Investments

S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on bonds issued for the University of Chicago Medical Center to negative from stable.

Orrick Herrington took the top spot with nearly 50% of the market.

Goldman Sachs took the top spot in underwriting public power debt, coming in at nearly $6 billion in 2023.

The California Community Choice Financing Authority was the leader in the public power sector, issuing nearly $5 billion or 28% market share in 2023. It was also one of the top 10 overall issuers of 2023.

Fulcrum BioEnergy, which raised more than $1 billion to turn household waste into lower-emitting fuels for planes and trucks, is in danger of going under.

SMA growth has been "pretty staggering to see," said Matthew Schrager, managing director and co-head of TD Securities Automated Trading, noting the "interplay between SMA and electronic trading is a very symbiotic relationship."

The owner of an Iowa nitrogen fertilizer plant with more than $800 million of munis outstanding is trying to sell the plant to one of its largest competitors.

A city council committee received staff recommendations to fully fund the Police and Fire Pension System within 30 years.

Munis sold off last week "as the anticipated market correction may have finally started ahead of the summer reinvestment period," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

A pair of muni market experts propose cities and towns borrow through state-based, credit-enhanced bond banks to make the market more efficient.

Marty Mannion and Matt Schrager, managing directors and co-heads at TD Securities Automated trading division, discuss how automation and electronic trading are creating more opportunities and better outcomes for municipal market participants, including making muni bonds more accessible to a broader range of investors.

The Municipal Forum of New York presented three awards to industry leaders and veterans at its annual awards and leadership fellows fundraising dinner.

"For each May dating to 2021, the average 30-year MMD was 2.74% — or 122 basis points below the current yield," FHN Financial's Kim Olsan said. "The recent adjustment offers better investor value."

Like many higher education institutions, the university's financial woes started when enrollment dropped thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a myriad of challenges facing state and local governments to fund vast infrastructure needs amid a shifting climate and severe weather events, there are government officials across the country that have begun to address them head on. Paying for them is one of the biggest challenges.

As EVs and fuel-efficient cars become more common, states and Congress are eying alternative revenues like road user charges.

The majority of the debt sold for the state's community choice aggregators came through CCCFA, a conduit issuer that ranked third among all issuers nationwide for volume issued in 2023.

The authority's CEO said it has no money for facilty maintenance.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw the second week of outflows as investors pulled $217.6 million from the funds after $546.2 million of outflows the week prior, according to LSEG Lipper. High-yield saw inflows again.

Population growth has spurred economic growth in the South. But the changing climate, and risks climate change poses there, may turn that equation on its head.