Reputation Intact This month has amply demonstrated that September is one of the worst months of the year for markets. Equity markets are well below the highs of the Summer with the Dow Jones Index below 34,000. Rates reached new highs earlier in the week and have...

Market Hindrances In attempting to glean some truisms about where the municipal market is leading there are several potential hindrances that need to reach some resolutions or perhaps there will be none. The Fed continues to be first and foremost with what the actions...

Course Correction We have been anticipating a turn in the market for some time. While you are out in the boat coming about, the course correction for the market has arrived. The ten-year Treasury bond attained the level of 4.30% yesterday while settling down today to...

Two Lower Ratings When an entity has two out of three ratings in the highest rating category the credit is still considered to have exemplary characteristics. When a change occurs and there are two ratings in the AA category and one rating remains at AAA, some of the...

Pronounced Trends We have been awaiting the numbers from the first half to validate what we already know. Volume for the half was just a tad under $175 billion for a decline of 19.9%. A range of $350 to $375 billion for the full year is most probable at this point...

Issuance Waiting Game Now that you have taken some gains in your AI focused equities, there always remains the consideration of where to reinvest the gains. Municipals are always a good option. The challenge is the new issue market is not minting as much supply as it...

Disruptive Factors There are many factors unfolding that have disruptive elements associated with them. The recent CPI turned out to be not one of them. The monthly increase in the CPI was 0.4% and the y.o.y. result was 4.9% NSA. So, we had a tick down in the y.o.y....

The fixed income markets continue to be functioning very well despite all the many present challenges. Many are perceiving angst about what is to unfold. Rates and the Fed are the primary preoccupations. But other topics are also in the forefront, including dealing...