Primary bond market

Large blocks of New Jersey paper changed hands with yields that pushed spreads below 100 basis points on some maturities for the recently downgraded state.

Sarah Mitchell, CFA and a portfolio manager at Mondrian Investment Partners, talks with Chip Barnett about one of the hottest sectors in the municipal bond market today – green bonds – and the possibility of the U.S. government issuing a sovereign green bond. (20 minutes)

A supply/demand imbalance allowed New Jersey and Massachusetts to reprice to lower yields while the beleaguered New York MTA will head back to the Fed for liquidity.

The strong demand amid a dearth of new municipal issuance by states and a reach for yield also allowed New Jersey to skip a planned taxable portion and officials announced it would not need to access the Fed's Municipal Liquidity Facility.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is promoting a $950 million restructuring that adds three years to the city's debt service schedule as present value neutral when factoring in savings from a more traditional $750 million refunding.

Municipals were steady to stronger ahead of $11.5 billion of supply as requests for new municipal bond identifiers surged almost 40% last month.

Municipals firmed Friday, with yields falling by as much as two basis points, as coronavirus threats grow and a flight-to-safety resumes.

The $4.3 billion deal will test the state's low bond ratings — punctuated by another downgrade — against the municipal market's continuing demand for paper.

Municipal bonds strengthened Thursday as yields fell by as much as four basis points on AAA curves but coronavirus vaccine rally in stocks slowed and UST, munis regained ground.

John Hallacy, founder of John Hallacy Consulting LLC, and Andrew Coen, Bond Buyer Northeast regional reporter, talk about next week’s $4 billion COVID-19 emergency GO and taxable social bond sale by New Jersey. Chip Barnett moderates the discussion on what it means for the state and whether the issue will become muni bond market benchmarks with an extra appeal to international investors. (15 minutes)

Light primary easily absorbed while secondary trading showed a steadier market as it closes for Veterans Day. Massachusetts announces $1.4 billion of GOs for next week.

Municipal yields rose as much as five basis points on the long end, but the losses were not as pronounced as UST. Light dealer inventories and scarce secondary trading let munis outperform Treasuries.

As the week drew to a close, municipal bond market participants looked ahead to a smaller-than-usual supply slate dominated by revenue bond deals.

To little surprise, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged. Refinitiv Lipper reported tax-exempt muni bond funds lost about $954 million.

Top-rated muni yields fell by as much as 10 basis points on the AAA curves on Wednesday the largest move better for the market since late April, early May. ICI reported $1.2B of muni bond fund inflows.

The only major deal slated on the calendar, the Maine Turnpike Authority, came to market on Tuesday.

Municipals were weaker in the 10-year range by as much as one basis point on Monday as all eyes fixate on election results.

From feast to famine, ahead of the elections, the new-issue slate dries up while the secondary held steady.

Long-term municipal bond volume is on pace to set a new record of yearly issuance, thanks in part to issuers rushing to market before the election and a continued taxable boom.

New Jersey said it expects to issue up to $4.5 billion of tax-exempt and taxable bonds the week of Nov. 18 under the COVID-19 Emergency Bond Act.