Bonds

Munis were weaker to close out the week, playing catch up to Thursday’s larger U.S. Treasury losses and preparing for a larger new-issue calendar led by billion-dollar issues from the New York Dormitory Authority and triple-A rated Minnesota, along with multiple large deals from Texas school districts. U.S. Treasuries were firmer Friday and equities rallied.

Environmental, social, and governance capital programs continue to flourish under increased scrutiny, said one presenter at a recent securities industry event. Climate change may be nothing new, said Trenton J. Allen, CEO of Sustainable Capital Advisors, but the “growing appetite” for suitably focused investments is, and issuers and investors alike can benefit from strategies to

Blake Washington was appointed Thursday to be New York’s budget director. Washington, secretary to the New York State Assembly Ways and Means Committee, where he advises the Speaker and Assembly members on all budget and fiscal matters, was chosen for the post by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “With years of public service and a deep

Munis yields rose Thursday, following and outperforming a U.S. Treasury sell-off on the heels of strong-than-expected economic data. Equities ended down. Thursday’s “economic data offers the latest evidence that the U.S. economy is weathering the fastest rate hikes in a generation without much damage to the major gear-works of the economy,” said Wells Fargo Securities

The cost of protecting U.S. infrastructure against climate change is costly — but the cost of doing nothing is higher. That was the message today from Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and other witnesses who testified at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on the fiscal fallout from climate change. Louisiana is one of the states

Munis were steady to weaker in spots Wednesday, while U.S. Treasuries were firmer after the Fed hiked rates 25 basis points and signaled more may come this year. Equities ended the session in the red. The Fed just “delivered a 25bps hike and by holding firm to their data dependent rhetoric and are trying to

Kentucky’s economy remains in overdrive as it continues to rack up record after record. This month the state saw the largest surplus in its history as the general fund budget had a $1.55 billion overage at the end of fiscal 2023. Nearly all of the surplus will go into the commonwealth’s rainy-day fund, bringing it

Municipals were little changed in secondary trading Tuesday as the focus was on the primary where the state of Washington sold large general obligation bond deals ahead of the FOMC rates decision. Treasury yields rose a basis point or two throughout most of the curve and equities ended the session in the black. The two-year

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. Transcription: Chip Barnett (00:03):Hi, and welcome to another Bond Buyer podcast. I’m Chip Barnett and my guest today is Eric Merlis, managing director and co-head of global markets at Citizens Bank. And we’re going to be focusing on the economy, financial markets

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s executive board last week approved a $15.7 billion capital plan for 2023 to 2028. Approximately 60% of capital spending called for is “focused on improving the reliability and resiliency” of the existing infrastructure, MassDOT chief Gina Fiandaca wrote in an introduction to the plan, with an additional 23% going towards

While it’s clear the Fed will raise the fed funds rate target by 25 basis points to a range between 5.25% and 5.50%, there’s less clarity about whether this will end the hiking cycle. The Federal Open Market Committee meets Tuesday and Wednesday. In its latest Summary of Economic Projections, most FOMC members saw rates

The House overwhelmingly passed a bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration for the next five years and granting $4 billion per fiscal year to the Airport Improvement Project. The bill, the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, was passed in a 351-69 bipartisan vote, and will now move on to the Senate

New Jersey sued the federal government to block a plan to charge drivers entering midtown Manhattan, claiming the green light the US gave New York’s congestion pricing proposal was ill-considered and missed numerous risks to Garden State residents. The challenge came Friday morning in a federal lawsuit the state filed against the US Department of Transportation and

State departments of transportation are breathing a sigh of relief after the Federal Highway Administration resolved the bulk of a nearly 20-year-old accounting glitch that threatened $3.5 billion of infrastructure funds. The resolution of $2.5 billion of the $3.5 billion discrepancy between two accounting systems used by the federal government frees up the money for

Parties in a bankruptcy case involving a bond-financed Arizona participant sports venue objected to a motion to either appoint an independent Chapter 11 trustee or dismiss the case, arguing either move would be detrimental or premature. Legacy Cares, the venue’s owner, which filed for bankruptcy May 1 in Arizona federal court, along with bond trustee

The bond market was quiet to end the week, with munis and U.S. Treasuries little changed ahead of next week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Equities were up near the close. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Friday was at 59%, the three-year at 61%, the five-year at 62%, the 10-year at 65% and the 30-year at

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s preliminary financial plan predicts the agency will have balanced budgets through 2027. With the additional aid provided in the state’ fiscal 2024 state budget, the MTA now projects a balanced budget through 2027, the first time in more than 20 years it has forecast a balanced budget for five

New Jersey Transit’s newly passed fiscal 2024 budget includes no new fare hikes and increased spending year-over-year, in the face of a looming fiscal cliff. NJ Transit’s board passed a $2.86 billion operating budget on Wednesday that’s 4.1% bigger than fiscal 2023’s, with 60% of costs associated with labor and fringe benefits and 31% linked

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will discuss its proposed change to a one-minute trade reporting window at its upcoming meeting on July 26-27. The board’s amendments to Rule G-14 on transaction reporting obligations caught the ire of dealer groups who argued that benefits to the change would be speculative at best and that shortening trading

Munis continued to show strength Wednesday as several large new issues priced to good demand, with New York City Transitional Finance Authority seeing yields fall as much as of 14 basis points from Tuesday’s retail scales and Salt Lake City upsizing its deal. U.S. Treasuries improved and equities ended in the black. Triple-A yields were