The focus: municipal advisors ? part of your regulatory responsibilities and duties (if you don't agree to evaluate pricing and/or structure, you must expressly disclose it to the client) and broker-dealers (fair dealing).?
Tax-exempt money market funds reached a 2024 high of assets under management at $136.84 billion for the week ending Wednesday, according to the Investment Company Institute.
"A sharply lower new-issuance calendar, peak yields, large redemption money and mutual funds inflows are all positive performance factors for the market," BofA strategists said.
Voters approved at least 168 local school bond measures for $42.8 billion, according to preliminary tallies, but dozens of bond requests will fall short.
Nashville, Tennessee, voters approved a $2 billion bond measure, while Lancaster County, South Carolina, and Cary, North Carolina, opposed the bond referendums.
Despite the post-election selloff, inflows continued?this week as LSEG Lipper reported investors added $1.263 billion to municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Wednesday, compared to $658.5 million of inflows the prior week. High-yield inflows returned.
The turnpike plans to sell $1 billion of revenue bonds in 2025's first quarter to continue funding for an expansion project now estimated to cost $8.2 billion.
The Bond Buyer's Deal of the Year awards will mark the 23rd year it has recognized outstanding achievement in municipal finance. The event, to be held Dec. 3 in New York City, will also include the presentation of the Freda Johnson Awards for Trailblazing Women in Public Finance.
Unless the state government makes changes to taxes or spending, there will be deficits of $587 million to more than $800 million starting in the next fiscal year.
The red wave that took the presidency and the Senate ? along with increased odds of a Republican victory in the House ? was hanging heavily over fixed income markets Wednesday, with munis and UST yields rising up to 17 basis points, with the largest losses out long.
The University of Texas at Austin's Center on Municipal Capital Markets will provide graduate and continuing education programs, research reports, and public outreach.
"If the GOP wins the House, the specter of risk to the municipal bond tax-exemption will increase," said Edwin Oswald, a tax partner at?Orrick?Herrington & Sutcliffe in Washington D.C.
With the rollout of a new final EPA rule, Midwest municipalities are seeking ways to finance lead pipe replacement efforts, including through revenue bonds.
"A victory for former President?Trump?is likely to be viewed as ushering in a more inflationary environment, whereas a win for Vice President Harris will probably be seen as closer to the status quo," said Erik Weisman, chief economist and portfolio manager at MFS Investment Management."
Investors should "brace themselves" for further volatility, as uncertainty is likely to remain, said?Tom Kozlik, managing director and head of public policy and municipal strategy at HilltopSecurities.
Potential new Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has suggested a potential workaround to offset the cost of extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The Philadelphia-based university straddles the higher education and healthcare sectors, but market demand suggests it's greater than the sum of its parts.
Issuance will "not completely disappear, but will adjust to its seasonal norm from the record-breaking pace of the past several months," said Barclays (JJCTF)' Mikhail Foux.
The increase in the muni market's size, number of novel credits and retail investors suggest it's "finally time" for direct SEC regulation, argue market veterans Kent Hiteshew and David Dubrow.
October's "price path has created wider spreads but also brought higher yields that are now in the range where a broader audience may begin to take notice," said NewSquare Capital Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager Kim Olsan, noting higher taxable equivalent yields for different tenors of the yield curve.
The month's total is above the 10-year average of $40.288 billion. The market needs to see about $45 billion of issuance in November and December to hit an all-time record year.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday proposed a $17.3 billion fiscal year 2025 budget that calls for a $300 million property tax increase, but does not touch pension funding levels.
Municipals largely stayed in their own lane Wednesday, digesting the large slate of new issues as supply dwindles heading into election week, with Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply falling to $5.56 billion.
After a strong jobs report this month drove mortgage rates higher, the Midwest is seeing more bonds financing loans to single-family and multifamily homebuyers.
California sold tax-exempt and taxable GOs, the University of Miami priced a refunding deal while the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority came with a refunding and tender offer.
While the asset class is still in the red for October, it has pared back earlier losses. The Bloomberg Municipal Index is at negative 1.42% in October and positive 0.84% year to date.
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.