Articles by tag - Municipal bonds

The summer rally continues, with high grade yields falling further into historic lows as the economic context. The weak jobs reading and more abundant concerns over long-term growth, have assuaged near-term inflation fears. Primary and secondary market scarcity remain pronounced, even as individual investors invest directly or through mutual funds to shield income from future rising tax rates.
Posted on August 10, 2010 by
Zero-coupon municipal bonds are sold at a substantial discount from face value, and the interest is often tax-free.
Posted on July 28, 2010 by
With government budget deficits and unstable financial conditions, is it still safe to invest in municipal bonds?
Posted on July 27, 2010 by
In 2000 was the last time we had a census and we had similar types of high expectations, high estimates for what the non-farm data would be when it was released in June. Interestingly enough, 2000 was also a weak period for the US economy or at least there was certainly a great deal of ambiguity. In 2000, municipals and Treasuries rallied fairly significantly, albeit from much higher absolute levels, but I think that you get so much ambiguity around this non-farm data, it’s hard to read the employment reports during the summer months as the census data is adjusted for in the numbers.
Posted on July 14, 2010 by
A discussion of municipal bonds covering topics such as the IRS audit of the Build America Bond market, the state of the muni market, California's budget update, and the impact of the Regulatory Reform Bill.
Posted on June 02, 2010 by
Municipal bonds had an excellent week last week as, despite the flight to safety in Treasuries, broad-based “de-risking” in some asset classes, and more rhetoric about just how bad municipal issuers are (the latest, “Municipals The Next Financial Land Mine?”), muni yields trickled lower.
Posted on May 25, 2010 by
The business press is buzzing about the default of the Las Vegas monorail project and its implications for the broader muni bond market. The consensus seems to be that a wave of defaults are coming. But municipal bonds are still very safe and are offering some attractive yields.
Posted on May 18, 2010 by
The municipal market continues to bob along at the top of the dishpan, regardless of what’s going on below. There, Treasuries and gold have surged, unwound, and surged again on flight to safety fears while the Euro-drama has unnerved equities and credit.
Posted on May 17, 2010 by
In a recent interview, Tom Doe, the CEO of MMA provided his thoughts on the municipal bond market. This includes his belief that Jim Chanos and others are overblowing municipal bond default concerns. He also discusses the BAB market, the outlook for munis in May, and how Moody's and Fitch's rating recalibrations will impact the muni market.
Posted on May 11, 2010 by
Last week’s extreme volatility in Treasury prices, equity prices, sovereign contagion and rescue, and employment generally swept by the municipal market. By not changing much, municipals were left appearing substantially cheaper versus Treasuries, and perhaps riskier versus the for-now bailed out European sovereigns.
Posted on May 11, 2010 by
A slow new issue calendar, uncertainty over whether or not municipals are at risk from a “sovereign contagion”, low nominal yields, underperformance versus Treasuries, more muted fund flows, tighter evaluated credit spreads, and tax-related selling have undermined confidence in municipal prices recently.
Posted on May 04, 2010 by
Thirty three states--well over half the count--have run out of cash to fund unemployment. Lending will fill the gap...but for how long?
Posted on April 12, 2010 by
The 15 biggest states are estimating that they will take in 4% more revenue in 2011 than in 2010. That's significant because revenue has been declining since 2008, putting pressure on budgets and on municipal bond ratings.
Posted on March 30, 2010 by
Munis were substantially weaker last week, with accounts impelled by soft Treasury auctions to realize gains and address near-term risks by moving farther out along the yield curve. Tax-related selling facilitated the upward shift in yields. By Friday, the tax-exempt curve had flip flopped; aggressive levels up front had turned concessionary and a formerly buyer-friendly long end appeared aggressively priced for the first time in months.
Posted on March 29, 2010 by
The U.S. House of Representatives voted today to extend the Build America Bond program through 2013. The program has proven popular with municipalities because of the 35% subsidy provided by the Federal government. The bonds have also proven to be popular investments with institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds, and foreign investors.
Posted on March 24, 2010 by

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