Markets

The underwriting firm's hires will expand its real estate development finance group and Southeast operations.

"It doesn't take but one comment or one market-moving data point to cause ETFs to shift the market pretty considerably," said Ajay Thomas, head of public finance at FHN Financial.

Thanks to strong technicals and the anticipated interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its September meeting, municipal bonds posted positive returns of 0.87% in August, reversing their losses of 0.20% in July, according to Jason Wong, vice president municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

"Another set of eyes helps improve the deal for everybody, including the borrower, because the borrower is going to want a successful venture too," said John Miller, head and chief investment officer of First Eagle's municipal credit team.

Issuance for the week of Sept. 2 is at an estimated $7.457 billion, with $6.179 billion of negotiated deals and $1.278 billion of competitive deals on tap, according to LSEG.

Legacy Health, an eight-hospital Portland, Ore.-based healthcare system, that abandoned merger plans in May received a downgrade and negative outlook from Moody's Ratings.

The world's biggest opera house has been downgraded for the second time this year.

With the break in issuance this week, the market has firmed a bit, said Tim McGregor, managing partner at Riverbend Capital Advisors.

Paul Chatalas, director of capital markets for the state, said the six series of bonds drew "aggressive bids."

While issuance has been on a record pace this year, this week sees a slight slowdown in activity, caused by participants going on vacation, said Jeff Timlin, a partner at Sage Advisory.