Public finance

Detroit's historic bankruptcy case gained momentum with court approval of a controversial interest-rate swaps settlement and a deal on its unlimited-tax general obligation bonds, but challenges still lay ahead, legal experts said.

Municipal funds reported the biggest inflows in seven weeks, as interest rate concerns faded and investors sought high yields.

ARKANSAS

ALABAMA

The Bond Buyer's muni bond indexes strengthened in the week ending April 3, as Treasury yields declined.

Tax-exempt money market funds increased total net assets by $1.58 billion to $270.38 billion in the week ended April 7, reversing recent weeks’ outflows, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Municipal fund flows rebounded the week ending April 9, as funds reported the largest amount of inflows since the start of 2014.

Leaders on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee said they reached an agreement on principles for a surface transportation reauthorization bill and suggested funding could be raised through tax reform.

Market participants believe Detroit's settlement with three bond insurers Wednesday is a breakthrough in the city's bankruptcy proceedings, even though it is not final and leaves many questions unanswered.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. launched a fund designed to avoid risk, protecting investors’ capital by focusing on high-grade intermediate maturities.

ARKANSAS

ARKANSAS

A bond insurer Wednesday asked the bankruptcy judge overseeing Detroit's case to force the city to consider four new bids for the city's art collection that could bring in as much as $2 billion.

Detroit announced its first significant bankruptcy settlement, agreeing to pay insurers of its unlimited-tax general obligation bonds 74 cents on the dollar and to treat the debt as secured in the future.

In Memphis, Tenn., and Atlanta, major airport-centered economic development plans anticipate using innovative and traditional financing.

ARKANSAS

CONNECTICUT

Federal lawmakers are examining the Canadian public-private partnership model for lessons to apply in the U.S., where a major infrastructure bank bill awaits action in both chambers of Congress.

While Detroit and Puerto Rico make the headlines, a cautious and conservative approach is the best bet, according to two municipal bond portfolio managers, whose strategies are representative of about three-quarters of municipal fund managers.

Detroit's creditors filed a flood of objections to the city's bankruptcy plan Monday, arguing it lacked critical information needed to answer even basic questions such as recovery rates.