Investments

Duluth-based St. Luke's affiliation with Aspirus Inc. has lifted the prospects for its speculative-grade bonds; S&P placed the hospital on CreditWatch positive.

New York City Municipal Water Authority returns to the municipal primary after a $1.4 billion deal earlier this year.

In a week marked by inflation and jobs data that made clearer the Federal Reserve will not be cutting rates nearly as much or as many times as some had expected even a week ago, Friday's headlines further complicated the landscape for investors and munis have had little choice but to go along for the ride.

The city will leverage its own GO bonds to finance the stadium.

The top two municipal bond insurers wrapped $7.132 billion in the first quarter of 2024, up from the $5.735 billion of deals in the first quarter of 2023, according to LSEG data.

"The financial and engineering industries need to align to get the owners to do what it is they need to do to make sure it's a durable asset," said Maria Lehman, immediate past president of ASCE.

Municipal Market Analytics reports the most technical defaults in 2023 since it started tracking them, including 24 in the not-for-profit hospital sector.

Gary Hall, President of the Infrastructure & Public Finance Division at Siebert Williams Shank & Co., joins Bond Buyer Executive Editor Lynne Funk to talk about the importance of the muni industry in financing the country's extensive infrastructure needs -- from ports and airports to bridges and energy solutions.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw the seventh consecutive week of inflows and the 14th week of inflows for high-yield funds.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's April 17-18 meeting will center on the many rule amendments the regulator has on.

"We withdrew the rating because we have determined we do not have sufficient information to maintain a forward-looking credit opinion on the city," S&P said.

A new report by the MSRB showed that from 2018 to 2022, a substantial increase in trading activity and the number of pre-trade quotes has been responsible for better pricing.

Celebrating Ohio's "highest possible credit rating," Gov. Mike DeWine delivered his State of the State address to the General Assembly in Columbus.

The new hire comes on the heels of the firm's growth in bond insurance in the first quarter of 2024.

Adding the funds will let Easterly offer municipal bond investment options.

Water systems will have five years to comply, although the Biden administration estimates only between 6% and 10% of systems will need to treat.

The pace of the issuance and the increase of refundings, surging 59.6% in the first quarter of 2024, have also led some firms to up their overall 2024 issuance projections.

Despite an S&P rating upgrade ahead of this week's GO bond deal, Louisiana paid a wider spread to a 10-year benchmark than it did a year ago. Longer maturities saw tighter spreads on from a year ago.

West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore, who's put banks on a blacklist for their support of ESG policies, is up for (and very likely to win) one of the state's two seats in the U.S. House. Here's how he got there, and what it'll look like when he tries to bring his anti-ESG policies national.

S&P's upgrade to BBB from BB-plus follows a March upgrade from Moody's Ratings, bringing the city to investment grade a decade after its historic bankruptcy.