Bonds

White Plains, New York, and the bond insurer for debt the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency issued to build a downtown parking garage are at odds over who is on the hook for a looming $1.7 million bond payment for the facility. ACA Financial Guaranty of nearby Rye insured the bonds. The next payment is

Municipals were little changed with a slightly weaker tone outside of 10 years Monday ahead of a larger and diverse primary as the second week of July reinvestment kicks into gear. U.S. Treasuries fluctuated but held mostly steady after midday auctions. The 30-year UST sat just at 2% near the close while triple-A municipal benchmark

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi on Thursday proposed removing pension cuts from the island’s debt restructuring negotiations, asking legislators instead to deal with the issue in regular budget negotiations. Observers say the move is political and unlikely to help parties come to consensus over the pension issues, and further complicates getting the Plan of Adjustment

Kentucky’s general fund receipts came in $1 billion above projections for fiscal year 2021, the Office of the State Budget Director reported on Friday. General fund receipts rose 10.9% to $12.8 billion for fiscal 2021 from the same period in the previous year, $1 billion above the prior budgeted estimate and the highest annual growth

Wayne County, Michigan, received an upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service this week that pushed the once speculative-grade credit into the single-A category six years after a financial crisis. Moody’s raised the county’s issuer rating and the general obligation and lease rental bonds issued by the Detroit Wayne County Stadium Authority to A3 from Baa1 and

Hawaii lawmakers made changes to bills that would have used COVID-19 federal relief funds to make debt payments and replenish reserves before ending a special session Thursday, which was called to act on the governor’s vetoes. Gov. David Ige announced plans June 21 to veto 28 bills and ultimately vetoed 26 of them by Tuesday’s

The Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois and the Chicago Transit Authority won upgrades from Moody’s Investors Service as sales taxes recover and worries about exposure to fallout from the state fade with Illinois on stronger fiscal ground. Both had carried a negative outlook assigned in May 2020 as the pandemic took a toll on sales

U.S. Treasuries pared back gains with yields rising by four to six basis points Friday and stocks rallied to record highs as investors’ concerns over a lull in the economic recovery quieted. Municipal bonds did as they often do on a summer Friday — stayed on the sidelines and awaited the coming week’s larger new-issue

Illinois reaped a second rating reward for its improving fiscal condition with its first S&P Global Ratings upgrade in 24 years. The upgrade to BBB from BBB-minus followed a similar move by Moody’s Investors Service last week raising the rating to the same level at Baa2 with a stable outlook. In June, Fitch Ratings moved

Municipal bond benchmark yields fell another two to six basis points Thursday, marking a three-day rally along with U.S. Treasuries as a risk-off trade took hold while inflows continue to flood funds. U.S. Treasuries continued their rally with the 10-year falling to 1.287% and the 30-year at 1.911% near the close. Municipal-to-UST ratios are in

As the White House weighs the potential renomination of Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, officials are discussing the use of openings on the board to reshape the central bank to closer align with administration priorities such as inequality and tighter banking regulations, according to people familiar with the matter. President Joe Biden

Triple-A benchmark yields fell two to five basis points in a U.S. Treasury-led rally Wednesday, following a general market sentiment that the economic strength of late has plateaued. The Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes did little to quench Treasury momentum. While municipals typically lag major movements in U.S. Treasuries, that is not the case

At $3.16 billion in June, Texas sales tax collections were 18% higher than the same month a year ago and 10.4% above those in June 2019, State Comptroller Glenn Hegar said. “Monthly state sales tax collections remained exceptionally strong, with receipts from all major sectors other than those related to oil and gas surpassing pre-pandemic

Municipals were better on light but strong trading in the secondary, as dealers pushed benchmarks lower with large blocks of high-grades exchanging hands but sales to customers also showed strong interest. U.S. Treasuries helped direct municipals to lower yields as the UST 10-year fell to 1.36% — the lowest since Feb. 24 — and the

Challenges for U.S. mass transit will continue as providers face new and developing credit risks including continued transition to remote work, according to S&P Global Ratings. “Potential displacement of ridership bases, a persistent shift toward remote work, hybrid work schedules and online shopping pose the greatest risks to traditional public transit operating models in general,”

Michigan drew a second dose of positive rating news in June as S&P Global Rating’s lifted its rating outlook to stable from negative as COVID-19 pandemic fiscal worries fade amid a brighter economic picture. S&P’s action Wednesday came as lawmakers approved the school aid portion of the state’s fiscal 2022 budget, and it followed Fitch

The Port of Los Angeles received an outlook lift to positive from S&P Global Ratings as it marks the highest level of traffic experienced in the history of the 114-year-old port. S&P rates the port AA. The action affects $665.7 million of bonds, all fixed rate, with no commercial paper draws outstanding, according to the

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will begin an environmental review on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, a first step in the permitting process for Dominion Energy’s 2.6-gigawatt commercial wind project. U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the review on a tour of the port on Thursday for the project, which is

Texas’ largest county is shoring up its faltering $2.5 billion flood control bond program with a new trust fund after discovering a shortfall in federal support. In a marathon meeting last week, the Harris County Commissioners approved creation of the Flood Resilience Trust to assure that all 2018 bond projects will be built without delays

The nonfarm payrolls number beat expectations, but full employment is still about a year away, according to economists, suggesting the Federal Reserve will take its time in removing accommodation. “The June jobs report does not rise to the level of ‘substantial further progress’ on the labor market that the Fed wants to see before removing