Bonds

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren rebuked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for withholding information on trading by central bank officials during the pandemic and said an investigation into the matter by the Fed’s inspector general was “troubling.” The IG report “raises new concerns about the reasons why you continue to withhold key information about Fed officials’

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

Municipals were little changed on the day Wednesday in light trading with few deals of size pricing while the Investment Company Institute reported the largest inflows into municipal mutual funds since November. While other markets made moves following better-than-expected inflation figures, with U.S. Treasuries ending mixed and equities rallying, triple-A muni yield curves saw a

The Dallas City Council on Wednesday put a measure on the Nov. 8 ballot that would allow for the planning, financing, and construction of a replacement of its convention center, partly financed by an increase in the hotel occupancy tax. The measure, which passed the council unanimously, will let voters decide on raising the city’s

Following a strong summer collections season, Georgia’s Department of Revenue recently announced revised revenue predictions for the fiscal year 2022 that beat the previous year by more than $6 billion. The department on July 7 reported that in the fiscal year ending June 30, Georgia had collected more than $33 billion in taxes, marking a

Guam Gov. Lourdes Leon Guerrero told the legislature that the territory’s finances are improving. She said her government anticipates general fund revenues will rise $50 million in fiscal year 2023, which starts Oct. 1, compared to the current fiscal year.  Leon Guerrero estimates general fund revenues totalled $700.2 million in fiscal 2019, $747.2 million in

States could begin releasing RFPs as early as the first quarter of 2023 to build out a national public electric vehicle charging network that’s a top priority for the Biden administration. All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico met the Aug. 1 deadline to submit an EV charging station deployment plan. That

Responses to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s request for information on environmental social and governance considerations in the muni market highlight the need for more precision when discussing ESG, the regulator’s chief executive said Tuesday. MSRB CEO Mark Kim made that conclusion in a new MSRB report summarizing the responses it received to its RFI.

Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee are vowing to pursue legislation mandating more transparency from the Federal Reserve after learning the central bank had documents regarding former Fed nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin that the bank never divulged to Congress. In a letter sent Tuesday to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, 11 GOP members of the committee

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

Raymond James has hired two retired school superintendents to bolster its school district specialty practice in the Midwest. Richard Allan Markley and Michael Reik joined the firm’s Kansas City, Missouri, office in July as directors. They will focus on working with school districts in Missouri and Kansas while also helping out with the firm’s general governmental practice.

A federal judge is weighing a request for summary judgment in favor of Brandon Comer, in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s allegations that Comer and his firm breached their fiduciary duty in connection with a 2015 bond offering by the Harvey, Illinois Public Library District. The SEC is opposing that motion, and if

Detroit is asking the bankruptcy court to require that its police and firefighters retirement system stick with a 30-year amortization period agreed to in the city’s plan of adjustment that paved the way for its Chapter 9 exit in 2014. The city’s Police and Fire Retirement System threw a wrench in the city’s post-bankruptcy COVID-19

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

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

Despite several years of efforts, Hawaii’s funded pension ratio hovers around 50%, the same level as Illinois and New Jersey, the states with the lowest bond ratings, and yet the state retains its double-A-level ratings. S&P Global Ratings upgraded the state a notch to AA-plus from AA in 2016 with analysts partly citing a plan

U.S. Virgin Islands voters mainly supported incumbents in Saturday’s primary election. Those who went to the polls voted in the Democratic primary for governor, legislature, and a host of less prominent positions. The Republican party has no significant presence in the islands. The winners will face independent candidates in the Nov. 8 general election. Five

A surge in the use of alternative trading systems in the municipal bond market through the first half of 2022 punctuated the growing prevalence of such platforms among dealers and other market participants in recent years, according to data published in a recent MSRB report. The number of customer transactions completed through ATSs jumped from