Public finance

The settled proceeding against Anthony Falsetta, announced Tuesday, is the latest in a string of SEC cases targeting violations of retail order periods.

The absence of advance refunding and a direct-pay bond program in the bipartisan infrastructure package has lobbyists pushing for inclusion of those things in the reconciliation bill, a matter only weeks away.

Moody's assigned its Baa1 rating to the California Institute of the Arts, which traces its lineage to Walt Disney, ahead of the university's $33 million debut in the public debt markets.

Cooper Howard, director of fixed income strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, talks with Chip Barnett about what municipal bond investors can expect in the second half of the year – low yields and strong fundamentals. He looks at continuing bond fund inflows, rising taxable issuance and compressed spreads. (14 minutes/Taped Aug. 3).

Federal benefits for Child Tax Credits will also be expanded.

Returns of negative 0.40% would be the third-worst August performance of the past 10 years, according to Bloomberg data.

The pandemic has prompted rare bipartisan consensus the U.S. needs a job creation program focusing on the middle class and acknowledging rural communities while upgrading infrastructure.

The fast-growing Texas capital was downgraded by Fitch Ratings ahead of a $328 million bond sale that is expected to price in September.

New York State's comptroller cited the strength of the pension system in the drop to 5.9% from 6.8%.

Experts agreed that Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the Fed could start tapering this year and that it would have no implications for liftoff, but not everyone was satisfied with what they heard.

Other post-employment liabilities are more material problems for one in ten state and local governments, according to Moody's Investors Service.

The governor and the Oversight Board had yet to offer an opinion on the increase.

A pair of bond sales coming out of the Carolinas found homes with investors this week as demand for the paper was high.

ReThinkNYC, battling entrenched transit and real-estate interests in its call for a unified network, cites economic development gains and capital savings.

Several cities could eliminate or drastically reduce unfunded pension liabilities, Reason Foundation's Robert Poole found.

Refinitiv Lipper reported $1.9 billion of inflows, high-yield gaining $524 million, the 25th consecutive week of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds.

The board bars implementing a 2020 law and is threatening legal action if the local government does not cooperate.

The Investment Company Institute reported $2.3 billion of inflows, bringing 2021 totals to $67 billion.

Tom Kozlik, head of municipal strategy and credit, Hilltop Securities

Both board members and government officials reiterated their stances on cuts to public pensions — for and against — but neither party said agreements had been reached during the meeting.