Bonds

Washington state’s rating outlook was revised to positive from stable Thursday by S&P Global Ratings, citing the state’s growing economy and strong reserves. The outlook revision means there is a one-in-three chance the state could have its AA-plus rating upgraded to AAA by S&P over the two-year outlook period, said Oscar Padilla, an S&P director.

Puerto Rico Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Financial Officer Francisco Parés Alicea will resign effective Jan. 31. Gov. Pedro Pierluisi announced the resignation and said Nelson Pérez Méndez will serve as the interim Secretary of the Treasury. Pérez Méndez was deputy director of the Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority, focusing on the central

Municipals were little changed ahead of a holiday-shortened week, while U.S. Treasuries were firmer 10 years and in and equities were mixed near the close. The muni market, as expected, has “remained in a sideways mode” so far in this year with muni-UST ratios grinding lower, said BofA Securities strategists in a weekly report. While

In September 2015, then Bank of England Governor Mark Carney gave a speech in which he famously referred to the “Tragedy of the Horizon.” He was referring to the fact that financial markets tend to mis-price climate risk because the perceived timing for such risk lies far into the future, beyond the normal investment horizon

The U.S. Virgin Islands government is short on cash for its operations and its governor is asking the legislature to borrow $55 million to cover them. Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. will send his financial team to a Virgin Islands Senate hearing next week to argue for a change in usage for a letter of credit

Insurance companies have reduced their collective holdings by almost $42 billion or 9.5%, according to Federal Reserve Data. Together, banks and insurance companies reduced their holdings by 10%, or $102 billion in 2023, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s 2023 Municipal Market Year in Review said. The MSRB provided a few reasons for these trends. John

Municipals continued to experience a short-end correction Wednesday amid a busy day in the primary market which saw Jefferson County, Alabama’s, mega sewer refunding deal price along with a billion-plus of Massachusetts GOs offered to retail. U.S. Treasuries were slightly weaker out long and equities were in the black near the close. The municipal AAA

“The state of our state is strong. Let’s keep doing what works. Let’s continue to make Florida the envy of the nation,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in his state of the state address before the state Legislature on Tuesday. “My message is simple: Stay the course.” DeSantis blasted the Biden administration for a host of

The U.S. District Court’s interpretation gave more to Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders than legally allowed, the Puerto Rico Oversight Board told the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Not only are the bondholders wrong in claiming a lien on all revenues coming to PREPA but District Judge Laura Taylor Swain was wrong in awarding

Transcription:Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio for the authoritative record. Keeley Webster (00:03): Hi, I am Keeley Webster. Welcome to another bond buyer podcast. Today our focus is on ESG hot topics in the muni world. Today I have with

Munis were weaker Monday ahead of a $9 billion new-issue slate and the first full week of 2024 while U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended up. Munis “continue to be expensive when compared to Treasuries, falling well below the average of 85% for 10-year munis,” said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet

Of the $312.508 billion of par issued, municipal financial advisors saw $312.178 billion of business in 5,531 transactions in 2023. This compares to the $305.035 billion in 5,934 deals in 2022, out of a total of $305.149 billion. Caine Mitter & Associates and RBC Capital Markets moved into the top 10, while Piper Sandler &

From baby bonds to pension funding, 2023 was a year for progress in Connecticut, according to the annual report released Wednesday by State Treasurer Erick Russell. “The work done by our agency often focuses on the long-term — sustained investment success, low-cost infrastructure funding, helping families save for college, and now our landmark ‘CT Baby

David Elgart, former president and chief compliance officer of the now defunct Roswell, Georgia-based Sequoia Investments has agreed to settle charges with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for his role in acting as an unregistered dealer between May 2020 and May 2021, accepting a suspended fine. Without admitting or denying the findings, Elgart consented to

As government funding deadlines loom just weeks away, cities and states face fallout from federal aid cuts, the claw back of pandemic funds and reductions in the always-vulnerable Build America Bond subsidies. The federal government is currently operating under a pair of short-term continuing resolutions that expire within weeks. The departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs,

The U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico ended a Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholder discrimination adversary proceeding, asking parties to raise the issues they have during the plan of adjustment confirmation hearing planned to in early March. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain stayed the proceeding while saying plaintiffs GoldenTree and Syncora Guarantee should

Municipals were mixed ahead of a new-issue calendar that rebounds to more than $9 billion. U.S. Treasury yields rose further Friday as the December jobs report cast doubt on whether the Fed would start cutting rates in March. Equities were up near the close. There was already “significant upward pressure” on Treasury yields in recent

Continued financial pressure will impact the nonprofit healthcare system in 2024, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings analysts said Thursday. “We think we have another tough year ahead of us,” Fitch Senior Director Kevin Holloran said during a webinar. Despite some positives, such as an increase in demand, labor costs remain a major problem for

Bonds used to buy eight senior living properties in Michigan and Ohio are likely to default within six months, S&P Global Ratings said. On Dec. 21, S&P placed bonds issued for Great Lakes Senior Living Communities LLC — already rated deep in the speculative grades at CCC-minus — on CreditWatch with negative implications. The bonds

North Las Vegas, Nevada, this week had its long-term issuer default rating upgraded to A-minus from BBB-plus by Fitch Ratings as the city’s ratings continue an upward climb after falling to junk a decade ago. The city of 280,543 had been on the fiscal comeback trail since it fought off insolvency in 2014, even seeing