Investments

George Friedlander has rejoined Citigroup as head of municipal strategy.

IOWAWest Des Moines (City)Jul 19, 2010 . . . . . . $5,000,000

ALABAMABeulah Utilities DistrictJul 19, 2010 . . . . . . $4,145,000

Two new Standard & Poor’s indexes tracking municipal bonds launched yesterday, paving the way for Vanguard to enter the municipal exchange-traded fund business.

INDIANAFishers (Town)Jul 15, 2010 . . . . . . $11,830,000

ALABAMABridgeport (City)Jul 15, 2010 . . . . . . $1,005,000

Municipal bond mutual funds’ assets climbed to a new record total as they continue to command new money from investors in spite of low yields and a nonstop wave of bad headlines in the mainstream press over state and local government credit.

Volume is expected to increase slightly this week thanks to the arrival of several significantly sized financings in the long-term market. They include a large Florida airport deal, a pair of California utility offerings, and a trio of Northeast deals hailing from issuers in New York, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON — The University of Virginia, one of the first issuers to plunge into Build America Bonds, returns to the market with a $190 million competitive deal scheduled for Wednesday.

CONNECTICUTDanbury (City)Jul 15, 2010 . . . . . . $20,000,000

ARIZONALittleton Elementary School District No. 65Jul 15, 2010 . . . . . . $3,000,000

The growing investor acceptance of taxable municipal bonds over the past year appears to have hit a stumbling block.

Tax-exempt money market funds continued their seesaw between inflows and outflows the week ending July 12, declining $1.89 billion to settle at $352.19 billion in total net assets, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

The Bond Buyer’s weekly yield indexes mostly declined this week as the municipal market continued to edge slightly firmer throughout the period.

Table as of: 07/14/2010 14:42 PM Invisible Supply Issuer and purpose Amount* Approval

ARKANSASCave City School District No. 2-A of Sharp CountyJul 14, 2010 . . . . . . $5,625,000

ALABAMAPell City (City)Jul 12, 2010 . . . . . . $2,275,000

CALIFORNIASan Francisco Finance Corporation (City & County)Jul 13, 2010 . . . . . . $22,280,000

CALIFORNIAHemet Unified School DistrictJul 12, 2010 . . . . . . $18,740,000

This year marks the 25th anniversary of The Bond Buyer 40 Municipal Bond Index, a measure of municipal bond values with an interesting and at times inglorious history.