Bonds

Mesirow has taken the first steps in what will be a multi-year effort to expand its presence in Florida and across the Southeast. After having one of the most successful fiscal years in its 84-year history, the firm announced on Thursday that it would build up its offices in the region by hiring more staff

The Build Back Better legislation unveiled by the White House yesterday not only failed to include municipal market priorities but may also hurt demand for muni bonds by institutional investors. The bill features a new 15% corporate minimum tax that would apply to the adjusted financial statement income for corporations with more than $1 billion

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to request comment on its Rule G-27 related to dealer supervision in the next month. That and a number of other issues were discussed during the MSRB’s quarterly board meeting this week. “As part of our commitment to prudent and practical regulation, we are focused on a retrospective review

Municipal bonds were lightly traded and benchmark yields steady to end October while U.S. Treasuries bounced throughout the trading session, ending stronger near the close, and market participants are pointing to near-term volatility for both asset classes going into November. In the near-term, the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting should contain “an intense discussion

Puerto Rico’s leaders welcomed Pres. Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act budget proposal for its inclusion of funding for three programs that would benefit the island. As it stood on Friday, Biden’s $1.85 trillion spending and taxing proposal would introduce the Supplemental Security Income program to provide $1 billion to island residents, would increase the

A flood of Chicago paper planned over the next year should find an amiable investor reception after federal aid and rebounding revenues stabilized the city’s bond ratings and temporarily drowned out worries over how the city will structurally balance its books once the aid dries up. That’s the assessment offered by several members of the

The Build Back Better framework released this morning by President Joe Biden does not include any of the municipal market’s top priorities. Included in an original reconciliation bill but dropped from the newly-released framework are: the restoration of tax-exempt advance refundings; a direct-pay bond program; an expansion of the eligible uses of private activity bonds;

Municipals were stronger on the backs of a U.S. Treasury rally but underperformed the movements there, pushing ratios on the 10-year near 80% and the 30-year close to 90%. Triple-A benchmark scales were bumped two to three basis points on bonds outside nine-years while the 10-year UST fell seven basis points and the 30-year fell

An overhaul of the state and local tax deduction cap remains on the table despite fast-moving negotiations between Democrats trying to hammer out a deal on President Joe Biden’s social spending plan. Current SALT cap proposals would: increase the size of the cap; suspend the cap for two years, reinstating it in 2024 and lifting

Municipals saw yields rise in spots along the curve, mostly inside of 10 years, as secondary trading picked up, and more bonds were out for the bid. U.S. Treasuries moved to lower yields and equities ended in the black. Triple-A benchmark yield curves saw one to two basis point cuts. After mostly ignoring the better

As California Gov. Gavin Newsom preps for his annual budget reveal in January, he anticipates another “historic surplus,” he said during an interview at the Milken Institute’s global conference last week. The state’s revenues were $9.1 billion more than expectations outlined in the fiscal 2022 budget signed in July, according to the state Department of

Municipals faced pressure on the short end, with the one- and two-year yields rising two basis points, while U.S. Treasuries saw gains on bonds inside five-years and equities were in the black. For municipals, Monday’s session was more about readying for the primary and prepping for month-end positioning. Municipal-to-UST ratios showed the 5-year at 53%,

The Texas Public Finance Authority shuffled its finance team for $832 million of general obligation bonds after senior manager Goldman Sachs withdrew under the shadow of a controversial state gun law. Without comment, Goldman joined other major underwriters in backing away from Texas business after the new gun law went into effect Sept. 1. “In

It appears the Puerto Rico Plan of Adjustment will collapse as the Senate lacked the votes to approve a bill to back the plan and missed the Oversight Board’s deadline for such action. “It is a stunning development,” CreditSights Senior Municipals Analyst John Ceffalio said. “It had seemed the legislature had gotten all of its

The Internal Revenue Service has moved to mandatory electronic filing of its Form 8038-CP, its form for returning credit payments to issuers of qualified bonds. That and a number of other developments were announced during the IRS update as part of the Government Finance Officers Association’s 3rd annual MiniMuni conference. “The IRS is moving to

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $4.4 billion 2022 bonding package heads to the City Council for a vote next week after surviving a backlash over the lack of ward-by-ward specifics about how the city would spend $660 million of recovery plan borrowing. The bonding package, along with a $1.7 billion property tax levy that’s up $76.5

Municipals ended Friday steady after a week of increased selling pressure that moved yields and ratios higher. Triple-A benchmark yields were left unchanged across the curve. U.S. Treasuries pared back overnight trading losses to end the week better. Barclays strategists Mikhail Foux, Clare Pickering and Mayur Patel said as Treasury yields have moved higher over

Los Angeles received an improved outlook from Fitch Ratings ahead of plans to issue bonds to build housing for people living on the streets. Fitch revised its outlook on the city’s debt to stable from negative ahead of the $276.7 million competitive deal slated for Wednesday that pays for housing and refunds existing debt. The

In oral argument before a federal appeals court, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association contended that a Securities and Exchange Commission temporary exemption for municipal advisors during the height of the pandemic, was “arbitrary and capricious and unsupported by substantial evidence.” Making SIFMA’s case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

The Federal Reserve will ban top officials from buying individual stocks and bonds as well as limit active trading after an embarrassing scandal that led two officials to resign and clouded Chair Jerome Powell’s path to renomination. “These tough new rules raise the bar high in order to assure the public we serve that all