Primary bond market

Kim Olsan, senior vice president at FHN Financial talks with The Bond Buyer's Lynne Funk about trading the municipal market in the COVID era. Olsan trades the short- and intermediate but she has some thoughts about high-yield and taxables as well. (36 minutes)

The municipal market's volume registered its fourth consecutive month of greater-than-$40 billion and the largest on record total for the month of September.

The Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority’s deal came in three times oversubscribed and was an important step in the Commonwealth’s return to the capital markets.

The nation's largest not-for-profit healthcare system by acute care revenues is evaluating a fourth quarter sale.

Atlanta airport bonds and a Puerto Rico housing issuer were some new offerings of note on Tuesday.

One muni bond sector that had been a go-to for heavier allocations was utilities, according to Kim Olsan.

Chicago's $1.2 billion airport refunding will smooth out fiscal operations through next year amid a massive decline in airline travel.

The Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority will be in the market with almost $250 million of public housing project refunding bonds.

Without more fiscal support, the outlook becomes murkier with the possibility of economic data disappointment and volatility in rates, and historically muni demand dampeners, Morgan Stanley said.

Accurate obligor identification can allow any matrix-based bond evaluation system to improve pricing accuracy and reduce manual intervention by pricing analysts, the firm said.

The city's use of reserves to manage past deficits drove a two-notch downgrade from S&P Global Ratings, to A from AA-minus.

ICI reports another $2 billion inflow week while new issues fare well. High-grades around the 2026 maturity were trading in large blocks showing stability.

Diverse issuers from NYC to Texas to Chicago to Michigan to PA Turnpikes priced billions into the primary while the secondary again took a back seat.

The Florida Cabinet approved new money and refunding bonds, some of which may be sold as taxable debt with advance tax-exempt refundings no longer possible.

The system took two rating hits over its rising debt levels and strained balance sheet metrics as it readies a $354 million borrowing.

Rates remain stagnant even as UST rallied Monday. Large deals from NYC and Texas issuers are on deck for Tuesday.

Feeling the revenue hit from the coronavirus, the commission has received state approval for a second delay in $112.5 million quarterly transit payments.

On Friday, municipals finished little changed, with yields remaining steady along most of the AAA GO scales.

The new-issue market saw deals from Houston, the Illinois Finance Authority and the City and County of San Francisco, Calif., hit the screens.

Duane McAllister and Lyle Fitterer of Baird talk with Chip Barnett about low rates and credit quality. They discuss the best scenarios for investors and issuers in these challenging times. (20 minutes)