Bonds

Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin announced plans Thursday to run for state controller entering an increasingly congested race. The termed-out Galperin seeks to replace State Controller Betty Yee, who also terms out this year. He throws his hat into a race that already includes Republican Lanhee Chen, a former George W. Bush White House

Among the U.S. Virgin Islands government’s many problems is an economy that shrunk 24% in real terms from 2009 to 2019. The territory’s economy has continued to struggle in the past two years, with the islands’ employment down 9.5% through from February 2020 to October 2021, according to New York Federal Reserve Bank Early Benchmarked

The United States Department of Justice on Friday told the Puerto Rico bankruptcy judge it would defend the constitutionality of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act, the law governing the bankruptcy process that has been challenged by several parties. The move may slow the confirmation process of the Plan of Adjustment. U.S.

The lingering effects of federal aid should help not-for-profit hospital ratings weather the COVID-19 pandemic’s wounds even as labor shortages and other strains persist through 2022, S&P Global Ratings said. “Our view remains stable as the sector continues to weather the pandemic well — albeit with the benefit of significant federal aid,” S&P said in

The Department of the Treasury has issued its final ruling on its State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, leaving the controversial tax cut ban mandate virtually untouched as it hopes to restrict the use of stimulus funds to offset tax cuts. “Congress specified two types of ineligible uses of funds: funds may not be used

Municipals ended the week with another round of cuts to triple-A scales, moving yields higher by another five basis points, playing catch-up to the selloff in U.S. Treasuries. Muni yields rose 13 basis points across the yield curve to end the first week of 2022. The five-year UST rose 15 basis points to a high

Illinois-based NorthShore University HealthSystem and Edward-Elmhurst Health finalized their proposed merger this week, launching the start of 2022 merger and acquisition activity. The deal comes after closing the books on a year that saw a downtick in the number of mergers but an upswing in transaction size measured by revenue. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s impact

Municipal triple-A benchmark yields rose as much as eight basis points on the short end on certain scales Thursday as U.S. Treasury yields remained elevated and equities see-sawed as more hawkish Fed speak continued. The Federal Reserve expects Omicron to fizzle in weeks, and while pandemic-related risks remain, the economy is strong and the Fed

While U.S. Treasuries and equities sold off after release of the FOMC minutes, municipals were largely unchanged on Wednesday, pointing again to a lack of primary supply to provide yield guidance as participants sit back and watch what unfolds in broader markets. The Federal Reserve’s tone has turned more hawkish in the latest meetings, “and

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration appears close to naming a Treasury Department veteran and leading voice on fighting climate-related financial risk to the top bank-regulatory job at the Federal Reserve Board. Sarah Bloom Raskin — who was the No. 2 at Treasury and a Fed governor in the Obama administration — has emerged as the

The U.S. Department of Transportation is floating guidance for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding that state transportation advocates warn restricts highway capacity projects and signals a new strings-attached policy for federal programs. The Dec. 16 policy memo from Federal Highway Administration Deputy Administrator Stephanie Pollack to FWHA staff outlines goals and priorities for

Selling pressure picked up and municipals showed some weakness for the first time since November on Tuesday following two days of rising U.S. Treasuries, but the asset class still outperformed that market’s double-digit moves to higher yields. Triple-A benchmark yield curves saw two to three basis point cuts, the largest one-day move in either direction

The Internal Revenue Service and Department of the Treasury have released final guidance on the transition away from Libor, setting Secured Overnight Financing Rate as an alternative and creating noncovered modification in the place of fair-value. The cessation of Libor matters to the muni market because existing debt and contracts may reference it, potentially impacting

The U.S. Treasury market sold off in double-digits to start 2022 and equities were better on Monday while munis saw a softer tone, but most triple-A yield curves only saw a basis point cut in spots. Municipal to UST ratios fell on the moves in UST. The five-year was at 44%, 64% in 10 and

Bond issuance and a flood of federal aid during the pandemic allowed major air hubs to continue an unprecedented pace of construction as traffic continues to recover. From New York to San Diego, airports across the country were in various stages of bond-financed construction or planning when the pandemic struck the U.S. in March 2020.

Buffalo has spent generations trying to beat back its bad weather reputation. A hotel guidebook in the western New York city shows sailboats out on the water on a sunny day, with a headline that reads: “This is the Buffalo you don’t see on the Weather Channel.” But that is not the image people generally

A majority of municipal market participants say liquidity and equity are a top concern on a high-yield deal. Nearly 69% of respondents to a HilltopSecurities high-yield team survey ranked liquidity and equity as their first or second level of concern for 2022. “Our biggest takeaway from the survey is that there is ample appetite for

Louisiana has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by an Arizona-based online business that argues the state’s local sales and use tax collection system is unconstitutionally complex, a complaint that probes the Supreme Court’s high-profile 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair ruling. Arizona-based Halstead Bead Inc. on Nov. 15 filed the lawsuit in

Gaming revenues, a major economic driver for Nevada and Clark County, are exceeding expectations. The Gaming Control Board said Wednesday that statewide gaming revenue in November was $1.32 billion, just shy of the single-month record of $1.36 billion reported in July. If the state surpasses $500 million in December, it will exceed its greatest single-year

The United States Treasury agreed to provide support for Puerto Rico’s Act 154 tax for an additional year. Act 154 is a 4% excise tax on the revenues of foreign corporate subsidiaries based in Puerto Rico. In 2011 U.S. Treasury agreed to a tax credit for the Act 154 payments on a temporary basis. The