Investments

Texas' largest public school system would use the proceeds from its biggest-ever bond referendum to fix aging facilities and make other improvements.

May volume "surprised on the high end and it has been one of the fastest starts to the year historically," said James Pruskowski, chief investment officer at 16Rock Asset Management.

The authority is refunding its 2014A bonds to gain debt service savings.

Despite losses, munis are "being set up nicely" as the summer season approaches, said Jeff Lipton, a research analyst and market strategist.

In its first report since 2017 on municipal issuer disclosure, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board found that the average audit time has risen slightly since 2018 to 209 days, its highest on record.

The new law was modeled after a North Carolina law and its use in Charlotte, said Matt Wiltshire, president of Pathway Affordable Housing Corporation, which works to develop affordable rental housing in Nashville.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority plans to refund about $400 million and sell $429 million of new money for its capital construction program.

Muni yields rose up to 13 basis points Wednesday, depending on the curve, coming on the tailwind of a market correction, said Brad Libby, a fixed-income portfolio manager and credit analyst at Hartford Funds.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe take the top spot with a 10.29% market share.

RBC Capital Markets took the top spot for total education issuance, underwriting more than $10 billion in 2023.

Two California issuers take first and third spots on the list. The Regents of the University of California top the list with $2.875 billion in six deals while Los Angeles Unified School District lands at third with $1.189 billion in two deals.

Overall education issuance, including higher ed, K-12 and student loan debt, in 2023 totaled $94.9619 billion, or 3.6% more than 2022's totals.

The Senate WRDA measure asks the Army Corps to report on best practices and lessons learned with its 10-year-old pilot P3 program.

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.