Public finance

Retail order periods were first designed to give individual mom and pop investors some muscle in the battle for bond allocations by giving their orders for new issues priority consideration a day or two before the official pricing. Some 15 years later, retail order periods have enjoyed a long track record, growing in popularity and continuing to be an important component of the new-issue pricing process for issuers and investors, municipal experts and underwriters said.

ILLINOIS

ALABAMA

Table as of: 09/17/2012 16:46 PM Invisible Supply Issuer and purpose Amount

The threat that federal subsidy payments for Build America Bonds could be slashed under the sequestration process after administration officials assured issuers those payments were safe could permanently sour the muni market on BABs and other direct pay bonds, market participants said Monday.

Transportation advocates are upset about the sequestration cuts. Although most dedicated funding sources for transportation infrastructure were protected from the mandatory spending reductions, highways and airports could both take a hit if Congress doesn't act.

MISSISSIPPI

ALABAMA

Primary market volume should increase substantially this week. Potential issuance is expected to total $8.64 billion, up from total sales of $4.04 billion last week.

CALIFORNIA

ALASKA

Table as of: 09/13/2012 17:37 PM Invisible Supply Issuer and purpose Amount

In what was the first sizable inflow activity in nearly a month, tax-exempt money market funds increased by $1.94 billion as total net assets grew to $270.25 billion for the week ended Sept. 10, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw $820 million in inflows into funds that report their flows weekly for the week ended Sept. 12.

Light supply and a perceived hesitation on investors' parts conspired to hold the municipal market to only modest outperformance against Treasuries this week.

ARKANSAS

ALABAMA

MBIA Inc. is fielding a new law suit and Assured Guaranty is seeking an additional credit rating.

At a time when states and municipalities face more than $2 trillion of unfunded pension fund liabilities, states are increasingly turning to private infrastructure investments to help close those funding gaps, experts said told treasurers meeting here this week.

Fitch Ratings announced Wednesday that uncertainties in federal transportation funding led to downgrades of GARVEES. The agency also warned against further weakening possible along the current trajectory.