Investments

The troubled P3 project has been behind schedule and over budget.

Wisconsin and Minnesota have jointly received a $1.05 billion grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to replace the aging Blatnik Bridge.

The trend toward paying down debt, as opposed to tender offers or refundings, to save money cuts across Red state/Blue state lines. New Jersey retired $500 million of debt to produce $160 million of savings.

The consolidation upheld by the state Supreme Court promises efficiencies, but the hundreds of local funds involved still face structural challenges.

After the year-end rally, "2024 bond investors have been reluctant buyers, prices creeping lower perhaps until the data and the Fed's next steps are more clear," said Matt Fabian, partner at Municipal Market Analytics.

While this appeal was rejected, the panel suggested bondholders could immediately file a new motion for relief.

SIFMA's Leslie Norwood joins Bond Buyer Executive Editor Kyle Glazier for a discussion about the regulatory and legislative outlook for broker-dealers. (17 minutes)

The new governor and concessionaire on the $2.1 billion P3 have reached a revised deal that will lower tolls and provide a 15% equity contribution to the local area.

Capital Markets Advisors and its co-principals Richard Ganci and Richard Tortora are caught up in a legal back and forth with the SEC over how MSRB Rule G-42 on conflicts of interest applies to their case.

SEC Muni Office Chief Dave Sanchez gave issuer officials some updates on implementation of the transparency law.

Brightline, a high-profile name in the speculative muni market, is set to come to market next week to remarket $675 million of 2020 bonds.

Bond parties say several parts of the original trust agreement support their lien on the authority's revenues.

This week's heavy new-issue calendar of tax-exempt supply "could lead to a modest cheapening of ratios," said Vikram Rai, head of municipal markets strategy at Wells Fargo.

Moody's Investors Service bumped Chicago's outlook to positive from stable, while affirming the city's Baa3 issuer and general obligation bond ratings.

A California Department of Water Resources spokeswoman said the department is considering an appeal of the Superior Court judge's decision.

The rulemaking board is prepping for a machine-readable future.

The top bond counsel in 2023 handled a combined $361.721 billion across 7,164 bond issues versus $359.189 billion in 7,882 transactions in 2022. 

"The upgrade reflects an expected continuation of very strong and consistent operating performance and revenue growth," Moody's said.

Growing new-issue supply is "adding to bidders' 'wait-and-see' mentality with a variety of credits coming to market at favorable spreads," said FHN Financial's Kim Olsan. Next week's calendar hits $8.4 billion.

A federal judge rejected every one of Missouri's arguments for why SIFMA's lawsuit should be dismissed.