Taxable bonds

The municipal market has been on a tear in terms of fundamentals and technicals that are driving the market and there isn’t much in the near-term likely to stymie that tone.

After a 117% increase in taxable bond issuance in January, the trend continues.

Thanks to the taxable tear, the municipal market saw the third highest volume for the month of January in the past 10 years.

While scrutiny of climate risks grows for municipal bond issuers, so do opportunities to broaden investor interest.

The high-demand market environment boosted Philadelphia’s first general obligation bond deal of 2020.

A calm rate outlook, a focus on taxable municipals, and a stable credit outlook are drivers of the current outlook and market convictions for Gary Pollack of Deutsche Bank. John Hallacy hosts.

Look for an expanded buyer base, including an international focus, as a new decade in munis dawns

Many investors are positioning for the late cycle, according to guest Robert Waldner Jr., CFA , chief strategist and head of macro research at Invesco. He points to the demise of the Phillips curve; the Fed thinking in "real" terms, and a gradual increase in yields on the long end. He also discusses the appeal to global clients of taxable municipals. John Hallacy hosts.

Municipals look to be well positioned entering 2020 against a strong backdrop of market technicals and stable credit outlook.

The municipal bond market eclipsed the $400 billion mark for the fourth time since 2010, thanks to taxable trend that led to a vault in fourth quarter volume.

Gary Hall of Siebert Williams Shank talks with Chip Barnett about the recent merger which created the largest minority- and women-owned investment bank in the U.S. He looks back at his time at the MSRB and looks ahead to what the market may see in 2020.

As there are just eight full work days remaining in the year, muni market leaders believe that 2020 will look a lot like 2019 — high volume, increasing taxable issuance and strong demand.

Ann Arbor Public Schools, which recently won $1 billion of new money authorization, will price $55 million of taxable bonds.

The Lansing Board of Water and Light will sell $252 million to refund bonds it issued in 2011.

The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency's $892 million deal is expected to yield $100 million in present value savings.

The hospital system will price up to $1.7 billion of bonds this week, of which up to $1.4 billion would be taxable.

Some market participants worry about the viability of a key muni advocacy talking point if enough midsize issuers begin to embrace the taxable market.

Taxables remain in focus this week with deals out of Texas and Wisconsin. California comes with $682M of exempts competitively.

The number of trades decreased about 16% to 2.01 million from the same quarter in 2018.

The 5% non-callable-10 structure, which has been the standard for municipal bonds, was tailor-made for advance refunding