Municipal bond buyers are looking ahead to the wide variety of new deals heading their way this week.
Weekly bond volume is estimated to total $6.3 billion, consisting of $4.4 billion of negotiated deals and $1.9 billion of competitive sales.
Primary market
Action will get underway on Tuesday, with the focus on the competitive sector.
The Shoreline School District No. 412, Wash., is selling $206.81 million of unlimited tax general obligation bonds under the Washington state school district credit enhancement program. Proceeds will be used to pay costs of carrying out and accomplishing certain capital improvements.
The financial advisor is PFM Financial Advisors; the bond counsel is Foster Pepper.
The deal is rated AA-plus by S&P Global Ratings.
Saint Petersburg, Fla., is selling $204.605 million of Series 2018 public utility refunding revenue bonds. The proceeds together with other city money will be used to currently refund all of the city's outstanding Series 2017 public utility subordinate lien bond anticipation notes and finance or reimburse the costs of the project
The financial advisor is PFM Financial Advisors; the bond counsel is Bryant Miller.
The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA by Fitch Ratings.
Also in the Sunshine State, Pompano Beach is selling $102.42 million of Series 2018 GOs. Proceeds along with other city money will be used to finance certain capital projects.
The financial advisor is PFM Financial Advisors; the bond counsel is Greenspoon Marder.
The deal is rated AA by S&P.
The Fort Mill School District No. 4 of York County, S.C., is selling $100 million of Series 2018B GOs. Proceeds will be used to defraying the costs of capital improvements to facilities of the School District.
The financial advisor is Compass Municipal Advisors; the bond counsel is Haynsworth Sinkler.
The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.
And North Las Vegas is selling $99 million of Series 2018 limited tax GO building refunding bonds additionally secured by pledged revenues. Proceeds will be used to refund the city’s outstanding Series 2003 GO judicial/public safety bonds, outstanding Series 2006 GO building bonds and outstanding Series 2007A GO judicial/public safety refunding bonds.
The financial advisor is Zions Public Finance; the bond counsel is Stradling Yocca.
The deal is rated Baa1 by Moody’s and BBB by S&P.
Prior week's top underwriters
The top municipal bond underwriters of last week included Loop Capital Markets, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Morgan Stanley, according to Thomson Reuters data.
In the week of Sept. 2 to Sept. 8, Loop underwrote $750.0 million, Citi $575.3 million, Goldman $426.6 million, Jefferies $313.6 million and Morgan Stanley $306.1 million.
Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply at $10.9B
The Bond Buyer's 30-day visible supply calendar increased $624.5 million to $10.90 billion for Monday. The total is comprised of $3.36 billion of competitive sales and $7.54 billion of negotiated deals.
Prior week's top FAs
The top municipal financial advisors of last week included Public Resources Advisory Group, Acacia Financial Group, Hilltop Securities, PFM Financial Advisors, and Blue Rose Capital Advisors, according to Thomson Reuters data.
In the week of Sept. 2 to Sept. 8, PRAG advised on $1.7 billion, Acacia $625.0 million, Hilltop $133.9 million, PFM $131.4 million, and Blue Rose $90.1 million.
Secondary market
Municipal bonds were weaker on Monday, according to a midday read of the MBIS benchmark scale. Benchmark muni yields rose as much as one basis point in the one- to 30-year maturities.
High-grade munis were also weaker, with yields calculated on MBIS' AAA scale rising as much as one basis point across the curve.
Municipals were steady on Municipal Market Data’s AAA benchmark scale, which showed the yield on both the 10-year muni general obligation and the yield on 30-year muni maturity remaining unchanged.
Treasury bonds were stronger as stock prices traded slightly higher.
On Friday, the 10-year muni-to-Treasury ratio was calculated at 84.6% while the 30-year muni-to-Treasury ratio stood at 99.9%, according to MMD. The muni-to-Treasury ratio compares the yield of tax-exempt municipal bonds with the yield of taxable U.S. Treasury with comparable maturities. If the muni/Treasury ratio is above 100%, munis are yielding more than Treasury; if it is below 100%, munis are yielding less.
Prior week's actively traded issues
Revenue bonds comprised 56.60% of total new issuance in the week ended Sept. 7, up from 56.54% in the prior week, according to
Some of the most actively traded munis by type were from Massachusetts, Texas and Illinois issuers. In the GO bond sector, the Massachusetts 4s of 2019 traded 66 times. In the revenue bond sector, the Texas 4s of 2019 traded 170 times. And in the taxable bond sector, the Chicago 5.432s of 2042 traded 12 times.
Previous session's activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 37,066 trades on Friday on volume of $12.37 billion.
California, New York and Texas were the municipalities with the most trades, with Golden State taking 14.329% of the market, the Empire State taking 15.691% and the Lone Star State taking 11.302%.
Data appearing in this article from Municipal Bond Information Services, including the MBIS municipal bond index, is available on The Bond Buyer Data Workstation.
