Muni Think

It has become apparent that even more creativity will be necessary to pass legislation in the upcoming Congress. The only problem is we do not have the luxury of time.

One must be mindful of and pay close attention to obligor filings, credit spreads and, of course, rating actions whatever chair you sit in.

With interest rates near zero, and expected to remain there. money market funds may no longer be attractive to individual investors.

There are many variables that will affect municipal credits before a successful coronavirus vaccine is approved, produced and distributed, and the economic effects of the virus-induced downturn begin to turn around.

How “progressive” the new leadership decides to act will affect what roles the Fed will need to assume and support. Greater transparency and responsiveness to congressional leadership will be primary among them

It turns out that all tax-exempt munis exhibit negative convexity near par, even if they are not callable. The driver of this phenomenon is the so-called de minimis tax effect.

A painful reality of the current environment is that headcount is a target for cost reduction despite that demands have never been greater — compliance, client demands and the need to access and leverage data and information to avoid a competitive disadvantage.

For more than 80 years, soliciting investors has been recognized by federal securities regulators as broker-dealer activity, so the SEC’s action on municipal advisors breaks significant new ground. It also sets a dangerous precedent.

As devastating as natural disasters can be, their impact to municipal bond prices has been muted.

A larger green bond market will help the municipal market and state and local governments.