Investments

ALABAMAAlabama Board of EducationJan 14, 2009 . . . . . . $4,595,000

A proposal to cut state aid to higher education by $600 million over the next 18 months is a starting point for negotiations rather than a dictate, House Speaker Kirk Adams said last week in the wake of widespread criticism of the planned reduction.

ILLINOISJoliet Park DistrictJan 26, 2009 . . . . . . $1,240,000

CALIFORNIASanta Margarita/Dana Point AuthorityJan 23, 2009 . . . . . . $38,490,000

Cash continued to pour into municipal bond mutual funds last week as investors shrugged off a dip in the muni market and persisted in chasing relatively high tax-exempt yields.

As January comes to a close, a pair of New York deals - one to finance a new baseball stadium - and a utility offering in the nation's capital are expected to be the largest deals priced in conjunction with an estimated $2.975 billion in new competitive and negotiated volume, according to Thomson Reuters.

ALABAMABrewton (City)Jan 15, 2009 . . . . . . $10,000,000

BRADENTON, Fla. - Naples, Fla.-based Wasmer, Schroeder & Co. has hired a new managing director and fixed-income strategist to run the firm's new office in Philadelphia.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority expects OSF Healthcare System and Rush University Medical Center to soon join in on the slow trickle of struggling health care borrowers testing market interest in their sector's debt so far this year.

It was one of the most tumultuous years in the history of the municipal bond market for tax-exempt portfolio managers.

Investors six weeks ago were practically unanimous in believing municipal bonds were cheap. Now some are not so sure.

Tax-exempt money market funds suffered outflows of $2.14 billion, ending the week of Jan. 19 with $501.1 billion in total assets, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com of Westborough, Mass.

Nearly all of The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes rose this week, ending the municipal market's string of gains since the beginning of 2009.

CONNECTICUTWindsor Locks (Town)Jan 22, 2009 . . . . . . $7,400,000

ARIZONAPhoenix Elementary School District No. 1Jan 22, 2009 . . . . . . $19,125,000

FLORIDAMiami-Dade County School DistrictJan 21, 2009 . . . . . . $132,000,000

CALIFORNIACalifornia Statewide Communities Development AuthorityJan 9, 2009 . . . . . . $302,320,000

CHICAGO - William Rainey Harper College - one of the nation's few triple-A rated community colleges - plans to enter the market as early as today with $153 million of general obligation bonds. The deal will triple the suburban Chicago school's outstanding debt.

The Iowa Board of Regents have approved $30 million of borrowing for the University of Iowa for cash-flow purposes related to $232 million of repair costs from the devastating floods that swept through the region last spring.

COLORADOFort Collins (City)Jan 20, 2009 . . . . . . $30,655,000