited the state’s sound operations and improving economy.