Municipal Bond News

Market News Commentary - From The Desk of David Loesch 08.08.2019

Submitted by Tax Free Municipal Bonds/Fixed Income Specialists/DRL Group on August 8th, 2019

Traders of Fed Fund futures boosted the amount of easing they expect from the U.S. central bank this year, particularly after Trump abruptly escalated the trade war with China last week. We've indicated for the past several months that the trade war will drive the markets, and this is very true. We just went through a good earnings season.

Submitted by Tax Free Municipal Bonds/Fixed Income Specialists/DRL Group on August 1st, 2019

Texas A&M sold 430MM in taxable municipals last week while targeting potential buyers in Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore. The overall thought process was that Taxable MUNI's are the perfect investment vehicle for overseas investors. The deal was done in a matter of hours and was 3x oversubscribed.
CBE’s (Chicago board of education) will sell 432M of

Submitted by Tax Free Municipal Bonds/Fixed Income Specialists/DRL Group on July 25th, 2019

You know when the MUNI market is hot when you have a deal that defaulted 7 years ago and wiped out 98% of the investors’ money and returning to market next week. This would be the Las Vegas Monorail, a deal that was done, went into BK, took 98% of the money and did not return it due to restructuring and now coming back to the market with a 19.7MM deal which will be unrated.

Submitted by Tax Free Municipal Bonds/Fixed Income Specialists/DRL Group on July 18th, 2019

P.A. will sell 90MM of MUNI's to help counties upgrade their voting systems ahead of the 2020 elections. This type of bond financing is strange with no "real revenue" tied to it, P.A.

Submitted by Tax Free Municipal Bonds/Fixed Income Specialists/DRL Group on July 10th, 2019

The University of Alaska may have the ratings on $343 million of its bonds downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service after the governor cut fiscal 2020 state appropriations to the system by 41%.
President Trump nominated Judy Shelton and Christopher Waller to the Fed board.

Submitted by Tax Free Municipal Bonds/Fixed Income Specialists/DRL Group on July 2nd, 2019

Economists now expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates multiple times this year -- coming around to the view held by investors, though they haven’t gotten all the way there yet.
The current U.S. economic expansion on Monday became the longest in records dating back to the Franklin Pierce administration.

Submitted by Tax Free Municipal Bonds/Fixed Income Specialists/DRL Group on July 2nd, 2019

Economists now expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates multiple times this year -- coming around to the view held by investors, though they haven’t gotten all the way there yet.
The current U.S. economic expansion on Monday became the longest in records dating back to the Franklin Pierce administration.

Submitted by Tax Free Municipal Bonds/Fixed Income Specialists/DRL Group on June 27th, 2019

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rebounded in May to a three-month high as all regions gained amid lower interest rates and a labor market that remains strong.
The Los Angeles Unified School District’s bond ratings were cut by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited budget challenges that were worsened by voters rejecting a parcel tax.

Submitted by Tax Free Municipal Bonds/Fixed Income Specialists/DRL Group on June 20th, 2019

Filing for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased, rising to a five-week high and adding to signs of potential cooling in the labor market. Jobless claims rose to 222,000 in the week ended June 8, according to Labor Department figures released Thursday.

Submitted by Tax Free Municipal Bonds/Fixed Income Specialists/DRL Group on June 12th, 2019

MUNI’s are headed towards their best first half since 2014. There will still be a ton of cash pouring into the markets in June and July. The MUNI index has returned 4.60% since January outperforming the 3.70% advance for treasuries.
One issue you will find with MUNI's today is the lack of supply.