Federal Open Market Committee members at their most recent gathering reaffirmed that the central bank will be keeping policy loose well into the future, according to meeting minutes released Wednesday. With the economy continuing to shake off the effects from the Covid-19 pandemic, the committee, which sets monetary policy for the Federal Reserve, kept policy unchanged. That meant holding benchmark short-term borrowing rates near zero and maintaining the minimum $120 billion of asset purchases each month.
Source: CNBC

Municipals sold off Wednesday after a weeks-long steady period during which they barely budged a basis point or two up or down, even as U.S. Treasuries pared back recent losses and equities were mixed. The municipal secondary gave way to higher-yield trades on high-grade names and triple-A benchmarks rose two to five basis points as a result. New deals still fared well, though some issues moved to the day-to-day calendar as participants wait to see whether the correction Wednesday was a one-off event. The fundamentals are strong, though, with supply still light on a relative basis.
Source: Bond Buyer

Unauthorized dumping has been occurring in Towns Riverview South, and the Finney County Commission discussed the dumping at its regular meeting Tuesday. No action was taken on the issue, other than agreement to look into solving the problem. Roger Calkins, Finney County Public Works director, said the location of the dumping has been involved in the countywide spring and fall cleanup events.
Source: GCTelegram.

Oakland’s wastewater plant lost power and Fire Station No. 6 was unable to open its garage door to respond to a call if one had come in as rolling blackouts came to Topeka on Tuesday. Jeff Martin, vice president of customer and community operations at Evergy, apologized to frustrated Topeka City Council members for how the company handled rolling blackouts as some neighborhoods were without power longer than others. “Is water and wastewater treatment not a priority to keep powered up?” Councilmember Neil Dobler asked Martin at Tuesday night’s meeting. Martin said it was essential to reduce power as quickly as possible and that Evergy will learn from this event.
Source: CJonline.com.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.