Bonds

Moody’s Investors Service raised the outlook on Guam to positive from stable on Thursday. The outlook is on the Ba1 rating of the territory’s general obligation, special tax rating, and the Ba2 rating on its certificates of participation rating, all of which were affirmed. The improved outlook stems from Guam’s improved financial position resulting from

New York officials are looking with caution as the fallout from the Signature and Silicon Valley Bank failures casts a pall over budget negotiations. Both the city and the state are working on their fiscal 2024 budgets. The state’s fiscal year begins April 1 while the city’s starts on July 1. Amid rising inflation and

A Texas House committee ditched an appropriation to potentially pay off $3.52 billion of recently issued bonds from a natural gas securitization deal, but left open the possibility for the funding’s return. Thursday’s action by the House Appropriations Committee approving its version of a supplemental appropriations bill without the funding came the same day the

Lawmakers in Maine hoping to avoid a government shutdown at the turn of the fiscal year are working to cleave Gov. Janet Mills’ $10.3 billion biennial budget proposal in two. The state Senate’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee announced on Thursday a plan to partition the governor’s proposal for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 into

Municipals finished out a nerve-wracking week on a strong note, with yields falling by as much as nine basis points on the short end while U.S. Treasuries strengthened and equities came under pressure. As holders of bank stocks headed for the exits and muni investors looked on nervously from the sidelines as the Federal Open

German automaker Volkswagen is set to receive $1.3 billion in state aid under an economic development deal signed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday, backing the construction of a new electric-vehicle production plant 20 miles north of the capital, Columbia. The $2 billion planned factory will produce electric vehicles under the Scout nameplate,

Municipals were slightly firmer in spots, while U.S. Treasuries extended their rally once more and equities ended up. The two-year muni-UST ratio was at 65%, the three-year at 66%, the five-year at 68%, the 10-year at 69% and the 30-year at 93%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET read. ICE Data Services had the

Municipals were mixed Wednesday as U.S. Treasuries rallied following the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision to hike rates a quarter point. Equities sold off. The two-year muni-UST ratio was at 64%, the three-year at 65%, the five-year at 67%, the 10-year at 69% and the 30-year at 93%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET

Whether the not-for-profit hospital sector earns its exemptions from taxes and the related ability to issue tax-exempt debt takes center stage in a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. The foundation’s report values the benefits of tax-exempt status for hospitals at nearly $12 billion more than the amount of discounted and free care they provided in

Municipals were little changed Tuesday, while U.S. Treasuries extended their sell-off and equities rallied. The two-year muni-UST ratio was at 60%, the three-year at 60%, the five-year at 63%, the 10-year at 66% and the 30-year at 91%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET read. ICE Data Services had the two at 64%, three

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders asked a magistrate to intervene on discovery issues but were rebuffed. Magistrate Judith Dein, who is handling discovery matters, denied the request because the Oversight Board said it was still considering bondholders’ discovery requests. She ordered the sides to continue to negotiate, with the bondholders filing a status report

After turning down several chances to legalize sports betting this year, Georgia lawmakers will face another vote on the matter before the end of the legislative session on March 29. The Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee voted 8-1 on Thursday to amend an existing bill designating a local soapbox derby race as the state’s

The Virgin Islands Superior Court ruled the territory’s Senate has the power to alter the Water and Power Authority’s board of directors, a decision one municipal bond analyst called a credit positive. The court upheld a Senate bill requiring board members to have greater expertise in energy, technology, economics, and finance; reducing the number of

The takeover of the Houston Independent School District by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on the basis of academic performance does not affect its AA-plus underlying rating, S&P Global Ratings analysts said Friday. The TEA said Wednesday the largest public school district in Texas will be run by a state-appointed board of managers and superintendent

The banking sector crisis cast a wide net of influence over the municipal market this week, stirring pricing volatility, upending monetary policy predictions and raising questions among participants over how deep the troubles run and whether the potential contagion will roil economic prospects. Silvergate Bank’s March 8th announcement it was closing up shop led the

Lawrence “Larry” Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary.Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the Federal Reserve shouldn’t be spooked into easing its campaign to contain inflation out of excessive concern about a credit crunch in the wake of the recent banking turmoil. “It would be very unfortunate if, out of solicitude for the banking

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed an independent watchdog within the California Energy Commission to monitor the state’s petroleum market on a daily basis. The proposal represents a shift from his plan to place a cap on oil company profits, though it would give the commission more authority to investigate gasoline price spikes and the

Regional leaders in the Northeast kept up high-profile efforts to show support for local entities facing challenges after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York. Despite federal measures to backstop all deposits, even those higher than the $250,000 deposit insurance limit, the failure of the California bank, which

Municipals were firmer in spots to end a chaotic week that saw triple-A benchmarks both follow U.S. Treasuries in a flight to quality and ignore UST movements — as munis did on Friday for the most part — as the banking sector crisis continued. USTs rallied and equities sold off Friday. Triple-A benchmarks were bumped

A Biden administration proposal aimed at providing relief for transit agencies struggling with anemic ridership would benefit large agencies but could pressure smaller ones, local transit officials told a Senate panel Wednesday. President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget, unveiled last week, would free up $6.7 billion in so-called 5307 urbanized area grant formula grants