Bonds

If all goes according to plan, municipal markets will see the largest ESG bond pricing ever next week as Massachusetts prepares to issue $2.7 billion of taxable business-tax backed special obligation revenue bonds. The sale of the socially designated bonds was delayed in July as state lawmakers debated a last-minute spending bill that would allocate

Chicago’s heads into 2023 budget season with a $127.9 million gap to close, offering the market a key fiscal update as the buy-side heads to town for the city’s annual investors’ conference. The shortfall unveiled by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her finance team Wednesday marks a sharp decline from the last three years. Lightfoot came

Two Federal Reserve officials responded to softening inflation data by saying it doesn’t change the U.S. central bank’s path toward even higher interest rates this year and next. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who prior to the pandemic was the central bank’s most dovish policy maker, said Wednesday that he wants the Fed’s benchmark interest

An oversight panel on Tuesday approved $500 million of bonds for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority subject to conditions that include the dismissal or resolution in its favor of two lawsuits challenging a toll road extension plan and state supreme court validation of the debt. The Oklahoma Council of Bond Oversight gave the OTA until Feb.

It was all about the primary Tuesday, with a lightly traded secondary market taking the back seat doing little to move triple-A yield curves in either direction, as large deals from Minnesota, the Los Angeles Department of Airports, San Antonio, Texas, and Philadelphia were the focus. U.S. Treasuries were weaker on the short end and

Cook County, Illinois, heads into the market this week with two deals totaling nearly $500 million that will benefit from an outlook from boost from Moody’s Investors Service over its healthy fund balances. The $215 million sales tax transaction pricing Tuesday offers two tranches to refund outstanding debt and take out a credit line that

It was a steady start to the week, with municipal triple-A yield curves little changed, U.S. Treasuries took a break from last week’s volatility to close out firmer across the curve while equities were mixed. Muni-UST ratios on Monday were at 61% in five years, 81% in 10 years and 97% in 30 years, according

The Senate is set to take action Saturday on a newly inked budget reconciliation bill that continues to lack municipal market priorities but includes climate and energy provisions that issuers support. Under a deal struck to gain the vote of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., the bill now features a slightly revised 15% corporate minimum tax

The indictment of former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez on bribery charges damages the reputation of her political party, according to some analysts, but since her party is the only one advocating statehood for the island, the pain may be limited. Still, the arrest should have no impact on how long the Puerto Rico Oversight

A budget impasse that’s left Trenton, New Jersey, without an approved budget well into the new fiscal year continues, despite a recent brush with default. Beset by political rivalries, the state capital’s seven-member City Council, which must approve annual spending according to local law, has as of yet failed to produce the majority vote necessary

The Ontario City Council approved a sales tax measure Tuesday for the November 8 ballot to fund $1.2 billion of infrastructure projects, and other local governments in California are expected to take similar steps. The November midterms are expected to be particularly popular this year for tax and bond measures among cities, counties and school

Municipals sold off Friday with the front end of the curve being hit the hardest, though damage was felt across the curve. Triple-A benchmarks outperformed a U.S. Treasury rout where yields rose double-digits, and equities were down near the close. Nearly all triple-A benchmark yields were cut six to 10 basis points and UST yields

Retired Wisconsin Capital Finance Director Frank Hoadley — who left an influential mark on the public finance industry as a champion of issuer advocacy and best marketplace practices — died unexpectedly this week. He was 77. Hoadley was traveling with his wife, Elizabeth, in Scotland when he died. “Frank Hoadley was a giant among the

The Federal Reserve is committed to cooling inflation and needs to raise interest rates to a little above 4% to ease demand, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said. “We’re committed to getting inflation down” to the 2% target, which will require more rate increases, Mester said during an event hosted by the Economic

An Oklahoma regulatory official, who has raised concerns about the impact of the state’s first utility securitization bond sale on ratepayers, on Thursday called for an independent assessment of the pricing as three other deals are pending. Bob Anthony, one of three commissioners at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), continued to question the July 8

Puerto Rico bankruptcy Judge Laura Taylor Swain approved the extension of mediation discussions for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority for the fourth time this year. Swain ordered the mediation to continue to at least Aug. 15, with the mediation team being given the authority to extend the mediation deadline until Sept. 9. In late

Municipals were weaker Wednesday, U.S. Treasuries were mixed and equities rallied. Muni-UST ratios were at 61% in five years, 79% in 10 years and 96% in 30 years, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. read. ICE Data Services had the five at 61%, the 10 at 83% and the 30 at 95% at a 3:30

Federal Reserve officials said they want strong evidence that the hottest inflation in four decades is on a sustainable downward path before declaring victory in their fight against it. With consumer prices rising 9.1% in June from a year earlier, the Fed has “a long way to go” on reaching price stability around a 2%

Chicago will offer airport and casino site tours to highlight key economic initiatives while Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett will seek to make the city’s case with the buy-side for its fiscal turnaround at an annual investors’ conference next week. “This daylong event will include morning tours and investor lunch with Mayor Lori Lightfoot

A handful of House Democrats who advocated for an increase in the state and local tax deduction cap appear ready to support the latest budget reconciliation bill that omits such provisions, dealing a blow to issuers who were proponents of SALT reform. The representatives may be the deciding votes for the package to pass through