Slow Start
(INSIGHT: pub. May 17, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds were little changed in the face of Treasury weakness this morning.
Trading was slower this morning and the trend was more mixed but range-bound. The Treasury losses have likely encouraged many customers to sit this morning out. Next week’s is short with little issuance. That, plus weekly positive fund flows do
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A Market Pulse Emerges
(INSIGHT: pub. May 16, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds were little changed to perhaps firmer in spots while greatly underperforming the rally in Treasuries today.
The rally in Treasuries likely pulled some parts of the municipal market out of daze of the last few days but it was by no means widespread. The secondary did see a good amount more trading, about 1,000 block trades after 3:00 pm eastern. Still, there were plenty of traders out there who continued to
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Better Tone; DFW Prices
(INSIGHT: pub. May 16, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds posted minor gains along the curve as the last large deals of the week priced bonds.
Secondary activity picked up today and the tone was more constructive. Long trading accounted for 40% of all block activity this morning, which is not usually the case. The prints on many of the long blocks looked better than yesterday’s close and as a result it is probably the
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Mixed Day
(INSIGHT: pub. May 15, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds saw mixed trading today as Treasuries weaved back and forth.
While discussions with most institutional market participants involved some sort of complaining about the lack of liquidity today, there actually was a decent amount of block trades on the tape through 3:15 eastern (771) with an above-average amount of customer sells. Still, the day
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Steady Start With Help From Govies
(INSIGHT: pub. May 15, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds were little changed this morning but more constructive in spots with the help of gains in the Treasury market thus far.
An overnight bid in Treasuries that continued into the U.S. open has helped to put municipals on stable ground so far today after a multi-day slide. Since the middle of last week the market has seen limited secondary activity and a widening of bid/ask spreads on a variety of commonly quoted names. Today that started to change a bit with
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Municipals Decline with Treasuries
(INSIGHT: pub. May 14, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds declined modestly again today while the primary came to life.
Another round of Treasury weakness today appeared to be giving many municipal market participants a reason to be apathetic. Trading activity picked up from yesterday, but still was sparse again and in particular block activity was on the lighter side. We did see some shorter high-grades were trading
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Flurry of Deals
(INSIGHT: pub. May 14, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds were little changed this morning in secondary trading while the primary offered a wide variety of names to digest.
The secondary picked up from yesterday’s morning but today’s tone was more neutral than anything else. The bid in Treasuries overnight and into the early morning clearly helped stabilize
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Modest Decline
(INSIGHT: pub. May 13, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds declined modestly today amid a lackluster secondary trading session with few new new-issues priced.
Tax-exempts were lightly traded today but still a weaker tone continued in the aftermath of Friday’s Treasury sell-off. The bulk of block trading occurred inside of the 10-year range but it was out long where several of the more liquid names printed a few cheaper than where they settled on Friday. Several of the long trades came out of a larger bids-wanted from a mutual fund complex that doesn’t usually
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Weaker Tone Persists
(INSIGHT: pub. May 13, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds were lightly traded to start the week but a weaker tone was still evident in spots.
For the first time since March 13th, both the 10- and 30-year ratios to Treasuries are both below 100% as bonds were pummeled on Friday. This morning though secondary activity has been light and only one retail order period of size was circulated in the primary markets. The new trading ranges are being
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Another Weak Friday in May
(INSIGHT: pub. May 10, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds declined today in sympathy with Treasuries.
Tax-exempts declined on the second consecutive Friday of May in which Treasuries lost major ground. While the municipal secondary activity has not been so robust as the afternoon wore on, the morning did see some selling pressure and overall prints indicating weakness. In fact, secondary selling pressure has been consistent throughout the latter half of the week with the bids-wanted on Bloomberg hitting just less than
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Mass Water To BAML
(INSIGHT: pub. May 8, 2013; 1:00p)
Municipal bonds were mixed but range-bound into the early afternoon.
The Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust was bid aggressively and had a tight cover this morning. In fact the top 6 bidders were all within 2 basis points of each other. As has been the case in many recent high-grade competitive loans the underwriter had good pre-sale with today’s figure at about
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Triple-A Mass Wtr Coming
(INSIGHT: pub. May 8, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds were little changed to perhaps again weaker in spots this morning.
Trading picked up slightly this morning ahead of triple-A Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement bonds that will sell competitively at 11 eastern. Secondary selling pressure may have been higher than we
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Weaker Tone Permeates
(INSIGHT: pub. May 7, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds showed modest losses in spots today as Treasuries also declined for the third consecutive session since Friday’s payroll report.
