Market Outlook As the month of May comes to a close, the U.S. bond market continues to confound all pundits with a major technical breakout below the 2.50% mark. In fact, the 10-year Treasury yield, currently sitting at 2.41%, a new low for the year, has become a news...
Month: May 2014
New Data on State and Local Government Pension Systems Requires a Closer Look
How did the nation’s state and local government pension systems fare last fiscal year? In its 2012 Survey of Public Pensions: State & Local Data, the U.S. Census Bureau provides a detailed analysis of the 227 state-administered pension plans and 3,771 locally...
Direct Bank Lending to Muni Issuers: A Step Backward in Disclosure
Market Outlook The bond market is having the last laugh. All market participants went into this year bearish on bonds and, at least so far, have ended up with eggs on their face. The surprising drop in rates over the past few weeks has led many to wonder if the...
What Are Current Employment and Housing Trends Telling Us about the Economy?
Employment and housing trends often predict and reflect the fiscal strength of state and metro areas. Shifts in employment and housing patterns often occur in tandem, according to Bradford Langs, CFA, Chief Risk Officer at CoastalStates Bank in Hilton Head Island,...
Could Rhode Island and Puerto Rico Share the Same Rating?
Market Outlook On the back of a powerful rally since February, the municipal market is now on track to erase most of the losses incurred during last year’s selloff. Since September 9, 2013, the high yield water mark from last year, the benchmark AAA yields, according...
Of Michael Lewis and Today’s Muni Market
Last Friday, the fixed-income market reacted in rather surprising fashion to a very strong April employment report: it actually rallied, pushing the benchmark yield on 10-year Treasuries down near the low for the year … Plus, thoughts on Michael Lewis’ “Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt†and its implications for the municipal bond market.
The Tug-of-War between Cities and Suburbs
by Mardee Handler, managing editor From the nation’s most densely population urban centers to outer-ring suburbs, the U.S. population continues to shift, while the concepts of urban sprawl and smart growth remain hot topics in municipal circles. Well into the second...