Public finance

Oklahoma's first utility securitization bond deal related to 2021's Winter Storm Uri continued to attract criticism from a state regulator who called for an independent review.

Investors poured $1.094 billion into municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, versus the $236.491 million of inflows the week prior. It marks only the second time this year inflows eclipsed $1 billion.

The agency overseeing what has been called the country's most expensive infrastructure project hopes to secure $8 billion in federal dollars and $4.2 billion of state borrowing for the first leg of the bullet train.

The mediation team can operate until Sept. 9, if it chooses to do so.

The Investment Company Institute reported investors pulled $246 million out of muni bond mutual funds in the week ending July 27 compared to the $602 million of outflows in the previous week.

A study commissioned by Orem, Utah, found that creating a school district within the city's boundaries is feasible.

Since 2011, the city has issued about $5.6 billion of debt, with the most issuance occurring in 2021 when it sold $785 million.

Chicago will conduct a full-court press of the buy side next week.

The large primary was led by two $700-plus million of revenue bonds from the Port of Seattle and the Georgia Ports Authority.

The county wants to enter into a public-private partnership to finance, build and operate a public utility and multiple microgrids that will sell power to advanced manufacturers who require hyper-reliable energy.

Summer redemption season starts winding down; Net negative supply stands at $18.777 while 30-day visible is at $12-plus billion.

Municipals will end July with positive returns across all sectors. The Bloomberg Municipal Index shows a 2.49% return in July, moving year-to-date losses lower to 6.71%.

The authority says the Puerto Rico Oversight Board is illegally telling it how non-debtor government bodies must act.

The deal is the latest in a series of credit offerings the city is using to incentivize and grow the local charter school industry for the future.

Total July volume was $25.598 billion in 520 deals versus $37.573 billion in 1,013 issues a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data.

A group of 20 muni bond investment firms have asked U.S. cities to disclose their environmental-related needs and risks, including infrastructure projects, to CDP, a global disclosure firm.

The Unsecured Creditors Committee, a PREPA union and a PREPA retiree group disagree. They want litigation to start.

Investors added $236.491 million to municipal bond mutual funds, per Refinitiv Lipper data, versus the $698.782 million of outflows the week prior. High-yield saw inflows hit nearly $550 million.

Municipals are poised to end July in the black. Demand for muni product has been strong this summer, with analysts expecting supportive market technicals through August with a likely continuation of positive performance.

With the Fed committed to fighting inflation with aggressive rate hikes, fewer issuers want to take the risk with taxable advance refundings.