Inflation

The FOMC will likely take the opportunity to profess its reliance on data to decide liftoff and reiterate the threshold for a rate hike remains higher than for taper.

Though monetary policy has been in the forefront, at mid-month the tone changed with global inflation outlooks and federal infrastructure and social package in flux.

A lighter, $5 billion calendar, heavy on healthcare, kicks off November. Most participants agree volatility in U.S. Treasuries will be a leading factor for municipal market performance. Uncertainty in Washington also isn't helping the asset class.

ICI reported the lowest inflows since outflows in March, while exchanged-traded funds saw an uptick.

As of now, returns for the month will very likely end in the red. The Bloomberg U.S. Municipal Index is at -0.40% for the month and +0.39% for the year.

Jeffrey Cleveland, chief economist at Payden & Rygel, discusses the Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting, inflation, what taper will mean, when the Fed might decide to lift off, and possible leadership changes. Gary Siegel hosts. (30 minutes)

Municipal bond mutual fund inflows fell to $177 million while high-yield is back to outflows, both signaling selling may be moving the market toward another larger correction.

The $1 trillion spending bill could boost GDP by 0.2% by 2031.

Spreads have been widening, but secondary trading was on the light side and triple-A benchmarks were cut by only a basis point in spots even as U.S. Treasury yields once again rose on the 10- and 30-year.

Municipals have mostly held steady as bid-wanteds have risen, but so have yields and ratios, making for a more satisfactory range for investors getting into the market at these new higher levels.