Buy side

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, rose two basis points to 3.90% from 3.88% in the previous week.

Port St. Lucie, Fla., will only recover 6% from the bond-laden incentive package the city used to lure a digital effects studio to town.

Chicago’s second shot at fixing one of its woefully underfunded pension funds offers investors at least a small sign of progress, several market participants said.

Chicago would raise its contributions to its laborers’ pension fund by at least 30% annually under a new plan to stabilize the fund and steer it away from its path to insolvency.

Former Massachusetts assistant treasurer Colin MacNaught has launched tech company BondLink to help muni issuers manage debt management programs.

In the week ended May 19, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index fell two basis points to 3.88% from 3.90% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings both downgraded Connecticut's general obligation bonds to AA-minus from AA in advance of the state's $511 million sale.

An unusually weak economic recovery is putting the credit ratings of an increasing number of states in jeopardy.

Fitch Ratings said its withdrawal of its ratings on U.S. tobacco asset-securitization bonds, which affects over 40 tobacco issues from New York to California and Michigan to the U.S. Virgin Island, was prompted by uncertainty regarding changes in the terms it views as risks in the Master Settlement Agreement.

Municipal bond market participants may agree that bank loan disclosure falls short but there's little consensus about how to improve it amid heightened regulatory scrutiny.

German Pellets Texas LLC and Texas Pellets Inc. filed petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization last month with $184.7 million of tax-exempt industrial development bonds outstanding.

Puerto Rico will need help from Washington to maintain future market access and avoid a descent into "third-world" economic conditions, municipal bond fund managers said.

For the 32nd straight week, municipal bond funds reported inflows, according to Lipper data released Thursday. Weekly reporting funds saw $1.212 billion of inflows in the week ended May 11, after inflows of $709.727 million in the previous week, Lipper said.

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, fell three basis points to 3.90% from 3.93% in the previous week.

Investors snapped up Chicago's $537 million water revenue bond issue, allowing the city to trim the steep interest penalties its bonds typically face.

For the 31st week in a row, municipal bond funds reported inflows, according to Lipper data released Thursday. Weekly reporting funds saw $709.727 million of inflows in the week ended May 4, after inflows of $1.173 billion in the previous week, Lipper said.

In the week ended May 5, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index fell three basis points to 3.93% from 3.96% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

Two rating agencies flagged North Carolina’s implementation of House Bill 2 in upcoming bond offerings amid a national controversy over the law seen by some as discriminatory towards the LGBT community.

Longtime municipal credit analyst Richard Larkin has joined Stoever Glass & Co. as director of municipal credit analysis for the 50-year-old Wall Street firm that specializes in municipal bonds for individuals and families and is expanding its operations South.

Conning has lowered its outlook on municipal credit for U.S. states to stable from improving as revenue growth began to show signs of strain amid rising expenditures. In its “State of the States” credit report for the first quarter, the investment firm said states have started to ramp up spending after years of restrained expenditures even as growth in revenue slows.