Sell side

Finance officials for the city decided to be the first municipal issuer to use the distributed ledger technology for a $10 million deal, banking on cost savings, better liquidity and more access for retail investors to their bonds. Mayor Tom Koch, CFO Eric Mason and Strategic Asset Manager Rick Coscia say it should be the first of many deals for the industry.

Total volume currently stands at $224.13 billion, up 38.5% from $161.848 billion at this time last year. As the end of the first half approaches, several firms are revisiting their supply projections for the year, given the growth so far this year.

With the "pretty good run" month-to-date, it would not be unexpected to see "the market take a breather, and with a large calendar this coming week, it may again move sideways," said AllianceBernstein strategists in a weekly report.

The low-investment-grade offering for a high-profile public private partnership stood out in a crowded airport sector.

The one-notch upgrade from Fitch Ratings comes as the county plans to to sell up to $900 million in two lease revenue bond deals this summer.

Driven by ongoing capital expenditure funding and current refunding opportunities, airport issuance is estimated at $21 billion in 2024, with a slew of from June through September and more planned in December, according to Ramirez.

Even after paring down the capital plan, the MTA will need to issue debt, and sooner than planned. It will be issued under the MTA's transportation revenue credit rather than its congestion pricing credit, so near-term debt service costs will be higher, CEO Janno Lieber said.

Munis should see better performance this week as issuance falls to $5.2 billion this week and cash still needs to be reinvested, said Jason Wong, vice president of Municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

USTs spiked 17 basis points on the short end and 15 to 12 10-years and out following the release, while triple-A curves saw yields rise two to five basis points, depending on the yield curve, in a more muted and typical reaction for the asset class.

A $345 million taxable bond deal will support the public-private partnership arrangement that will upgrade the College Park campus district energy system.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw inflows as investors added $549.2 million after $94.9 million of outflows the week prior, according to LSEG Lipper.

Connecticut's GO deal is expected to benefit from its improving fiscal reputation, embodied in two rating outlook revisions to positive ahead of the pricing.

The first chip in the state's triple-A crown comes ahead of plans to competitively auction $1.2 billion of general obligation bonds next week.

May volume "surprised on the high end and it has been one of the fastest starts to the year historically," said James Pruskowski, chief investment officer at 16Rock Asset Management.

Cabrera Capital Markets is among the firms that has capitalized on the exits of UBS and Citi from municipal bond underwriting to add senior bankers.

Despite losses, munis are "being set up nicely" as the summer season approaches, said Jeff Lipton, a research analyst and market strategist.

The California Community Choice Financing Authority was the leader in the public power sector, issuing nearly $5 billion or 28% market share in 2023. It was also one of the top 10 overall issuers of 2023.

Marty Mannion and Matt Schrager, managing directors and co-heads at TD Securities Automated trading division, discuss how automation and electronic trading are creating more opportunities and better outcomes for municipal market participants, including making muni bonds more accessible to a broader range of investors.

The majority of the debt sold for the state's community choice aggregators came through CCCFA, a conduit issuer that ranked third among all issuers nationwide for volume issued in 2023.

"The industry is built on relationships, and it's powered by technology," said Josh Rosenblum, head of algorithmic trading at Brownstone.