Municipals underperformed a flight-to-safety rally in U.S. Treasuries as COVID-19 and its variants surge around the globe, pushing edgy investors to flee the stock market, as some contemplate the idea the economic recovery has peaked, and will potentially regress from the virus’ effects. Municipal triple-A benchmarks were pushed to lower yields by one to three
Bonds
Connecticut Treasurer Shawn Wooden grew up in Hartford’s impoverished North End. “I know how the cycle of poverty helped push people back,” he said. That helped shape his push for his “passion project” for the past legislative session — CT Baby Bonds. The program, which Wooden calls first in the nation, took effect June 30
Florida has seen 14 straight months of job growth, gaining 69,300 private sector jobs in June, the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity said Friday. June’s increase was more than double the May gain of 34,600 jobs and the largest rise of the year. Since the height of the pandemic in April 2020, Florida has gained
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Illinois trimmed its spread penalties in the first primary outing of an Illinois-linked borrower to reap the benefits of the state’s positive rating momentum. The agency that manages Chicago’s downtown convention center campus priced $811 million of refunding bonds Thursday. It saw a 98 basis point spread to
Municipals ended the week steady along with U.S. Treasuries ahead of one of the more diverse and chunky calendars the summer has seen while supply still simply isn’t keeping up with demand, which should keep municipal yields in a tight range. The total potential volume for next week is estimated at $9.033 billion, up from total
Chicago is searching for a financial advisor to help assess development proposals as it looks to stake out a share of the casino gambling market with the promise of a roughly $200 million annual jackpot. The city launched a request for qualifications for an advisor July 14 to help evaluate proposals it receives from a
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the question of whether to nominate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for a second term is a conversation for her and President Joe Biden, declining to give her opinion in a televised interview. “That’s a discussion I’m going to have with the president,” Yellen said Thursday on CNBC. The
The high level of incarceration in the U.S., especially among Americans of color and indigenous people, constrains the labor market and the economy’s ability to reach its full potential, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said. “Incarceration is a drag on our ability achieve our maximum-employment goal,” Bostic said Tuesday at the start
Between 2016 and 2020, green, social and sustainability bond issuance grew by an average of 72% a year in the United States, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Climate Bonds Initiative. Green municipal bonds issued by local government authorities and state-backed government entities made up 23% of total volume of annual issuance in
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System reported a 21% net return on investments in the fiscal year ended June 30. The double-digit return will trigger a reduction in the discount rate used to calculate employee and member contributions to 6.8% from 7%. This was the first time CalPERS Funding Risk Mitigation Policy has been triggered,
New Jersey received its second upward outlook revision in three months from Moody’s Investors Service, which on Tuesday lifted its outlook on the state’s general obligation debt to positive from stable. The move affects $40 billion of rated debt. “The state has responded to a brightening revenue and liquidity picture with several actions reflecting a
Municipals were little changed Tuesday, ignoring another rise in U.S. Treasuries and a weaker stock market, with the focus on the primary which saw deals bumped in repricings. Another day of UST weakness after less-than-stellar auctions and municipals stayed in their own lane. Some participants said without the UST rise in yields, municipal benchmarks likely
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will announce its fiscal year 2022 chair, vice chair and four new members of the board following its meeting next week. That announcement will follow the MSRB’s search for new members, which it announced in November 2020. The MSRB said at that time it was searching especially for issuers and
Lagging attendance at the home of the King of Rock and Roll continues to batter the tourist-tax municipal bonds that were issued to gussy it up. The bonds were sold in 2017 for a development project at Graceland, the former residence and now resting place of Elvis Presley, which has become a worldwide tourist attraction
New York City has added Kroll as a fourth bond rating agency. The organization posted its AA-plus rating and stable outlook for the city’s general obligation bonds on its website Monday. “We are pleased that the city followed through on our office’s suggestion that we obtain a credit rating for our general obligation bonds from
Chicago Public Schools laid out a proposed $9.3 billion fiscal 2022 budget that directs $707 million towards capital and spends down about $1 billion of the district’s $2.6 billion of federal relief to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 raises spending by about $900 million
The Puerto Rico Oversight Board reached a verbal agreement with bond insurers on a debt repayment plan on Wednesday, two days after they reached an agreement with unsecured creditors representing the largest debt holders in the negotiations. Lawyers at Proskauer Rose LLP representing the Oversight Board, and federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain, agreed to delay
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker will sign newly-passed legislation handing mayoral control of the Chicago Public Schools to a fully-elected school board by 2027 even as negotiations continue over some board rules and the impact on the city’s $500 million in annual financial obligations. The package laid out in an amendment to House Bill 2908 was
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed rule on the fair dealing obligations of solicitor municipal advisors is in need of clarification, MAs and dealers believe, particularly with respect to disclosure of where such professionals owe their loyalty. Comment letters filed with the MSRB late Thursday struck that common theme in response to the MSRB’s draft
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said he would sign legislation authorizing adult-use cannabis after lawmakers approved it. “The states surrounding us already, or soon will, have legal adult-use markets,” Lamont said Thursday after the Senate approved the measure by a 16-11 vote, with nine senators abstaining. “We’re not only effectively modernizing our laws and addressing inequities,
Providence officials may have to scramble for a Plan B as Mayor Jorge Elorza’s proposal for up to $850 million of pension-obligation borrowing sits stalled in the state legislature. State General Treasurer Seth Magaziner, a Democrat, called the enabling legislation too risky and Republican state chairman Steven Frias called the measure “a pension obligation bomb.”