Bonds

Investors are continuing their flight from mutual fund investments, as individual investors and tax-exempt exchange traded funds take up more of the market share. That’s according to a recent mid-year market update from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. “The supply/demand equation changed rapidly, as mutual funds, the largest buyer of municipal bonds, especially in the
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Municipals were little changed Monday as investors awaited a larger new-issue calendar that kicks off with $800 million-plus Washington general obligation bonds in the competitive market Tuesday. Munis ignored the moves to higher yields in U.S. Treasuries while equities were down. Triple-A yields were steady while USTs moved three to eight basis points higher. Muni
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After dancing with default on a June municipal bond payment, the owners of American Dream megamall in New Jersey face an Aug. 1 payment on another set of tax-exempts. Two separate municipal bond offerings sold through conduit Public Finance Authority helped finance the mall. The largest, $800 million of limited obligation PILOT revenue bonds, stumbled
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The Texas laws that bar underwriters with discriminatory policies against the oil and firearms industries may force municipalities to face higher borrowing costs as a result of less competition among underwriters. That’s according to a new paper that was dissected during the Brookings Institution’s 11th annual Municipal Finance Conference Monday. Its authors Daniel Garrett, an
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U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., submitted a bill Friday for a binding plebiscite on Puerto Rico’s political status, but its chances of passage are slim. The bill would offer Puerto Rico voters three options: statehood, independence, and sovereignty in free association with the United States. The current status as a territory would not be offered.
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While some ownership questions were answered, U.S. Virgin Island senators were nearly universally skeptical about a presentation at a hearing Thursday from the purchaser of a major oil refinery site that’s been plagued by financial and environmental challenges for years at a hearing Thursday. The site, Limetree Bay Refinery, and the companies operating it since
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Municipals took a breather and were little changed Thursday, while U.S. Treasuries were mixed as the 2/10 UST curve flattened but remained inverted, sending worrisome recession signs. Equities ended in the red. Muni to UST ratios were at 65% in five years, 82% in 10 years and 96% in 30 years, according to Refinitiv MMD’s
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When Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell describes the central bank’s approach to raising interest rates to tame inflation, he seems to return again and again to the same word: “expeditiously.” But as the central bank is laser focused on fulfilling its mission to maintain price stability, it could risk running afoul of one of its
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The former Treasury official and University of Michigan administrator’s confirmation gives the Federal Reserve Board a full complement of seven governors for the first time in nearly a decade. Michael Barr, a former Treasury official and university administrator, has been confirmed as the next vice chair for supervision for the Federal Reserve. The Senate confirmed
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