Bonds

U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain said she would hear a bondholder suit in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority case that Puerto Rico bondholders and Puerto Rico’s government argued should be assigned to a different judge. GoldenTree Asset Management and bond insurer Syncora Guarantee filed suit in the U.S. District Court for Puerto

An Oklahoma law prohibiting state and local government contracts with companies that “boycott” the fossil fuel industry is the target of a lawsuit, claiming the measure prevents public employee pension funds from performing their constitutional duty to operate for the exclusive benefit of their beneficiaries. The case filed in Oklahoma County District Court this week

A bankruptcy court recently ruled for the most part in favor of Chester, Pennsylvania, bondholders in an adversary proceeding filed by the city challenging liens on revenues for bonds issued in 2017 as part of a financial recovery plan for the city. Chester, which filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, has faced decades of financial

A firm tone and hearty appetite from investors was evident Wednesday as the municipal market prepared for a shortened week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. Treasuries were mixed and equities were better. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Wednesday was at 63%, the three-year at 64%, the five-year at 65%, the 10-year at 67% and the

Citi’s municipal division appears to have been spared from initial reorganization efforts at the firm, according to market sources. Citigroup informed its employees Monday of an upcoming round of job cuts and managerial changes — the next large step in CEO Jane Fraser’s push to create a simpler, flatter company. Citi did not say how many positions

Municipals were firmer Tuesday as U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly, following the release of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes that said officials will remain cautious about future interest rate hikes. Equities ended down. Muni triple-A yield curves were bumped two to six basis points Tuesday, depending on the curve, as municipals continued to

Illinois’ rainy-day fund crossed the $2 billion threshold for the first time, following an $11.5 million deposit, the state comptroller’s office announced Monday. The fund has grown in size in recent years and now, at $2.005 billion, has enough money to run the sixth largest state for about 15 days compared to 2017 when it

SK Battery America, a subsidiary of South Korean firm SK On, one of the world’s largest battery makers, is scaling back production on several fronts in response to a changing market for the vehicles. As an EV market turbocharged by federal incentives and high-set expectations cools off and major producers weigh cost-saving measures, SK said

The fine print of a revised fiduciary rule proposed by the Biden administration carries a potential impact on the corner of the municipal market that engages in “riskless principal transactions” for taxable munis. The Department of Labor’s proposed Retirement Security Rule would increase regulations around which kind of financial advice and transactions on retirement accounts

The Biden administration’s Build America Bureau expects to close on $19.5 billion worth of transportation infrastructure projects in the next 18 months, executive director Morteza Farajian said Tuesday at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials annual meeting in Indianapolis. “There’s a huge increase in the number of projects that we have in

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its negative outlook on mass transit, highlighting Bay Area Rapid Transit as an example, even after the San Francisco rapid transit system announced it had received state funding. BART, a San Francisco Bay Area rapid transit system, announced on Wednesday that it would receive $352 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission

With the acceleration of technology in all markets, firms are trying to create solutions to process data — from issuer offering documents and continuing disclosures to trades and pricing and evaluations — and turn it into digestible, usable forms. For an illiquid, over-the-counter market with more than 50,000 issuers and a million securities outstanding, challenges

While pursuing his doctorate in economics at Columbia University, Oliver Giesecke came across several challenges as he was researching and collecting data on the muni market. Either it wasn’t available or it was incomplete or at times, misleading. In an effort to provide more and clearer data on certain attributes of the muni market, Giesecke,

Municipals improved Friday to close out a week of more gains despite some U.S. Treasury volatility, positioning the asset class to see historically high returns for the month. Equities ended up near the end of the trading session. Triple-A yields fell up to four basis points, depending on the curve, outperforming a mixed UST market,

While New York City’s $110.5 billion fiscal 2024 budget remains balanced, the costs associated with dealing with the influx of migrants will soar over the next several fiscal years, according to the November financial plan update released Thursday. So far, the city has already spent $1.45 billion in fiscal 2023 to provide food, shelter and

Municipals were firmer Thursday as a billion-plus dollar deal from the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority priced in the primary market and outflows continued. U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended down. Triple-A yields fell one to five basis points, depending on the scale, while UST were better by six to 10. The two-year

The judge in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy case rejected the bond parties’ objections to the Oversight Board’s supplemental disclosure statement, a major step toward confirming the deal, which sets recovery for some bondholders at as little as 3.5% of par. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain asked the board to make minor

Municipals were mostly steady Wednesday as investors worked through more new-issue paper in the primary while U.S. Treasuries lost ground after Tuesday’s rally. Equities were mixed near the close. The dust settled Wednesday following Tuesday’s rally, as municipals were flat, according to a New York trader.  “Everyone is reevaluating and taking a breather after the

Miami-Dade County, Florida’s almost $500 million taxable seaport revenue bond deal, which was expected in late summer was postponed due to rising interest rates but is still expected to be sold. The postponement affected the planned sale of the $499.2 million of Series 2023 senior lien seaport revenue bonds to be issued by Miami-Dade County

Municipals were firmer across the curve, but underperformed a U.S. Treasury rally after a lower consumer price index report indicated the Federal Reserve may soon be done hiking rates. Equities also rallied. “The Fed looks smart for effectively ending its tightening cycle as inflation continues to slow,” said Bryce Doty, senior vice president and senior