Investments

The Los Angeles-area wildfires have sparked a negative rating watch for several credits from Fitch Ratings.

The Regents of the University of California leads the negotiated calendar with $2 billion of general revenue refunding bonds.

While the new tax policies should address the state's projected deficit, rating agencies are cautious about the projected revenues and federal spending on Medicaid, which could impact Louisiana.

Fieldman, Rolapp & Co. has acquired Orem, Utah-based municipal advisor G.L. Hicks, a healthcare finance specialist.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Thursday announced the members of its 2025 advisory groups.

Among the materials for lawmakers is a new report estimating the tax exemption saves issuers $824 billion through 2035.

New York Mayor Eric Adams, bolstered by lower-than-forecast spending on migrants, proposed a $114.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The muni market saw a record $507.585 billion of debt issued in 2024, up 31.8% from $385.061 billion in 2023, according to LSEG data. 

The top 10 advisors accounted for $249.421 billion of par or 59.3% of the total issuance with municipal advisors.

New York boasts four of the top 10 issuers, followed by California with two and one a piece for Florida, Massachusetts, Washington and New Jersey.

With losses expected to be measured in the tens or hundreds of billions, the municipal finance industry begins to take stock of the Los Angeles-area wildfires.

The state will try to convince the rating agency to lift its debt to AA, to match the rating others have assigned.

Munis "responded in part to a better UST session [Wednesday] but weren't in a position from a supply standpoint to attempt to match the 10-15 basis point rally in taxables," said Kim Olsan, a senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.

It could be the year's largest unrated municipal bond deal.

Because of the disaster, income tax filing deadlines for Los Angeles County residents will be delayed to October, muddying the revenue picture for the state.

The bonds — $824.8 million tax-exempt and $400 million taxable — follow Orlando Health's major acquisitions of hospitals in Alabama and Florida.

Municipals are underperforming USTs month-to-date, with the Bloomberg Municipal Index showing losses of 1.02% versus 0.92% for USTs as of Tuesday, but both are outperforming losses in corporates that are seeing 1.23% losses in January.

S&P Global Ratings downgraded Chicago's general obligation debt to BBB from BBB-plus, saying the 2025 budget fails to address a structural imbalance.

The Goldwater Institute took aim at another Arizona municipality, filing a lawsuit against tax rate hikes approved by the Gilbert Town Council in October.