Bonds

Amtrak and Texas railroad company Texas Central announced Wednesday they’re eying a partnership to breathe life into a long-stalled and controversial bullet train between Houston and Dallas. “If we are going to add more high-speed rail to this country, the Dallas to Houston corridor is a compelling proposition and offers great potential,” Amtrak Senior Vice

Connecticut officials say a debt service reserve fund insurance policy allowed them to fund the state’s new baby bond trust without resorting to borrowing. Since July 1 newborns birthed under Connecticut’s Medicaid program, Husky, have been automatically enrolled in CT Baby Bonds and credited with $3,200 deposit that will be invested on their behalf. Between

The White House’s supplemental funding request, sent to Congress yesterday, aims to pass $40 billion in additional funding measures and includes a $12 billion injection for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s dwindling Disaster Relief Fund, but some are pushing for it to be considered as a standalone bill over fears that it could be held

A “substantial number” of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders agreed in principle to a settlement, the Puerto Rico Oversight Board announced Thursday afternoon. As a result, the board sought and received an extension to Aug. 18 for the deadline to submit a proposed plan of adjustment. Board Spokesman Matthias Rieker said the board wouldn’t

Municipals were slightly firmer Thursday, outperforming U.S. Treasuries, as the last large new-issues of the week priced and mutual fund inflows returned. U.S. Treasuries saw losses across the curve following the July inflation read while equities closed out the session in the black. While the consumer price index came in mostly as expected, analysts remain

Years late and billions of dollars over budget — but finally producing electricity. The milestone of full operations for the Plant Vogtle unit 3 nuclear reactor in Georgia has improved the rating outlook for three utilities that contracted to take its electricity. Georgia-based MEAG Power, Jacksonville’s city-owned JEA utility and Alabama-based PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, partners

Municipals were firmer and Wednesday’s larger new-issue calendar was well received while U.S. Treasuries were weaker on the short end but improved 10 years and out. Equities were in the black as markets await Thursday’s monthly inflation data. “U.S. stocks pared losses after a strong auction signaled that Wall Street is very confident that inflation

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is asking the Internal Revenue Service to clarify regulations that govern nearly 3,000 hospitals in the country operating as privately owned, not-for-profit organizations. The total number of hospitals in the U.S. is just over 6,100, per the American Hospital Association.  Not-for-profit hospitals are exempt from paying most federal and state

Puerto Rico’s June economic activity index rose 3% from June 2022 and 0.4% from May 2023, but the average monthly growth for fiscal year 2023 was 0.3%. Compared to the figure for June 2013, the economic activity index was down 2%. “Unless there is production, we cannot make headway,” Heidi Calero, economist and president of

Municipals improved Tuesday following a flight-to-quality rally in U.S. Treasuries while the new-issue calendar got underway led by a retail offering for New York City. Equities ended down following Moody’s Investors Service downgrades of several mid-sized U.S. banks. Triple-A yields fell by three to six basis points while USTs fell the same. The two-year muni-to-Treasury

Municipals were lightly traded and little changed for a typical summer Monday while U.S. Treasuries pared back some of Friday’s gains and were weaker out long. Equities were in the black to close the session. While triple-A yield curves were little changed the past two sessions, some damage was done last week, leaving market participants

A preliminary deal to restructure more than $186 million taxable Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company bonds at 100% of original par was reached last week, which some sources suggest is a signal of a larger deal with parties in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority negotiations. The Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board said settlements in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy are near after they sought and received another deadline extension for filing its debt adjustment plans. “While the Oversight Board cannot guaranty further settlement will be attained, it continues to believe the prospects of at least one major settlement is

Municipals were steady Friday, sitting out a U.S. Treasury rally after the jobs report showed the labor market continues to cool. Equities ended the session down. Triple-A yields were largely unchanged across all curves while UST yields fell up to 15 basis points. Muni to UST ratios rose as a result. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio

Following Fitch Ratings downgrading the U.S. sovereign rating to AA-plus from AAA, the rating agency has downgraded certain municipal bonds tied directly to the creditworthiness of the country. Despite this, market participants say the muni market will see little impact. The bonds affected are “pre-refunded bonds whose repayments are wholly dependent on ‘AA+’-rated United States

State and local governments are starting to appropriate billions of dollars flowing in from the offer of settlement made by three major pharmaceutical companies due to the opioid addiction crisis. The often quoted $26 billion figure is tied to an offer to settle unveiled in February 2022 by three large pharmaceutical opioid distributors, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health

Nearly two years after Texas laws banning state and local contracts with companies that “boycott” the fossil fuel industry or “discriminate” against firearm businesses took effect, investment banks are still struggling with compliance concerns. Wells Fargo is the latest bank to be scrutinized under the firearm law just weeks after being selected for a state

Fitch Ratings’ dim view of the nation’s political and fiscal landscape dealt an ancillary blow to America’s largest public utility this week when the Tennessee Valley Authority’s nearly $20 billion of power bonds were dropped a notch by Fitch following its downgrade of the U.S. sovereign rating on Tuesday. The TVA, a corporate agency of

Municipals sold off Thursday, following U.S. Treasury losses after more economic data suggested the U.S. economy is strong enough to potentially warrant more rate hikes in the fall. Equities ended down. Ahead of Friday’s jobs report, Wall Street is “watching a global bond market selloff get uglier as U.S. stocks waver ahead of massive earnings

Louisiana has tapped a consortium led by Plenary Americas as the private sector partner to negotiate a 50-year public-private partnership to replace the aging Calcasieu River bridge on Interstate 10. Calcasieu Bridge Partners is a joint venture of Plenary Americas US Holdings, Inc., which holds a 40% equity stake, and Sacyr Infrastructure USA LLC, and

Municipals were weaker Wednesday as investors digested another larger new-issue slate, August redemption dollars, better-than expected economic data and the Fitch downgrade to the United States’ rating. U.S. Treasury yields rose slightly out long and equities sold off. The weakness in munis and UST resulted partly from the ADP Employment Report that showed 324,000 jobs were