Investments

"I think the risks to inflation are still on the upside," Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said. "I think the risk to the labor market is dual-sided."

Ten other pension obligation bonds are under review by Fitch Ratings as a result of the agency's new local government criteria.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee lawmakers urged new bills and new ways for transit authorities to deal with the post-COVID dynamics.

Louis English joined Janney Montgomery Scott as managing director and head of municipal sales in the fixed-income division, based out of the Chicago office.

Observers and participants said the ruling sends a message that the municipal revenue bond pledge is strong and the Oversight Board's plan of adjustment for PREPA as it currently is proposed is unlikely to be able to stand.

"Even after this week's rally, absolute yields look attractive in the context of the trading range over the past three years, May's underperformance versus taxable fixed-income, and our longer-term projections for lower rates this year," J.P. Morgan strategists said.

The spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 contains no tax increases or new fees and puts off finding a recurring solution for a structural budget gap.

Interest on out of state municipal bonds will now be taxable.

"It would be irresponsible for us to ignore factors that can fundamentally impact the long-term viability of investments," said CalPERS interim Chief Investment Officer Dan Bienvenue of climate risks.

Oversight Board Executive Director Robert Mujica said the only recently released fiscal 2022 ACFR showed revenues and expenditures continue to be imbalanced.

Household ownership of munis — which includes direct ownership of individual bonds in brokerage accounts, fee-based advisory accounts and SMAs — rose to $1.779 trillion, up 0.3% from Q4 2023 and from 5.6% in Q1 2023.

Judges say PREPA bondholders have a lien on net revenues collected post-bankruptcy.

The top five bond financings have an average dollar volume of more than $1.9 billion.

"It is important to remember that as long as the Fed's next move is to lower policy rates, bonds will do well," said Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global. "The employment market is in better balance, which is very important for the Fed — even more than inflation."

The bonds are part of a proposed settlement with the city's firefighters union that would need court approval.

Driven by ongoing capital expenditure funding and current refunding opportunities, airport issuance is estimated at $21 billion in 2024, with a slew of from June through September and more planned in December, according to Ramirez.

Milwaukee Public Schools is months late in submitting the annual financial audit reports amid turmoil that has seen its superintendent and comptroller depart.

"We will remain cautious until CPI and the FOMC are in the rear-view mirror and as long as these don't catalyze a sell-off (since that would trigger outflows) or catalyze a sharp rally (as municipals lag rates during a sharp rally and ratios can increase optically) ... " said Vikram Rai, head of municipal markets strategy at Wells Fargo.

The top five bond financings have an average dollar volume of more than $1.2 billion.

Darren Olson of the American Society of Civil Engineers joins to discuss the importance of resilient infrastructure and the impact of federal funding on America's future.