Sell side

The East County AWP Joint Powers Authority plans to construct a water reclamation project using the debt.

The calendar next week largely continues "the elevated pace of primary market volume seen since May, against a backdrop of broadly supportive fund flows (LSEG inflows for eight consecutive weeks), somewhat better dealer positions (although still heavy), mid-August reinvestment to spend, but lighter late summer attendance," said J.P. Morgan strategists led by Peter DeGroot.

New York state's issuers topped the Northeast charts as issuance rose in nearly every sector of the market during the first half of 2024.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw inflows as investors added $528.7 million to funds after $674.1 million of inflows the week prior, according to LSEG Lipper. This marks seven straight weeks of inflows.

Underwriting spreads rose to $7.11 in the first half of 2024 from $3.70 in the first half of 2023.

The Investment Company Institute reported $839 million of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Aug. 7 after $442 million of outflows the week prior. Exchange-traded funds saw $680 million of inflows after $950 million of inflows the previous week.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport received a S&P rating upgrade and a positive rating outlook from Moody's ahead of a $750 million bond sale next week.

Detroit-based Wayne State University will return to market with $31.7 million of general revenue refunding bonds, with proceeds refunding outstanding bonds.

A new classification scheme would allow market participants, both on the buy and sell sides, to correctly identify the source and nature of credit risk in their holdings and to aggregate such risk into meaningful sectors that share common risk drivers.

The private Massachusetts college is partnering with the Collegiate Housing Foundation to address a good problem for a Northeast school to have: rising demand.

Muni returns so far in August are in the black, with the Bloomberg Municipal Index at 0.53% this month and 1.04% year to date. High-yield continues to outperform with returns at 0.68% in August and 5.99% in 2024.

In an environment characterized by dwindling enrollment, slowing revenues, and the end of COVID-19 federal aid, small private universities are struggling to remain afloat.

The past several trading sessions have seen "crazy volatility," said Jennifer Johnston, director of research of municipal bonds at Franklin Templeton.

The state bond commission approved Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan as part of an underwriting pool Louisiana can hire on debt deals.

The New York City Transitional Finance Authority is set up to refund Build America Bonds as part of a $2.11 billion deal slated to land in the market this week.

The short-term sale is an unusual maneuver that allows the CEA to temporarily lower the amount of available capital on its balance sheet.

"The forces of municipal fundamental and technical measures are setting up a reconciliation against higher UST yields," said Kim Olsan, senior vice president of municipal bond trading at FHN Financial.

July will see $35.2 billion of redemptions, down 13% month-over-month but still 35% higher than 2024's monthly average of $27 billion, said Pat Luby, head of municipal strategy at CreditSights.

In the first half of 2024, winding-down federal aid, a resurgence of Build America Bond refundings and election uncertainty have contributed to the surge in issuance, said James Welch, a portfolio manager at Principal Asset Management.

In 2024, variable rate (short put) issuance is up 6.4% increase year-over-year, LSEG data shows. Few expect issuance to return pre-financial crisis levels.