Investments

The Bloomberg Municipal Index has returned 1.90% so far in December and 5.96% year-to-date, while the High-Yield Index is up 2.75% this month and 8.94% in 2023. Taxable munis are returning 3.98% in December bringing year-to-date returns to 7.83%.

SIFMA, which also filed a brief, said the District Court judge's rejection of a bondholder lien on PREPA's revenues "grossly misreads the underlying bond documents."

States have taken a wide variety of approaches to their uses of pandemic aid.

The bill would require government agencies to undertake an independent audit and a public comment period before entering into P3s among other provisions.

So far, the temporary Bally's casino in Chicago has brought in about a quarter of the tax revenue it needs to generate to keep up with budget expectations.

The rebound in the cruise industry, which has now more than recovered all the ground it lost during the pandemic, lifted the Canaveral Port Authority's rating.

The Philadelphia-based financial advisory firm has used BVAL for several years, but once the full interpolated curve and the intraday hourly changes were released on the EMMA, PFM decided to use BVAL as its primary pricing curve.

The suit contends PREPA's fiscal plans and budgets were manipulated to deprive bondholders of their claim on the authority's revenues and depress the value of the bonds.

With fears of further Fed hikes subsided, Birch Creek strategists said with "loads of cash still sitting on the sidelines, and expectations that cash will no longer earn 5%+, we believe the muni market will benefit in 2024 from a return of investors looking to allocate to the asset class."

Administering Covid relief funds was hampered by communication hurdles

The stars are starting to align for the long-awaited bridge replacement which received a $600 million federal grant toward the project expected to cost up to $7.5 billion.

The nation's fourth-largest city will have new officials at the helm of its government and finances for the first time in eight years.

Brace for an unpredictable year in community finance, where a confluence of global turmoil, mandatory tech advancements, legislative implementation, and potential political upheaval collide with an already fragile insurance market.

State bonds are a key part of the two-state plan to replace the aging Blatnik Bridge, but officials are also seeking more than $1 billion in federal grants.

Triple-A yields fell up to five basis points Friday while USTs were mixed. Munis still underperformed taxables on the week, but the setup for the asset class going into yearend is decidedly positive.

S&P believes the state has sufficient liquidity and reserves to weather the shortfall, but analysts are not seeing the structural steadiness it had that led to the positive outlook, said lead California analyst Oscar Padilla.

The muni market finances the "fabric of our nation, and now, because of Citi's exit, the cost of financing for state and local governments is going to go up," a sell-side source said.

Over a billion dollars of project revenue bonds would support the project

The $250 million of new money social bonds will finance public school construction projects, with another $190 million refunding debt issued to build schools.

The experts, hired by bond parties, say the Oversight Board's economic and expense assumptions underlying its plan of adjustment are too pessimistic.