Philadelphia to sell resized $100 million G.O.s; Deschutes County, Ore., authority to sell $97.6 million

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Dec. 12 - The week ahead is looking to be somewhat more subdued, market insiders said, even with more than a billion in sales planned.

"It's getting close to the holidays," noted one sellside source reached Friday afternoon.

"A lot of people are taking vacation time, so it's not surprising the calendars are looking a little thinner. Also, I think everything that could get done for the year got done last week. Or else it was pushed to next year."

Another sellsider agreed.

"Really, some issuers have given up hope on getting the deals completed this year, I think," he said.

"The conditions just aren't right. The investors aren't there, and for those who can wait it out, it's best to just try again next year."

Looking to what is coming up this week, the City of Philadelphia is expected to price a reduced offering of $100 million in series 2008B general obligation bonds on Tuesday.

The city had planned to sell $184.785 million of the G.O.s last week.

The bonds will be sold on a negotiated basis with Morgan Stanley & Co. as the lead manager.

The bonds are due 2009 to 2018 with term bonds.

Proceeds will be used to reimburse the city for capital projects.

Deschutes County authority to price

Moving to the West Coast, the Hospital Facility Authority of Deschutes County in Oregon plans to sell $97.615 million in series 2008 hospital revenue refunding bonds for Cascade Healthcare Community, Inc., said a preliminary official statement released Friday.

The bonds (A3) will be sold on a negotiated basis with Morgan Stanley as the lead manager.

The maturities for the deal have not yet been set.

Proceeds will be used to refund, redeem or defease all or a portion of Cascade Healthcare's series 2005A hospital revenue bonds and to pay fees associated with an interest rate swap termination.

Miami-Dade yields available

In other news, the yields were revealed Friday for Miami-Dade County, Fla.'s previously announced $172 million competitive sale of series 2008B Building Better Communities Program G.O. bonds.

The bonds (Aa3/AA-/) are due 2009 to 2026 with a term bond due 2028. The serials have coupons from 5% to 6.25% with yields from 2.25% to 6.31%. The 2028 bonds have a 6.375% coupon to yield 6.48%.

Barclays Capital won the competitive bid Thursday with a 5.958055% true interest cost.

Proceeds will be used for capital improvement projects under the county's Building Better Communities Program.

Another slow day for secondary

Moving to secondary market news, traders said activity was slow yet again Friday with little change in the tone of the market.

"I'd call it unchanged," said one trader, asked what the tone looked like for the day.

"It has been really, really quiet. Not a lot is trading, so I don't really have much to tell you."

The tone of the market remained mostly weaker during the week with light trading most days.

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