There was almost double the amount of secondary trading today versus yesterday and even that wasn’t saying too much. Still, there was better liquidity and on the high-grade names we track there was a weaker tendency 10-years and out on the
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Mostly Steady To Start; LA Selling Shortly
(INSIGHT: pub. May 7, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds saw an uptick in secondary activity this morning compared to yesterday and a genearlly steady tone while the primary came to life.
There was definitely more secondary trading activity this morning, with a fair amount of high-grades just inside the 10-year spot trading at pretty even levels versus recent sessions. Outside of the 10-year spot however some made the case for a weaker tone. Still, there is not a lot of secondary selling pressure yet this morning. While high-grades have
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Weaker Tone Today
(INSIGHT: pub. May 6, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds were very lightly traded today but a weaker tone was evident as Treasuries declined again.
Let’s start with this: there were less than 400 block trades through 3:15 pm eastern today. Sure, there were some weaker prints 10-years and out and the dealer inputs we received to our 5% scale showed some losses but by no means was this a ‘sloppy’ session. Selling pressure really
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Very Quiet Start To Week
(INSIGHT: pub. May 6, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds were little changed to perhaps cheaper in spots in a delayed reaction to Friday’s session.
As of 10:15 am eastern we documented 47 trades of $1 million or more. That isn’t much. This ambivalence is seen in the Treasury market as well that at this point has been directionless with low volumes as well. That being said some participants made the case for a
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Deer In The Headlights
(INSIGHT: pub. May 3, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds froze up in the wake of the post Labor Report Treasury sell-off this morning.
Counter to what happened the first Friday of April in which Treasuries rallied on the employment report, today, Treasuries sold off with a vengeance as the figures came in better-than-expected and the unemployment rate declined. Treasuries entered a new trading range today but so far municipals have not
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Market Slows Down But Minor Gains In Spots
(INSIGHT: pub. May 2, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds were little changed to firmer in spots as trading slowed in the afternoon.
This afternoon the Street slowed down somewhat from yesterday’s pace. Usually the ‘buyers on the sidelines’ comments associated with the monthly employment report are the easy market commentary way out but given last month’s rally with the report it could really be making some customers
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Slower Start Today
(INSIGHT: pub. May 2, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds carried on from yesterday with a firmer tone in spots but the activity was more subdued.
Secondary activity was not as robust this morning as it was yesterday but still a firmer tone lingered in spots. A weaker Treasury market in the early going didn’t help but as that market has made up ground a few customers began to
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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May Begins Strong
(INSIGHT: pub. May 1, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds posted large gains to kick off the month amid a more robust secondary and in sympathy with Treasuries.
Tax-exempts improved today, across the curve and amid varying credit sectors. We noted several of the usual suspects in terms of customer participation in the market but also a few newer names of the dedicated but also of cross-over ilk. For the first time in a week we broke over the
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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May Starts Out Well; U of IL to Wells
(INSIGHT: pub. May 1, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds posted gains this morning amid an uptick in secondary activity ahead of a few large competitive loans.
With another morning of Treasury gains and a brand new month the municipal market looked more constructive this morning. Prints on high-grades and lower-rated names alike all looked to be better than levels set earlier this week, setting the stage for aggressive bidding on the day’s competitive slate (New Jersey is selling shortly andthe University of Illinois just sold to Wells Fargo). The best performance thus far looks to be
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Municipals Better To End Month
(INSIGHT: pub. April 30, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds improved modestly 10-years and out today as the large Iowa Fertilizer Company loan priced for retail investors.
Tax-exempt space improved 10-years and out today by 1- to perhaps even 3-basis points according to some participants. Today trading activity was decent and we noted several dealers able to clean up off recently issued balances but overall there are
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Firmer 10-Years & Out
(INSIGHT: pub. April 30, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds saw an uptick in trading and perhaps a firmer tone in spots in sympathy with Treasuries.
Gains in the Treasury market after the morning round of economic data sprung some municipal customers into action. Overall secondary activity is more robust than it was yesterday and the tone is firmer but still somewhat cautious at this point given
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Municipals Little Changed
(INSIGHT: pub. April 29, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds were little changed today amid quiet trading as the market geared up for the week’s primary to begin tomorrow.
Municipals were little changed as the Treasury market mostly maintained Friday’s levels but lost some ground into the afternoon while the secondary was flat. Most said the market is awaiting the variety of credits this week, with the junk Iowa fertilizer deal, to the competitive
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Very Quiet Open; MSU Prices For Retail
(INSIGHT: pub. April 29, 2013; 10:45a)
Municipal bonds were very lightly traded to start the week.
