After a year of disruption in wealth management — widespread working from home, virtual meetings between financial advisors and their clients, volatility in the stock market — the world will hopefully begin recovering later this year. Many of the trends the pandemic in finance accelerated may be here to stay. Catherine Keating brings us her
Bonds
With the clock ticking on the deadline to pass a state budget, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker removed one contentious issue from the table by agreeing to fund a scheduled $350 million increase in school aid. In fiscal 2021, Pritzker had bypassed the scheduled $350 million annual increase required under the evidence-based formula adopted in 2017
The last financer of a controversial prison offering in Alabama has abandoned the plan, leaving the fate of the new facilities in doubt. A spokesperson for Alabama was not immediately available. Stifel announced Monday it is no longer involved with any of the parties in the bond offering that had been planned by the state.
Despite several false starts in recent years, municipal market advocates as well as business and labor leaders believe the stars are aligning for an opportunity to pass meaningful infrastructure legislation that may include top muni priorities. Prominent voices supportive of infrastructure investment are striking their most optimistic tones in years to kick off infrastructure week
Why are some places tech hubs rather than others? One reason is the magnetic pull of universities and their innovative research. In this Leaders talk, Juliet Weissman, the Chief Administrative Officer of New York City’s Cornell Tech campus, discusses how the university’s urban location, at a new Roosevelt Island location opened in 2017, brings together
The key benchmark that the Federal Reserve targets to control monetary policy dropped for the first time this month, dragged down as growing imbalances in the Treasury-bill market weigh on short-term dollar rates. The effective fed funds rate, which the central bank is currently aiming to keep within a range of 0% to 0.25%, slipped
Passage of a Senate water bill authorizing billions in low-interest loans gets the ball rolling ahead of infrastructure discussions later this year. Thursday afternoon the full Senate passed the $35 billion Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 by a vote of 89-2. That bill is expected to go to conference committee to work
Signs of excess risk taking in financial markets show it’s time for the U.S. central bank to start debating a reduction in its massive bond purchases, said the president of the Dallas Federal Reserve, breaking ranks with Chair Jerome Powell. “We’re now at a point where I’m observing excesses and imbalances in financial markets,” said
New-money volume growth nearly tripled that of refunding volume in April, as issuers refunded less and played catch-up, issuing new paper in a better credit environment spurred by federal aid. Municipal issuance increased 6.2% in April year-over-year, starting the second quarter with $33.65 billion across 940 transactions, up from the $31.69 billion in 919 deals
Municipals ended the week and the month quietly as participants prepare for a supply and redemption increase in May, but even with some pressure felt this week, tailwinds remain for the market. Rates rose this week by as much as six basis points on the 10-year, but on Friday, the benchmark remained below 1%. Given
The North Texas Tollway Authority plans to keep its winning streak alive with $850 million of refunding amid rebounding toll revenues. The authority, which operates hundreds of miles of toll roads in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, reports saving more than $1 billion through refunding $7 billion of debt since 2013. “This transaction allows us to
Munis lost ground Thursday with two to four basis point cuts to triple-A benchmark yields after U.S. Treasuries weakened with better economic data pouring in as the month closes out. Cash flowed into municipal bond mutual funds again at $1.64 billion with high-yield making up $630 million of it, as investors fearing rising taxes. Fund
Sources anticipate muni enforcement to hold steady as Melissa Hodgman returns to her acting role to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division following an abrupt resignation by the newly-named enforcement director pick. Sources said pick Alex Oh’s resignation for personal reasons was surprising, but expect the acting chair to hold municipal bond enforcement
U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said Wednesday that consideration of a broad range of revenue bond issues as part of Puerto Rico’s Title III bankruptcy should be delayed for several months. Swain, who is overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings, said this as part of an oral ruling against the Puerto Rico Oversight Board and the
President Joe Biden, who has an opportunity to reshape the leadership of the Federal Reserve over the next 10 months, is being urged by activists to make potentially significant changes at the U.S. central bank. Fed Up, an advocacy campaign organized by the Center For Popular Democracy in Washington, said in a position paper released
The U.S. Census released a population figure for Puerto Rico that revealed the Puerto Rico Oversight Board’s population assumption to be too pessimistic. On Tuesday the Census Bureau reported Puerto Rico’s population on April 1, 2020 at 3.29 million. In the fiscal plan the board approved Friday, the board estimated the island’s population to be
Movement of goods through the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s maritime and air facilities is still vital to the region’s and nation’s economy. The region’s exports, however, increasingly link to information-based services, according to a study by the Rudin Center for Transportation at New York University’s Transportation Robert F. Wagner Graduate School
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak is slowing a proposal he floated in his State of the State speech in January to allow tech companies to create autonomous “innovation zones” similar to county governments. Sisolak had been drafting legislation that would have allowed a company called Blockchains LLC to form its own municipal government on 67,000 acres
Voters will consider $8.5 billion of bonds on local ballots across Texas Saturday, including $884 million of proposals that were rejected Nov. 3. The vote comes a year after the COVID-19 pandemic erased the traditional May bond ballot slate. Some proposals originally scheduled for May 2020 were moved to Nov. 3 alongside the presidential election.
