Public finance

The muni market saw a record $507.585 billion of debt issued in 2024, up 31.8% from $385.061 billion in 2023, according to LSEG data. 

The top 10 advisors accounted for $249.421 billion of par or 59.3% of the total issuance with municipal advisors.

New York boasts four of the top 10 issuers, followed by California with two and one a piece for Florida, Massachusetts, Washington and New Jersey.

The state will try to convince the rating agency to lift its debt to AA, to match the rating others have assigned.

Munis "responded in part to a better UST session [Wednesday] but weren't in a position from a supply standpoint to attempt to match the 10-15 basis point rally in taxables," said Kim Olsan, a senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.

It could be the year's largest unrated municipal bond deal.

Because of the disaster, income tax filing deadlines for Los Angeles County residents will be delayed to October, muddying the revenue picture for the state.

The bonds — $824.8 million tax-exempt and $400 million taxable — follow Orlando Health's major acquisitions of hospitals in Alabama and Florida.

Municipals are underperforming USTs month-to-date, with the Bloomberg Municipal Index showing losses of 1.02% versus 0.92% for USTs as of Tuesday, but both are outperforming losses in corporates that are seeing 1.23% losses in January.

S&P Global Ratings downgraded Chicago's general obligation debt to BBB from BBB-plus, saying the 2025 budget fails to address a structural imbalance.

The Goldwater Institute took aim at another Arizona municipality, filing a lawsuit against tax rate hikes approved by the Gilbert Town Council in October.

Lawsuits surrounding everything from unethical sponsorships to the sale of refunding bonds swept across markets last year, creating a municipal battleground.

"Even though it will be priced to sell, such large supply in one week may be a struggle for the asset class," said Anders S. Persson, Nuveen's chief investment officer for global fixed income, and Daniel J. Close, Nuveen's head of municipals.

Trading in Los Angeles credits has become more volatile. An L.A. Department of Water and Power deal slated for Wednesday went day-to-day.

The muni market also faces an elevated new-issue calendar, which may put additional pressure on muni yields. Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply sits at $17.57 billion.

The Florida-based mining company failed to make $10 million in principal and interest payments due on Jan. 1. Florida had the largest number of defaults in 2024 at nine, per Municipal Market Analytics, Inc.

"It is the first step but that doesn't mean there's a second step," said John Bagley, the MSRB's chief market structure officer.

Tom Greene is retiring after 10 years at Wintrust Wealth Management. He left retirement to work for Wintrust; he also spent 40 years at William Blair and Co.

The billion-dollar deal will be the first bonds backed by the tax since it was created in 2019.