Bonds

Houghton University, a liberal arts school in Western New York established in 1883, saw its rating downgraded into junk status by S&P Global Ratings. The rating agency cut the school’s tax-exempt bonds one notch to BB-plus from BBB-minus, citing its track record of deficits plus a large operating shortfall expected in fiscal 2024.  “We believe

Puerto Rico’s financial oversight board is seeking to reopen a confirmation hearing on a debt-restructuring plan for the island’s power utility after an appeals court last week ruled that bondholders have a claim to the agency’s future net revenue. The oversight board, which manages the bankruptcy of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority, called PREPA, wants

Federal regulations are putting the brakes on U.S. Department of Transportation funding designed to boost transit-oriented development projects near public transit.  “We need to make it easier to build in any way we can,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “Providing low interest capital through TIFIA and RRIF is one means, but for it to work

Municipals were steady in secondary trading Tuesday as a heavy new-issue calendar took focus in the primary, led by an upsized $2.55 billion deal for the John F. Kennedy International Airport New Terminal One Project that saw yields bumped upon repricing. U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities were up near the close. The two-year muni-to-Treasury

The start of a trial to determine whether bonds could be issued to finance a multi-billion-dollar light-rail project in Austin was halted Monday after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office filed an emergency motion with a state appeals court. A Travis County District Court judge planned to commence the trial before ruling on the attorney

Columbus, Ohio, recently embarked on a technological modernization push that employs artificial intelligence in its payroll, revenue and accounting and operations systems. Columbus Auditor Megan Kilgore said her office now uses AI for everything from reconciling differences between sets of data to visualizing city finances for the mayor or City Council members with almost real-time

Municipals were steady to slightly weaker in spots as U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities ended up. Despite some slight weakness Monday, munis continued “their impressive start to June,” with yields falling 10 to 13 basis points last week, Birch Creek strategists said. Munis have rallied roughly 24 to 29 basis points month-to-date, a “complete

Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, faced persistent budget gaps patched with one-time revenues, two ratings downgrades since September, and its upcoming scoop-and-toss bond deal will yield spiking debt service costs in the coming years.  But the county believes its upcoming financial plan and hidden economic strengths will turn around its fortunes.  “For anyone who still thinks this

Municipals were firmer ahead of an uptick in issuance next week, while U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly and equities ended mixed. USTs extended their rally this week after receiving support from “softer” economic data as yields fell 18 to 24 basis points on the week and a total of 20 to 30 basis points month-to-date,

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said she still sees inflation risks as tilted to the upside despite welcome news in the latest data. Mester, speaking in print and television interviews Friday at Bloomberg’s New York office, also said the median projection of policymakers’ latest forecasts — which signaled just one interest-rate cut

Fitch Ratings upgraded San Diego County’s pension obligation bonds to AAA and affirmed a stable outlook during a review ahead of the county’s plans to price a $31.5 million certificates of participation refunding. Fitch upgraded $211 million outstanding POBs to AAA from AA-plus, matching the agency’s issuer rating for the county. It also affirmed the

Transit agencies across the country are being forced to deal with new trends in ridership, new travel patterns, and dwindling federal funds from pandemic- related relief that make the next few years crucial for bringing our nation’s transit system into the new world. That was the takeaway from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing

Louis English joined Janney Montgomery Scott as managing director and head of municipal sales within the fixed-income division. He will be based out of the firm’s Chicago office. English comes to Janney from Baird, where he worked as a producing sales manager. He also worked as a municipal salesperson at Mesirow, Loop Capital Markets and

When Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced he’d be pursuing a Major League Soccer team for his city, it appeared to throw Indianapolis’ previous plans for a new stadium development — spearheaded by the owner of the city’s United Soccer League team, the Indy Eleven, Ersal Ozdemir — into doubt.  But city officials subsequently revealed that

In the last few weeks, readers had their attention trained on updates in mortgage-related court cases, developments in AI and notable actions of government agencies.  Here are the recent most-read stories from National Mortgage News you may have missed. These articles were reported by Brad Finkelstein, Bonnie Sinnock, Maria Volkova, Andrew Martinez, and Spencer Lee,

The country’s largest public pension fund came under fire Wednesday from House Republicans, who accused the fund of being part of a “climate cartel” that illegally colludes with other investors to try to force companies to reduce their carbon footprint. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System was one of four witnesses called by the Republican

The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals almost entirely overturned a lower court’s reasoning that underlay an Oversight Board proposed Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority plan of adjustment, in what appears to be a major bondholder victory. On Wednesday afternoon, a panel of appeals court judges ruled unanimously that PREPA bondholders had a perfected lien

In another sign of the sector’s recovery, airports are set to flock to the muni market this year as issuers can no longer postpone long-delayed projects and necessary infrastructure maintenance. Airport issuance got off to a slow start this year with only $3.5 billion priced through the end of May, according to Ramirez’s May airport

Municipals were steady Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting and Consumer Price Index report, as U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities were mixed near the close. “The market’s great expectations regarding Fed cuts have witnessed a dramatic downward adjustment since the start of the year,” said Vikram Rai, head of municipal markets

With the Federal Open Market Committee unlikely to change the fed funds rate target at this week’s meeting, the markets will concentrate on the Summary of Economic Projections and whether it shows expectations reduced to one or two 25 basis point rate cuts this year from the three suggested by the previous dot plot. “Three