Short-dated munis trade better, long end slips on light primary activity, weaker Treasuries

By Cristal Cody

Prospect News, Feb. 1 - Municipal bonds ended Wednesday mixed in trading on a lack of primary supply and weaker Treasuries, according to sources.

"The short end did better. The long end slipped," a municipal bond source said. "The MMD benchmark was 3 basis points higher out in 30 years. The short end was up 2 to 3 basis points in two to five years."

Primary activity stayed light over the day after the big deal of the week came on Tuesday from the State of Washington, which priced $978.63 million in two tranches.

"The new issue calendar is really slow," a source said. "Treasuries are off across the board, so there was not an outside influence to support munis. The lack of supply certainly helps, but when Treasuries faded in the long end, munis kind of followed."

The 10-year Treasury note yield rose 4 bps to 1.83%. The 30-year bond yield climbed 5 bps to 2.99%.

"I suspect there will be more deals announced tomorrow and Friday," a source said. "There's several Texas deals next week, but the calendar's not that heavy."

The Tarrant Regional Water District in Texas plans to sell $134.63 million of series 2012 revenue bonds (Aa1/AAA/) via a competitive sale on Feb. 8.

Details of another upcoming sale down south emerged on Wednesday from the Henry County School District in Georgia. The district intends to sell $100 million of series 2012 general obligation bonds, according to a preliminary official statement.

The bonds (Aa2/AA+/) have serial maturities from 2013 through 2017.

Robert W. Baird & Co. is the bookrunner.

Proceeds will be use to refund a portion of the outstanding series 2007A G.O. bonds and to finance the costs to acquire, construct and equip new schools, acquire school buses and provide technology improvements.

Alpine School District to sell

A deal is in the works for next week from the Board of Education of Alpine School District in Utah County, Utah.

The district plans to sell $52 million of G.O. school building bonds through a competitive sale on Feb. 8, according to a preliminary official statement.

The series 2012 bonds (Aaa//) have serial maturities from 2016 through 2029.

George K. Baum & Co. is the financial adviser.

Proceeds will be used to pay for school sites and buildings and to refund outstanding debt.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.