Public finance

The city will leverage its own GO bonds to finance the stadium.

The top two municipal bond insurers wrapped $7.132 billion in the first quarter of 2024, up from the $5.735 billion of deals in the first quarter of 2023, according to LSEG data.

"The financial and engineering industries need to align to get the owners to do what it is they need to do to make sure it's a durable asset," said Maria Lehman, immediate past president of ASCE.

Municipal Market Analytics reports the most technical defaults in 2023 since it started tracking them, including 24 in the not-for-profit hospital sector.

Gary Hall, President of the Infrastructure & Public Finance Division at Siebert Williams Shank & Co., joins Bond Buyer Executive Editor Lynne Funk to talk about the importance of the muni industry in financing the country's extensive infrastructure needs -- from ports and airports to bridges and energy solutions.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw the seventh consecutive week of inflows and the 14th week of inflows for high-yield funds.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's April 17-18 meeting will center on the many rule amendments the regulator has on.

"We withdrew the rating because we have determined we do not have sufficient information to maintain a forward-looking credit opinion on the city," S&P said.

A new report by the MSRB showed that from 2018 to 2022, a substantial increase in trading activity and the number of pre-trade quotes has been responsible for better pricing.

Celebrating Ohio's "highest possible credit rating," Gov. Mike DeWine delivered his State of the State address to the General Assembly in Columbus.

The new hire comes on the heels of the firm's growth in bond insurance in the first quarter of 2024.

Adding the funds will let Easterly offer municipal bond investment options.

Water systems will have five years to comply, although the Biden administration estimates only between 6% and 10% of systems will need to treat.

The pace of the issuance and the increase of refundings, surging 59.6% in the first quarter of 2024, have also led some firms to up their overall 2024 issuance projections.

Despite an S&P rating upgrade ahead of this week's GO bond deal, Louisiana paid a wider spread to a 10-year benchmark than it did a year ago. Longer maturities saw tighter spreads on from a year ago.

S&P's upgrade to BBB from BB-plus follows a March upgrade from Moody's Ratings, bringing the city to investment grade a decade after its historic bankruptcy.

"The news is sparking an equity market selloff while sending bond yields to the stars as investors dial down their Fed easing expectations again, this time to only two rate cuts this year," said José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.

The city gave no reason for the cancellation of its redemption plans or bond issuance, but reserved the right to call the 2010B BABs for redemption in the future.

The minutes underscored officials' reluctance to lower rates until they have more evidence inflation is firmly on a path to 2%, the rate they see as the sweet spot in a healthy economy.

Capital outlay investments in the governor's "common ground budget" provide over $1.4 billion in general fund cash and tax-supported debt for projects, including $100 million of bonds for improvements to wastewater treatment plants.