Bonds

Bondholders and other parties involved in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy returned to court Friday in an effort to move the needle on their opposing cases seeking better repayment terms. Bond parties defended their adversary complaint against Puerto Rico’s central government’s actions regarding PREPA since the central government emerged from bankruptcy in March

Recovering from last year’s brutal selloff, high-yield municipal bond funds this year have faced an improved but still rough performance amid large pockets of market volatility, as some, like Nuveen’s market-dominating fund, suffered more than others. While portfolio managers said they’re optimistic that shifting market dynamics will boost performance in 2024, the market swings this

Texas and its public schools could face future budget pressures in the wake of last month’s passage of a constitutional amendment to decrease school property taxes, Fitch Ratings said Thursday. Proposition 4 was among 12 other constitutional amendments Texas voters approved Nov. 7 with many of the measures tapping surplus state money for tax relief

Alan Appelbaum, former managing director and head of Aegis Capital Corp.’s municipal bond desk, has agreed to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he disregarded his obligations as a broker-dealer and violated antifraud provisions in his recommendation of certain variable interest rate structured products to seven investors. Without admitting or denying the findings, Applebaum,

California Gov. Gavin Newsom will need to close a $68 billion shortfall as he wraps up work on the proposed budget for fiscal 2024 that he will present to lawmakers in January. The upshot is that the flooding and massive storms that hit California in early 2023 and pushed income tax filings in the state

Municipals were steady Friday, ignoring weakness in the U.S. Treasury market after the jobs report came in hotter-than-expected. Equities ended up. The November payroll report “was stronger than Wall Street was expecting, and we are already seeing significant upward pressure on Treasury yields,” said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist and managing director at BMO Economics.

Ohio for the first time can boast of a trifecta of triple-A ratings after S&P Global Ratings on Friday gave top marks to the state’s issuer and general obligation ratings. “The upgrades reflect our view of Ohio’s demonstrated commitment to active budget management and building and maintaining reserves through economic cycles,” said S&P analyst Rob

Moody’s Investors Service raised its outlook on U.S. nonprofit higher education sector to stable from negative on Thursday, citing expected narrowing gaps between expense and revenue growth. Also on Thursday, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its “bifurcated” outlook for the sector, which includes a negative outlook for less selective, more regional institutions without financial flexibility and

Municipals were slightly firmer Thursday as the last of the week’s large new-issues came and went while U.S. Treasuries were little changed and equities ended up ahead of Friday’s much-anticipated jobs report. Triple-A yields fell one to three basis points while USTs yields were relatively flat, only a basis point down out long. Relative value

About 33 years after former junk bond king Michael Milken pleaded guilty to multiple counts of securities and reporting violations, Richard Sandler, his personal attorney and a childhood friend, has published a book on the investigation to “set the record straight.” “I can’t change the fact I wrote it now, rather than years ago,” Sandler

Municipals were firmer Wednesday while a busy primary market saw Pennsylvania sell $2.1 billion of general obligation bonds competitively and the New York City Transitional Finance Authority repriced its $1.3 billion of revenue bonds in the negotiated market with yields lowered by up to 12 basis points from Tuesday’s retail offering. Treasuries were firmer five

The Biden administration will award $6 billion to a pair of high-speed train projects in the west, marking the strongest federal support to date for a technology that has struggled to get off the ground in the U.S. “The dream of American high-speed rail is about to become reality,” Ray LaHood, former U.S. Secretary of

The city of Chicago and its Sales Tax Securitization Corporation won The Bond Buyer’s 22nd annual Deal of the Year award for its $1.7 billion financing that addressed initiatives related to affordable housing, homelessness support services, environmental justice, and community development. The issuance, which was the Deal of the Year in the Midwest category, included

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his “Focus on Florida’s Future” budget proposal for fiscal 2024–2025 totals $114.4 billion, down $4.6 billion from the current fiscal year’s budget. Tuesday’s budget proposal keeps $16.3 billion in reserves while paying down an additional $455 million in debt and providing $1.1 billion in tax relief. Gov. Ron DeSantis, 2024 Republican

Municipals were little changed Monday, while U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities ended down. November was a “positive month” for munis as triple-A yields fell on an average of 89 basis points, bringing month-to-date returns of 6.35% and pushing year-to-date returns to 3.98% through the end of the month, Jason Wong, vice president of municipals

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has issued a request for information asking how its rules and market regulation generally affects small firms operating in the muni market. The request asks firms eleven specific questions such as what are those factors that make a regulated entity, small, medium or large, what rules have had a disproportionate

Water systems will need to turn to municipal bonds, federal loans, state revolving funds and federal legislative help to meet a new Environmental Protection proposal requiring water systems to replace all lead pipes within the decade. “It’s a big task,” said Dan Hartnett, chief advocacy officer at the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies. “We’ll be

A $2.6 billion terminal renovation at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport was officially launched Thursday, while a feud over bond financing for the project continues between the city’s mayor and controller.  Mayor Sylvester Turner joined United Airlines officials at the airport to highlight the Terminal B project, which includes the expansion of 40 gates to

The highly publicized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis v. California Gov. Gavin Newsom debate frequently devolved into a shoutfest. Fox News moderator Sean Hannity mostly stuck to his promise to moderate and not join the debate after introducing himself as a well-known conservative. Democrat Newsom, who recently outed himself as a friend of Hannity’s, said he

Municipals were firmer Friday ahead of a large new-issue calendar, which boasts billion-dollar-plus deals from Pennsylvania and the New York City Transitional Finance Authority along with a sizable taxable Hawaii general obligation bond deal. U.S. Treasuries were rallying and equities were up near the close. Triple-A yields fell up to six basis points, depending on