Coronavirus

“Anybody who’s having an event between now and May is considering what to do about it,” said Mike Nicholas, CEO of the Bond Dealers of America.

Michael Zezas, managing director of research at Morgan Stanley, notes that muni yields have not fallen as quickly as the Treasury equivalents and recession risk climbs the longer the coronavirus persists. Layer on top of those items the incipient oil competition and quite a storm is brewing. Even liquidity is becoming "disorderly." John Hallacy hosts.

The municipal market was hammered Wednesday by the COVID-19 pandemic with a more than quarter point correction in AAA benchmarks, issuers pulling deals off the shelves and more reports of pricing and evaluation confusion.

Congressional offices may decide to minimize or ban face-to-face meetings as virus concerns grow.

The commonwealth plans a $268 million GO sale two days after Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency.

The consumer price index rose 0.1% last month, but moist recent data has been collected pre-virus spread.

Gov. John Bel Edwards kicked off Louisiana's legislative session by asking lawmakers to share accurate details about the coronavirus with constituents.

Officials at the country's largest municipal healthcare system are tracking COVID-19 costs as they face headwinds from the state and federal governments.

Uncertainty continues to hang over financial markets due to COVID-19. Stocks rebounded somewhat Tuesday while muni yields rose as much as 16 basis points — Tuesday saw a correction of sorts.

The public agency that owns the city's convention center will consider the expansion project and a financing plan next month.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Executive Director Rick Cotton plans to maintain day-to-day operations from home after a positive coronavirus test.

Many businesses have implemented policies to limit non-essential travel, which is likely to have impacted the biennial presentation to municipal bond investors.

Chairman Patrick Foye says that the outbreak has no material effect for now, and the authority promises to continue timely disclosure.

As COVID-19 wreaks havoc on global markets, munis try to keep pace.

In budget talks, House Speaker José Oliva says lawmakers will discuss how to prepare for a recession that may result from the economic impacts of COVID-19.

Richard Li, a pubic debt specialist for the city of Milwaukee, compared disclosing COVID-19 to disclosing a hurricane hitting localities on the Atlantic coast.

S&P Global Ratings is postponing a March 31 forum on public housing bonds due to concerns about the outbreak of COVID-19.

The markets continue to sink on virus fears, as even a 50 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve last week didn’t turn the markets around. The Fed meets again next week and many see more easing, but will those efforts prevent recession?

As fear and uncertainty over COVID-19 rapidly grow, it has sent yields for both municipals and Treasuries to never before seen low levels — begging the question if we could see zero or negative yields here in the States?

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority updated its latest offering statement to warn of the risk posed to its bottom line as did two systems with upcoming deals.