Municipal News & Jobs

The municipal market fell as much as 10 to 12 basis points at one point on Monday amid the COVID-19 crisis and its ricocheting effects on the global economy.
But the municipal market is lagging the rest of the world because munis as an asset class are fundamentally more difficult to monitor and evaluate.
Given the fragmented state of the municipal market with more than 50,000 issuers, many different structures, low liquidity, archaic benchmarks, delayed and non-standard financial filings, the market is having to deal with this crisis moment by moment.
As participants unpack what is unfolding globally, there is room for caution and also opportunity, sources said.
Read more: Bond Buyer.

Investors who thought U.S. Treasury yields could not get any lower received another shock Monday.
A plunge in oil prices combined with worries about the spreading coronavirus combined to drive market participants into Treasuries, accelerating a years-long rally that has taken yields on the 10-year Treasury to below 0.5%, a number few investors thought they would see in their lifetimes.
Bond yields fall as their prices rise. Other key factors that have stoked the move higher in U.S. government bonds include unprecedented asset purchases by the Federal Reserve, stubbornly low inflation, changing U.S. demographics and slower growth.
Read more: Reuters.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield resumed its historic slide on Monday as investors continued to punish risk assets like stocks in favor of the safety of bonds between an all-out oil price war and contagion fears surrounding the coronavirus.
The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury briefly touched an all-time low of 0.318% in overnight trading, adding another 30 basis points to an unprecedented fall in the key interest rate. That rate was above 1.5% as recently as mid-February.
The 10-year yield, in particular, holds outsized importance in the U.S. economy for its use as a benchmark for mortgage rates and auto loans. The 30-year Treasury yield also hit a record low of 0.702%, breaching the 1% threshold for the first time in history. Bond yields fall as their prices rise.
Read more: CNBC.

Kansas confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus on Saturday as the disease, which has killed 19 people in the United States, continues to spread across the country.
Gov. Laura Kelly announced testing confirmed a Johnson County woman under 50 has the virus. Kelly said the woman is currently in isolation at her home.
“Public health officials are also working to identify and contact those who may have been in close contact with this individual and exposed to the virus,” Kelly said.
Read more: KC Star.

The entire yield curve for U.S. bonds fell below 1% for the first time in history after an all-out price war between the world’s biggest oil exporters triggered an unprecedented global bond rally.
U.S. Treasury yields plunged, with the rate on 30-year bonds diving as much as 59 basis points, as rising expectations the Federal Reserve will cut policy rates to 0% in the coming months drove investors to reach to longer maturities for yield. U.K. government bond yields tumbled below zero for the first time, Germany’s two-year bonds were close to a record, and rates in Australia and New Zealand fell to new lows.
The spread of the coronavirus and its fallout on supply chains and consumer spending have seen a dramatic repricing of global interest-rate expectations in the past month. The jolt lower in oil from the price war will sap inflation, increasing pressure on the Fed to take rates to the lowest since the global financial crisis.
Read more: Yahoo News.

The past decade in Garden City and Finney County has been one of exciting change. During Thursday night’s annual banquet, the Chamber wanted to take a moment to reflect on the amazing growth within the community and the steps that were taken by community leaders who have helped. …. a short documentary video highlights this vibrant and progressive community.

The global flight to the safety government debt continued on Friday as investors piled into U.S. Treasurys and sent the yield on the 10-year note to record lows.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sank to 0.695% around 4:45 a.m. ET, breaking below 0.7% for the first time ever, according to Tradeweb data. As of the latest reading, however, the 10-year yield had moved off those lows to 0.72%.
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The plunge in yields came amid an exodus from stocks as disruptions to businesses around the world on the back of the coronavirus outbreak heighten fears of a global slowdown.
“It’s a brave new world of 0-handles and we’ve now taken to referencing 10-year yields in basis point terms. 1.0%, thanks for the memories,” wrote Ian Lyngen, head of rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets.
Read more: CNBC.

Market upheaval intensified Friday, as investors sheltered in the safest assets they could find, pushing the yield on long-term U.S. government bonds to unprecedented levels and setting gold up for its best week in over a decade.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury sank below 0.8% for the first time. …
The continued market jitters — even after the Federal Reserve unexpectedly cut rates and U.S. lawmakers approved roughly $8 billion in emergency spending — is focusing attention now on potential government measures to counteract the economic impacts of the coronavirus.
Read more: Wall Street Journal.

U.S. government bond yields continued to fall to new lows Wednesday, reflecting bets that the Federal Reserve could slash interest rates further at its March 17-18 meeting after its emergency rate cut on Tuesday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note settled at 0.994%, according to Tradeweb. That was down from Tuesday’s then-record low close of 1.005%, though up from the record intraday low of 0.914% set earlier that day.
Read more: Wall Street Journal.