Investments

The value of the municipal bond market decreased by 4.3% in the third quarter of 2022, said Pat Luby, a strategist at CreditSights.

Outflows continued as Refinitiv Lipper reported $1.946 billion was pulled from municipal bond mutual funds in the week ending Wednesday after $3.094 billion of outflows in the prior week.

A decision from the Government Accountability Office supports opponents of a controversial memo outlining the administration's preferences for how states should spend their infrastructure funds.

Inflation is a chief risk to public officials eager to launch new projects, but it's a boon for infrastructure investors, who view the asset class as a natural hedge.

2022 saw rising rates, low issuance, massive fund outflows and overall volatility.

"With only a few days remaining in the year, muni bonds have had a tough year losing roughly 8.44% for the year," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

Gov. Bill Lee announced plans that would allow the use of public-private-partnerships for transportation infrastructure redevelopment in December.

The increasing number and frequency of cyber attacks against municipalities is a cause for credit concern, S&P Global Ratings says.

While hope remains for certain muni priorities in 2023, others look highly unlikely to gain traction in an ideologically-split Congress.

"Although late-year volumes may be smaller, the market tone is holding firm on the premise of no supply/rollover demand — somewhat typical for December but noteworthy for the level of volatility the market has endured," said Kim Olsan, senior vice president of municipal bond trading at FHN Financial.

State agencies expect to issue about $14.42 billion of debt during the fiscal year that began Sept. 1.

Nearly 20% of respondents to a HilltopSecurities high-yield team survey ranked liquidity and equity as their major concern for 2023.

The double-A rated toll agency has two new money toll revenue bond deals on tap for 2023, totaling $900 million.

Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida, talks with Chip Barnett about the county's robust economy as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. She talks about how the seaport and airport are booming and looks at some challenges ahead such as environmental and housing issues. Taped live in Miami on Dec. 7. (10 minutes)

Munis were unchanged Friday heading into the Christmas hiatus as light trading preceded the early market close, according to Michael Pietronico, chief executive officer at Miller Tabak Asset Management. 

It says its urgent motion was administrative and the objections shouldn't be accommodated.

Oil and natural gas-related taxes and payments are driving projected increases in the state's general fund and stirring concerns about a future revenue drop.

"The good news in this budget is that the MTA has increased its effort to find efficiencies, so that's now a larger portion of the plan. The challenge is that efficiency portion of the plan should be much, much bigger," said CBC President Andrew Rein.

Outflows continued as Refinitiv Lipper reported $3.094 billion was pulled from municipal bond mutual funds in the week ending Wednesday after $1.217 billion of outflows the week prior.

They also want to know why recovery was cut by $2.4 billion since Nov. 8.