Public finance

One of the craziest, most transformative years ever in state and local government finance will end with a whimper this week. Municipalities are slated to sell just $74.1 million of bonds this week, according to data from The Bond Buyer and Ipreo LLC, after having floated $611.7 million last week.

The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes rose last week as a weaker tone permeated the municipal market throughout the holiday-shortened set.

ALABAMAIndustrial Development Board of the City of OxfordDec 21, 2009 . . . . . . $1,200,000

INDIANAFrankfort (City)Dec 22, 2009 . . . . . . $6,715,000

MINNESOTAFarmington (City)Dec 21, 2009 . . . . . . $1,200,000

ALABAMAEvergreen (City)Dec 16, 2009 . . . . . . $2,500,000

Although Bank of America Merrill Lynch does not foresee municipals repeating this year's performance in 2010, the bank's strategists see a few prominent roles for municipals in their main investment themes for the year.

INDIANACumberland (Town)Dec 10, 2009 . . . . . . $650,000

ALABAMAAuburn UniversityDec 10, 2009 . . . . . . $79,500,000

Municipal bond mutual funds keep garnering new money at a steady clip as investors continue to grow bored waiting on the sidelines.

Even as the approaching holidays are expected to put a seasonal damper on primary market supply, New York's Liberty Development plans to begin marketing $2.59B of escrow bonds tomorrow to meet a year end deadline to sell Liberty bonds for redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.

ARKANSASHope School District No. 1-A of Hempstead CountyDec 17, 2009 . . . . . . $2,840,000

ARIZONAFestival Ranch Community Facilities DistrictDec 17, 2009 . . . . . . $7,600,000

Most of The Bond Buyer's weekly yield indexes declined slightly this week, despite weakness in the municipal secondary market through Tuesday.

In the pre-holiday week — and following the first significant inflow activity since early October — investors withdrew $3.48 billion in assets from tax-exempt money market funds, leaving them at $405.25 billion for the week ending Dec. 14, according to the Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

ALABAMAPrattville (City)Dec 4, 2009 . . . . . . $6,315,000

ARKANSASConway School District No. 1 of Faulkner CountyDec 16, 2009 . . . . . . $21,210,000

ARKANSASEl Dorado School District No. 15 of Union CountyDec 15, 2009 . . . . . . $1,250,000

ARKANSASAlma (City)Nov 4, 2009 . . . . . . $3,600,000

The Bond Buyer today added a new "advance refunding" calculator to its web site. This sophisticated tool combines analyses of savings and "option value" to help state and local governments maximize the savings they can reap from refunding their outstanding debt.