Pennsylvania leads the new-issue calendar with $2.1 billion of GOs in four series via the competitive market while the New York City TFA will bring another $1.4 billion of exempts and taxables.
The first fees filed under the MSRB's new rate card model are in line with expectations,but its long term budget growth has some worried about its future.
Earnings from the city's nine casinos and two internet-based gambling services fell year-over-year but remained above 2019 levels, a state regulator said.
"There weren't many exemptions made to paying the fee, which should help maximize revenues and make them more predicable when considering leveraging this new revenue stream for infrastructure improvements," said Howard Cure of Evercore Wealth Management.
Triple-A yields have fallen up to 95 basis points on the month, supply is up 7.8% year-over-year for November and the month is posting positive returns, which has, in turn, led to well over 3.50% returns year-to-date.
November's total volume rose 7.8% to $28.464 billion in 652 issues. For volume to top total 2022 issuance, December would need to see $44.329 billion of issuance.
Any treatment of municipal securities as posted collateral must carefully consider the potential impact on market liquidity, financing costs for municipalities, and the broader functioning of the municipal bond market.
The continued drop in yields has been "buoyed by a broad rate rally and intra-market fundamentals that simply have created more buyers than sellers," noted Kim Olsan, senior vice president of municipal bond trading at FHN Financial.
The outlook revision from negative comes as the school system prepares to tap more of its record $2.44 billion of voter-approved bond authorization next year.
Illinois spreads tightened considerably after ratings upgrades earlier this year. The state saw up to 10 bidders on $875 million of taxable and tax-exempt GOs.
While the muni market faces some headwinds, such as rich relative yields, near-term returns "are likely to be favorable for munis," said Cooper Howard, a fixed-income strategist at Charles Schwab.
Pierluisi says there's more to the island's growth than federal funds. Bondholders said that means the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority can afford to pay them more.
The city has made some important progress on the expenditure side, but the new mayor's first budget didn't make similar strides on revenues, according to Fitch.
"The upgrade of Pennsylvania's IDR and related ratings reflects recent use of revenue surpluses to build its reserves to historical highs and Fitch's expectation that substantial reserves will be maintained in the near term," the rating agency said.
The BSBY interest rate benchmark was originally envisioned as a successor to the once-ubiquitous Libor rate. But it failed to gain much traction, and Bloomberg now plans to shut it down next year.
"The November muni rally continues as month-to-date returns are now at 4.68%, pushing us further into positive territory for the year as year-to-date returns now stand at 2.35%," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.
"The market has had a solid tone to it recently even with the strong rally seen this month," Roberto Roffo, managing director and portfolio manager at SWBC Investment Management, said of the Nov. 10 rally where municipal yields in 10 years fell by as much as 40 basis points.
The bankrupt city challenged pledged revenues for 2017 bonds, but the bankruptcy court said the lien was secured, at least until the Chapter 9 was filed.
Litigation brought by a state public pension recipient challenges the constitutionality of a 2022 law prohibiting governmental contracts with companies the Oklahoma treasurer determines are "boycotting" energy businesses.
There had been speculation of layoffs in Citi's municipal division as several high-profile employees had been departing the firm over the last year, but sources said they have not heard of any muni layoffs.
The large drop in yields since the end of October can be reflected in sentiment that investors expect a potentially dovish Fed next year, and that a soft landing narrative gives them "permission to finally purchase the bonds they've been admiring," said MMA's Matt Fabian.
This year has seen an increase in and an earlier start to tax loss harvesting amid rapidly rising interest rates and stronger equity market performance.
Municipal bond underwriters for Texas deals now have until Dec. 16 to comply with changes to the agreements and to their standing letters of compliance with two state laws banning contracts with companies that "boycott" or "discriminate" against the fossil fuel or firearm industries.
While the state is boosting the budget reserve, it's also forecasting $1.4 billion in additional fiscal 2024 revenue that would be partially offset by spending pressures.
Fitch also affirmed the GOAA's AA-minus rating on $1.8 billion of outstanding senior lien airport facilities revenue bonds and A-plus on $867 million of subordinate lien airport facilities revenue bonds.
The rally in munis over the last three weeks has "pushed ratios to levels that we have not seen since the start of the year," said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.
Tradeweb created a model that examines outstanding municipal securities, both tax-exempts and taxables, and it looks for similarities in bond features, such as maturities, call dates, use of proceeds and coupon structures.
Florida?outpaced the national average in overall labor force gains last month while the state's 2.8% unemployment rate was lower than the nation's 3.9% in October.
Recommendations from an actuary on the city's police and fire pensions come amid a rising unfunded liability and uncertainty over the use of pension bonds.
In general the bond market is volatile, and fixed income securities carry interest rate risk. (As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities.) Fixed income securities also carry inflation risk and credit and default risks for both issuers and counterparties. Unlike individual bonds, most bond funds do not have a maturity date, so avoiding losses caused by price volatility by holding them until maturity is not possible.
Lower-quality debt securities generally offer higher yields, but also involve greater risk of default or price changes due to potential changes in the credit quality of the issuer. Any fixed income security sold or redeemed prior to maturity may be subject to loss.
Before investing, consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully.
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