Primary bond market

Chicago GOs were upsized and repriced on Wednesday to bump yields as indications of interest were taken on the Sales Tax Securitization sale.

Both the senior and the new second lien of Chicago's Sales Tax Securities Corp. are now rated AA-minus.

The muni market saw a handful of deals price while the market strengthened ahead of the bellwether deals that come Wednesday and Thursday.

A healthy response to Chicago's first tender invitation is expected to bolster the savings on $1.47 billion of refinancing debt the city sells this week.

It has been a couple of years since the market has seen an active January to start the year.

The Windy City is looking to add even more savings to a $1.3 billion debt refinancing with a tender invitation for some of its older, higher-yielding bonds. “The tender is just gravy,” City CFO Jennie Huang Bennett said last week.

Attendees at The Bond Buyer’s Deal of the Year ceremony look ahead to the new year and discuss what they feel will be the biggest stories of 2020.

Attendees at The Bond Buyer’s Deal of the Year ceremony talk about what issues they think had the biggest impact in municipal finance last year.

Demand for municipal bonds is much stronger in 2020 than it was to end 2019, illustrated by record inflows into the asset class in the latest reporting week.

The muni market saw the last issuance of the week come and go; the front end of the curve were stronger than the long-end.

The authority is making an investor push ahead of two upcoming deals.

It's been a few weeks since the market has seen "normal" issuance, but investor demand picked up right where it left off before the holidays.

The top three spots in the rankings did not change year-over-year but there were plenty of place changes in the rest of the top 10

The top municipal issuers easily surpassed their issuance totals from 2018 year, with $400.51 billion in 10,582 transactions in 2019 compared to $320.35 billion in 8,549 deals the year before. California regained control of the throne after coming in third in 2018.

The top muni underwriters accounted for $406.51 billion in 10,582 transactions in 2019 compared to $320.35 billion in 8,549 deals in 2018. There was only one change in the top five year-over-year but spots six through 10 saw three changes. Barclays and Stifel both had big improvements in the rankings, while Raymond James dropped the most.

Four large competitive deals stole the show on Tuesday, including New Jersey's first general obligation sale in a little more than three years.

Two rating agencies lowered their outlook for University Hospitals to stable from positive.

Chicago is coming to market next week with its $1.3 billion debt refinancing.

Laura Lightbody and Colin Foard of Pew Charitable Trusts discuss how states and cities can fund resilience measures. Paul Burton hosts.

The municipal bond market started off the week adopting a cautious tone, eyeing issuance and world events.