Rising oil prices combined with more certainty around Alaska’s handling of its permanent fund helped the state earn an outlook revision to stable from negative on its general obligation bonds from Moody’s Investors Service. The rating agency also affirmed the Aa3 rating on its GOs. While oil prices are a factor in Alaska’s ratings, because
A rosier revenue forecast and new federal relief will help Indiana fund infrastructure projects, pay down some debt, replenish reserves and boost education funding. Gov. Eric Holcomb reached an agreement on a revised budget with his fellow GOP legislative leaders who then passed the $37.4 billion package for the biennium beginning July 1 during the
The Puerto Rico Oversight Board approved a central government fiscal plan that is more optimistic than the one it approved last spring, and the revised sales and use tax revenue figures may benefit some bondholders. The fiscal plan projects a total government surplus of $15.2 billion from fiscal year 2022 to FY 2035. FY 2022
The municipal bond market took a breather on Friday after digesting nearly $10 billion in new issuance on the week. Supply is expected to drop to $5.5 billion in the upcoming week. After a week marked by a strong and steady secondary market, the triple-A muni benchmarks remained flat for the sixth straight session as
An agreement reached Friday between Florida and the Seminole Tribe is expected to provide the state with at least $2.5 billion in new revenue over the next five years. The compact authorizes the Tribe to allow sports betting for the first time and allow casinos to operate on Tribal lands. “This historic compact expands economic
Even as they exhaled on their Zoom cameras, members of Philadelphia’s budget team winced as one over what could have happened without a fresh infusion of federal rescue aid. “We were looking at a very ugly budget,” finance director Rob Dubow told reporters at an online briefing one day before Mayor Jim Kenney released his
Chicago took the next big leap in its long push to open a casino with the launch Thursday of a request for proposals process that seeks parties interested in developing and operating a resort-like venue. The prospect of $200 million in new annual revenue from a casino was a cornerstone of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s pre-COVID-19
Spots number one, seven and nine were the only firms that stayed put in the top municpal bond counsel rankings and there were three newcomers to the top 10. The top bond counsels combined for a total of $103.707 billion in 2,674 transactions in the first quarter of 2021, up from the $87.762 billion in
Municipals were steady on Wednesday as the focus remained on the primary with secondary trading light and high-grade municipal scales and U.S. Treasury yields both unchanged while investors again poured in billions into municipal bond mutual funds. “Munis continue to rest comfortably in their range as bulge bracket deals hit the primary,” Jeffrey Lipton, head
Ballard Spahr LLP has hired four attorneys from White and Williams LLP known for their work in real estate and commercial finance, mergers and acquisitions, according to licensing and corporate counseling firm chair Mark Stewart. The four began Monday. Partner Maulin Vidwans and of counsel Jennifer Santangelo joined the firm’s finance department. Partner Ryan Udell
Municipals were steady as the market digested large deals from California, New York and Washington state in a week heavy on state credits while Treasury yields fell and stocks were mixed. It was all about the primary Tuesday with the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority MTA deal repricing as much as 17 basis points lower