Investments

"Ozi's focus on building lasting relationships and his prudent risk management make him well-suited for this leadership role," said Charles Peck, Wells Fargo's head of municipal products.

The underwriting firm's hires will expand its real estate development finance group and Southeast operations.

"It doesn't take but one comment or one market-moving data point to cause ETFs to shift the market pretty considerably," said Ajay Thomas, head of public finance at FHN Financial.

The Westin Chicago Lombard's owner is returning to market with unrated bonds designed to cure payment defaults on debt issued to exit bankruptcy in 2018.

The Chicago Board of Education passed a balanced $10.26 billion budget that leaves the city government to pick up non-teacher pension contributions.

Thanks to strong technicals and the anticipated interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its September meeting, municipal bonds posted positive returns of 0.87% in August, reversing their losses of 0.20% in July, according to Jason Wong, vice president municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

"As soon as you step back from the table, you may wind up on it," NABL's chief policy officer said.

Aleon Metals, along with its subsidiaries, which sold more than $300 million of tax-exempt revenue bonds since 2019, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcies in August.

"Another set of eyes helps improve the deal for everybody, including the borrower, because the borrower is going to want a successful venture too," said John Miller, head and chief investment officer of First Eagle's municipal credit team.

Issuance year-to-date is at $386.689 billion, up 14.9% from $336.478 billion over the same period in 2024.

Data center projects, which are proliferating across the country, are taking advantage of tax breaks that can be costly for states and local governments.

Issuance for the week of Sept. 2 is at an estimated $7.457 billion, with $6.179 billion of negotiated deals and $1.278 billion of competitive deals on tap, according to LSEG.

Philadelphia's economy has been growing. But deep cuts Pennsylvania may impose on the regional public transportion system could have serious negative impacts.

Legacy Health, an eight-hospital Portland, Ore.-based healthcare system, that abandoned merger plans in May received a downgrade and negative outlook from Moody's Ratings.

Treasurer Brad Briner said the unused money was in state accounts for years.

The state will tap reserve funds, close tax loopholes and cut spending to address a more than $1 billion shortfall in its fiscal 2026 budget.

The world's biggest opera house has been downgraded for the second time this year.

The GOP reconciliation bill will cut $888 million in revenue from Oregon, state economists said, because its state tax laws conform with federal law changes.

With the break in issuance this week, the market has firmed a bit, said Tim McGregor, managing partner at Riverbend Capital Advisors.

If the SEC grants exemptive relief to firms seeking to offer a multi-class structure, "we will see more ETFs of actively managed municipal bond strategies."