Primary bond market

The growth in issuance in 2020 spread out over the top 10 underwriters, with bulge-bracket firms sharing the wealth.

Without the benefit of a larger new-issue calendar, secondary trading is likely to continue the theme of the final two months of 2020: more bidders than bonds.

From the Centennials to the COVID generation, the municipal market's demographics will change dramatically in the next decade as will the way investors view investing in munis.

Paul Herman and Adam Mason of HIP Investor examine environmental, social and governance risks, ratings disconnects, transparency needs and HIP's deep dive into hospital systems. Paul Burton hosts. Recorded Dec. 14. (25 minutes).

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans says monetary policy will need to remain “accommodative for quite a while,” since inflation won’t hit a 2% average for “a long time.”

The new-issue calendar builds from almost nothing to $2.4 billion in the first week of the New Year, with deals ranging from education to taxables to social bonds on tap for investors.

The deal is rated BBB-plus by Fitch Ratings, Baa1 by Moody’s Investors Service and BBB by S&P Global Ratings.

After one of the worst sell-offs in municipal market history as COVID-19 began its rampage in March, the market rebounded to set the all-time record.

Dominick D'Eramo, head of fixed income at Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors, talks with Chip Barnett about how the municipal bond market did in 2020 and what may be on tap for munis in the new year. (12 minutes)

Municipal bond funds saw $2.086 billion of inflows in the week ended Dec. 22, the Investment Company Institute reported Wednesday after a $2.517 billion inflow the week prior.

While there are no major sales on the calendar for this week, some larger deals from and Texas, California, New Jersey and Colorado issuers are on tap for the first few weeks of 2021.

Refinitiv Lipper reported tax-exempt mutual funds saw $1.288 billion of inflows in the week ended Dec. 23, the seventh week in a row investors put cash into the funds.

IHS Ipreo estimates the week's bond volume at $7.3 million in a calendar composed only of small negotiated deals.

A record year of overall issuance, led by a boom in taxables, tells the story of a growing muni market with a broader, more diverse investor base.

Taxable munis have posted the highest returns among all fixed-income indexes this year, BofA said.

The county board signed off on about $600 million of borrowing and the financing teams that will bring the deals to market in January.

Munis were flat Monday as the entire curve was said to be undergoing a consolidation.

Paltry supply will force the secondary to handle the rest of 2020; New York City taxable general obligation bonds trade up by nearly 20 basis points on intermediate bonds.

The entire municipal exempt yield curve is seeing consolidation with a 125 basis point spread between one and 30 years, and sub-1% yields are holding firm inside of 15 years.

The state will repay borrowing by the Michigan Strategic Fund to cover its $600 million preliminary settlement over the Flint water contamination crisis.