It’s 10:15 and there are less than 125 trades sized $500,000 or more. Michigan State university circulated a retail order wire and several other issues circulated structure and price views but looks like more deals wont’ begin pricing until tomorrow. Treasuries are holding in Friday’s gains for now and that has made for customers to get
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Better Tone With Govies; Puerto Rico Budget
(INSIGHT: pub. April 26, 2013; 11:30a)
Municipal bonds had a fair amount of trading this morning as gains in Treasuries helped to make for a better bid in the tax-exempt space.
Tax-exempts took a cue from Treasuries today and developed a firmer tone. Across the curve we saw prints on most of the more liquid names were improving from recent levels. Specifically, out long we saw a fair amount of firmer block trading on the
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Municipals Little Changed on Day
(INSIGHT: pub. April 25, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds were little changed to perhaps firmer in spots while Citi was high bid on Virginia Public School Authority.
Based on limited large customer inquiry on a few choice names, many market participants bumped their scales in spots today. There were also some softer prints in the 5- to 10-year range that had some cutting their scale there. We’ll call it firmer in spots. However, the broader tone is not so sanguine. Bid/ask spreads are
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Firmer In Spots; VA To Sell Shortly
(INSIGHT: pub. April 25, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds were lightly traded but a firmer tone emerged in spots as the final large deals of the week priced.
Trading remains on the lighter side but we did see a few block prints at firmer levels. Namely, Los Angeles County and Maryland in the 10-year range while out long we continued to see California GO and New Jersey turnpikes, and New York City TFAs trade better. These are only a few prints so we will see what develops as the day progresses and perhaps how
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Bid Emerges Out Long
(INSIGHT: pub. April 24, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds traded in mixed fashion today as a bid developed out long while intermediates languished somewhat.
We’ll start off that most market participants spoken to today had at some point a negative comment to make about the lack of overall secondary activity. That has been the case all week. That being said, several long traders said that bonds outside of 20-yeasr were somewhat
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Mixed Open
(INSIGHT: pub. April 24, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds traded in mixed fashion this morning as primary market activity took a step back compared to yesterday.
Trading activity was mixed this morning with some weaker prints around the 10-year spots but at least one customer pushing the long-end once again with stronger numbers on California GOs among others. Overall the Street remains a difficult place to conduct business and concessionary new-issue levels continue to
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Active Primary Day
(INSIGHT: pub. April 23, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds saw few changes in secondary activity today while the primary was well received in part due to aggressive competitive bidding and partly due to a few loans priced to-go.
Tax-exempt rates were generally little changed today but some made the case for a weaker tone as Treasury yields rose in the early afternoon. Starting with the secondary, we once again saw a larger amount of bids-wanteds (yesterday’s the official Bloomberg figure was $690 million – rather large for a Monday) and we did see more
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Firmer In Spots; Citi Buys Ohio
(INSIGHT: pub. April 23, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds were little changed to firmer in spots today while focus remains on the primary markets.
There was a decent amount of secondary activity this morning and most prints indicate steady to perhaps firmer on a few names. The primary is quite active and the competitive space will keep many focused there. Yesterday there was perhaps a weaker tone out long but today the prints on Puerto Rico, Sacramento MUD and
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Municipals Post Minor Gains; New Issues Dominate
(INSIGHT: pub. April 18, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds saw minor gains today as Treasuries maintained Wednesday levels while the last of the large new issues priced to good reception.
Municipals were slightly firmer in relatively quiet secondary trading while new deals were bumped across the board and dominated the day. Illinois bumped bonds by as much as
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Municipals Improve
(INSIGHT: pub. April 17, 2013; 4:00p)
Municipal bonds posted gains today with the Treasury market while many of the largest scheduled deals bumped levels.
The tax-exempt market improved today amid broader secondary activity and a busy new-issue slate. In the secondary, activity reached an apex in the early afternoon as Treasuries tested year low yields. A few large customers appeared to be pushing the market higher and some of the reads at that point were as much as 5 basis points better. While this was occurring, we also noted a significant amount of
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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Better Tone This Morning
(INSIGHT: pub. April 17, 2013; 11:00a)
Municipal bonds traded with a better tone this morning amid an active primary and secondary markets.
Another large slate of several $100 million plus sized loans is keeping attention on the new-issue market but a bump in the Treasury market and perhaps better fundamental/technical muni outlook has made for a good amount of secondary activity as well this morning. Better secondary volume off the bat and tighter
...continued (Clients - See Full Report)
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