Municipals end short session flat amid light trading; Ohio arranges $219.28 million G.O.s

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Dec. 24 - Municipals were mostly unchanged Monday ahead of Christmas with trading almost non-existent, said a market source.

"Very, very, very quiet," said a trader reached in the late morning.

"No one is even looking at the market right now. We're seeing, literally, a handful of trades."

News impacting municipals was, seemingly, nonexistent as fiscal cliff talks took a break for the holiday.

Market sources have pointed out that talk of the fiscal cliff and tax law changes that could impact the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds have been detrimental to municipal yields over the past couple of weeks.

Ohio deal ahead

Despite the lack of activity ahead of the holidays, some offerings are already stacking up for the week of Jan. 7. The action will be led by a $219,275,000 sale of series 2013 general obligation bonds from the State of Ohio.

The offering includes $150 million of series 2013A G.O. bonds and $69,275,000 of series 2013B G.O. refunding bonds.

The bonds will be sold competitively on Jan. 8.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to finance capital improvements throughout the state, as well as to refund existing G.O. debt.

On Jan. 9, the Suffolk County Water Authority of New York will price $100 million of series 2013 bond anticipation notes (/SP-1+/F1+).

The deal includes $50 million of series 2013A BANs, which are due in 2016, and $50 million of series 2013B BANs, which are due in 2015.

The authority intends to use the proceeds to finance capital improvements under the county's five-year plan.

Triborough bonds put off

Meanwhile, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority of New York has been pushed back yet again. The offering was initially set to price in mid-December but was held off. The deal was set to price again in late December, but market volatility kept the deal from pricing then.

The offering is set to price in two tranches in January, said a sellside source familiar with the deal.

The deal includes $637,985,000 of subordinate bonds and $266,315,000 of general revenue refunding bonds, but the size of the deal might be reduced.

The bonds will be sold through Jefferies & Co., Goldman Sachs & Co. and Loop Capital Markets LLC.

Proceeds will be used to refund the authority's series 2002E and 2003A revenue bonds.

The market source reported that the authority has been monitoring the markets for the past couple of weeks to determine when the sale should take place.

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