Recent Commentary
MMA Muni Outlook > November 2008
Municipals Supported By Retail Amid Challenges
Individuals provided the support for a calendar of $23.5B of primary issuance, especially immediately after Barack Obama’s convincing presidential victory and the anticipation of higher taxes. Strength persisted in the market through November 20, when the $149M VA Resource Authority loan marked the “top” of the market. Institutional demand remained absent for most of the month as the remaining leveraged accounts sold selectively—mutual funds maintained out-flows and property & casualty companies remained sidelined by economic adversity.
The municipal market was still crippled by the inconsistent liquidity that has thwarted a comfortable transaction environment since early September. The reduced number of dealer participants and the cautious deployment of capital to the municipal bond sector has largely attributed to challenges for issuers to access the capital markets and institutions to find a representative bid for bonds in the secondary... (For continuation of report see link below.)
