Uncategorized

After decades of underfunding, West Virginia dramatically closed its pension funding gap, according to a recent report from Pew Charitable Trust. The state, which had the poorest funding ratio in the entire nation in 2000, reduced its debt burden by 90% over the decades, marking one of the most impressive turnarounds amid a national trend

Chicago’s bond ratings have improved, but the city has more work to do, even after the recent passage of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $16.77 billion 2024 budget by an overwhelming majority of the City Council on Nov. 15. While the city has made some important progress on the expenditure side, the new mayor’s first budget didn’t

U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain said she would hear a bondholder suit in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority case that Puerto Rico bondholders and Puerto Rico’s government argued should be assigned to a different judge. GoldenTree Asset Management and bond insurer Syncora Guarantee filed suit in the U.S. District Court for Puerto

An Oklahoma law prohibiting state and local government contracts with companies that “boycott” the fossil fuel industry is the target of a lawsuit, claiming the measure prevents public employee pension funds from performing their constitutional duty to operate for the exclusive benefit of their beneficiaries. The case filed in Oklahoma County District Court this week

A bankruptcy court recently ruled for the most part in favor of Chester, Pennsylvania, bondholders in an adversary proceeding filed by the city challenging liens on revenues for bonds issued in 2017 as part of a financial recovery plan for the city. Chester, which filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, has faced decades of financial

A firm tone and hearty appetite from investors was evident Wednesday as the municipal market prepared for a shortened week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. Treasuries were mixed and equities were better. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Wednesday was at 63%, the three-year at 64%, the five-year at 65%, the 10-year at 67% and the

SK Battery America, a subsidiary of South Korean firm SK On, one of the world’s largest battery makers, is scaling back production on several fronts in response to a changing market for the vehicles. As an EV market turbocharged by federal incentives and high-set expectations cools off and major producers weigh cost-saving measures, SK said

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey released a proposed budget for 2024 upping capital spending to pre-pandemic levels for the first time. At $9.3 billion total, the plan is one billion dollars larger than 2023’s and provides for $3.9 billion in operating expenses, $3.6 million in capital spending, and $1.8 billion for

While pursuing his doctorate in economics at Columbia University, Oliver Giesecke came across several challenges as he was researching and collecting data on the muni market. Either it wasn’t available or it was incomplete or at times, misleading. In an effort to provide more and clearer data on certain attributes of the muni market, Giesecke,

Municipals improved Friday to close out a week of more gains despite some U.S. Treasury volatility, positioning the asset class to see historically high returns for the month. Equities ended up near the end of the trading session. Triple-A yields fell up to four basis points, depending on the curve, outperforming a mixed UST market,

Municipals were firmer across the curve, but underperformed a U.S. Treasury rally after a lower consumer price index report indicated the Federal Reserve may soon be done hiking rates. Equities also rallied. “The Fed looks smart for effectively ending its tightening cycle as inflation continues to slow,” said Bryce Doty, senior vice president and senior

After a lawsuit-driven delay, financing is beginning to flow for a major economic development deal between Georgia and electric vehicle maker Rivian. The Georgia Office for Economic Development and the Joint Development Authority for Morgan, Walton Counties announced last week they closed on $5 billion of project revenue bonds and executed a rental agreement with

Moody’s Investors Service revised its rating outlook for the Aaa-rated District of Columbia to negative Monday, matching its Friday action on the United States government. At the same time, the rating agency affirmed the Aaa issuer ratings and stable outlooks of Florida, Maryland and Virginia. The actions follow Friday’s outlook revision on the United States

Anyone who thinks they understand what is happening in the economy — and what will happen — should think some more. The post-pandemic state of the economy is somewhat of a mystery, but a mystery worth exploring. Unemployment is a low 3.9%. Inflation is somewhere between 3.5% and 4.2% depending on which index is used.

Puerto Rico’s upcoming gubernatorial and legislative elections may lead to a new governor but aren’t likely to change local policy significantly, observers say. At this stage, the main drama seems to be in the New Progressive Party governor’s primary, which sees Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón running against Gov. Pedro Pierluisi. As Resident

Municipals were little changed to close out a busy week in both the primary and secondary, while U.S. Treasury yields fell out long and equities rallied. “Although this round of muni market bullish reversal was pulled off one week later than Treasuries’, the rally progressed better,” said BofA strategists. The 10-year UST reached its peak

Municipals were mixed Thursday, largely sitting out another swing to higher yields in U.S. Treasuries after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would not hesitate to hike interest rates further if needed. Equities sold off. Triple-A yields barely budged while USTs saw yields rise by 10 to 14 basis points following a

Municipals strengthened Wednesday for the sixth consecutive session while U.S. Treasury yields fell throughout most of the curve with the largest gains seen out long. Equities ended mixed. Triple-A yield curves were bumped four to nine basis points, depending on the curve, while USTs saw some weakness on the front end while yields fell up

In a troubled world, booming demand for American military weaponry has left the country in need of billions of dollars more in armaments than it can currently produce.  West Virginia is trying to meet that need. Though its footprint in the national defense sector is small, representing just .1% of the $558.7 billion in defense contracts

As usual, voters approved the lion’s share of bond issuances put before them. Charlotte-Mecklenburg School, North Carolina, voters approved the request for $2.5 billion of bonds for capital projects. Harris County Hospital District, Texas, also won voter approval to sell $2.5 billion of bonds. Prosper Independent School District voters approved three of four bond propositions: