Capital markets

The private Massachusetts college is partnering with the Collegiate Housing Foundation to address a good problem for a Northeast school to have: rising demand.

Muni returns so far in August are in the black, with the Bloomberg Municipal Index at 0.53% this month and 1.04% year to date. High-yield continues to outperform with returns at 0.68% in August and 5.99% in 2024.

In an environment characterized by dwindling enrollment, slowing revenues, and the end of COVID-19 federal aid, small private universities are struggling to remain afloat.

California and Oregon are experiencing yet another record-setting year of wildfires amid increasing uncertainty about FEMA and property insurance backstops.

The past several trading sessions have seen "crazy volatility," said Jennifer Johnston, director of research of municipal bonds at Franklin Templeton.

The state bond commission approved Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan as part of an underwriting pool Louisiana can hire on debt deals.

Thursday's pricing of senior revenue bonds comes after Fitch Ratings upgraded the airport's subordinate debt.

LIPA's prepares to go to market with new leadership as it prepares to decide on its next power supply management services provider.

With the reputational stain from the county's 1994 bankruptcy long in the rearview mirror, the southern California county had its rating boosted to the highest rating by S&P Global Ratings.

The New York City Transitional Finance Authority is set up to refund Build America Bonds as part of a $2.11 billion deal slated to land in the market this week.

Unfunded public pension liabilities have dropped more than 60%, or $3 trillion, from the peak in 2020, according to a new Moody's Ratings report.

The short-term sale is an unusual maneuver that allows the CEA to temporarily lower the amount of available capital on its balance sheet.

"The forces of municipal fundamental and technical measures are setting up a reconciliation against higher UST yields," said Kim Olsan, senior vice president of municipal bond trading at FHN Financial.

July will see $35.2 billion of redemptions, down 13% month-over-month but still 35% higher than 2024's monthly average of $27 billion, said Pat Luby, head of municipal strategy at CreditSights.

Two universities at opposite ends of the state received Moody's downgrades this week.

In the first half of 2024, winding-down federal aid, a resurgence of Build America Bond refundings and election uncertainty have contributed to the surge in issuance, said James Welch, a portfolio manager at Principal Asset Management.

In 2024, variable rate (short put) issuance is up 6.4% increase year-over-year, LSEG data shows. Few expect issuance to return pre-financial crisis levels.

Finance officials for the city decided to be the first municipal issuer to use the distributed ledger technology for a $10 million deal, banking on cost savings, better liquidity and more access for retail investors to their bonds. Mayor Tom Koch, CFO Eric Mason and Strategic Asset Manager Rick Coscia say it should be the first of many deals for the industry.

Total volume currently stands at $224.13 billion, up 38.5% from $161.848 billion at this time last year. As the end of the first half approaches, several firms are revisiting their supply projections for the year, given the growth so far this year.

With the "pretty good run" month-to-date, it would not be unexpected to see "the market take a breather, and with a large calendar this coming week, it may again move sideways," said AllianceBernstein strategists in a weekly report.