The Bond Buyer articles from June 2003

The Bond Buyer archives from June 2003

Bond Volume Takes Major Hit in May: Issuance Falls to $28.2 Billion.
June 2, 2003... Monthly volume for municipal bond issuance tumbled about $5.8 billion -- or 17% -- year-over-year in May, one of the largest drops since an $8 billion plunge in January 2000, according to preliminary Thomson Financial data. This drop...

Audit of Florida Pooled Issues Finds Usage, Records Problems.
June 2, 2003... An unprecedented state audit of eight Florida bond pool issues totaling $1.68 billion in debt has revealed, among other things, that most of the bonds were issued for private, not public, benefit, that some failed to maintain proper records...

The Digest.
June 2, 2003... Municipal bond yields were quoted one or two basis points higher on Friday amid sluggish trading activity. Complete market coverage by Anastasija Johnson appears on page 2 N.Y.'s $2.3B Tobacco Deal Coming Next Week New York will sell...

IDBs Fall; Housing Booms: States Increase Carry-Forward Despite Cap.
June 2, 2003... Low interest rates and a weakened economy prompted the issuance of about 50% more in both student loan and multifamily housing bonds last year, while the issuance of small-issue industrial development bonds was cut by almost 50% in the face...

News In Brief: Chicago Business Index Rose in May.
June 2, 2003... The Chicago Purchasing Manager's Business Barometer was 52.2 in May, up from 47.6 in April, reversing two months of declines and contraction, the Purchasing Management Association of Chicago said Friday. The data is compiled on a...

News In Brief: Income Unchanged; Spending Off 0.1%.
June 2, 2003... Personal income was unchanged and consumption expenditures fell 0.1% in April, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Personal income increased $4.0 billion, or less than 0.1%, to slightly more than $9.16 trillion, after an unrevised...

News In Brief: Consumer Sentiment Improves in May.
June 2, 2003... The University of Michigan's final May consumer sentiment index fell to 92.1 from the preliminary reading of 93.2, but was up from the final April reading of 86, according to market sources. Economists polled by IFR BondData America had...

News In Brief: N.Y. NAPM Index Slips in May.
June 2, 2003... Despite the fourth consecutive decline in the New York City Business Conditions Index, local purchasing managers remain optimistic the city's economy will rebound before the year ends, according to the National Association of Purchasing...

Friday's Market: Muni Yields Rise 1 to 2 Basis Points; Treasury Prices Fall, Then Rebound.
June 2, 2003... Municipal bond yields were quoted one or two basis points higher on Friday amid sluggish trading activity. Treasury prices dropped when the Chicago Purchasing Managers' index rose to 52.2 in May from 47.6 in April, but rebounded later in...

Minnesota Budget Passage Clears Deck for $400M Refunding.
June 2, 2003... Fresh from the passage last week of a $47 billion two-year budget that includes $750 million of new borrowing, Minnesota can now move forward with plans to competitively sell on June 17 nearly $400 million of general obligation bonds to...

Health Care Groups Ask Congress to Create Loan SRFs.
June 2, 2003... Two health care industry groups recently called on Congress to establish state revolving loan funds to help hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care providers upgrade and improve information technology, including hardware, software,...

Rural Hospitals Get Much-Needed Help From FHA.
June 2, 2003... Chalk one up for the little guys. Thanks to the Federal Housing Administration's Section 242 hospital insurance program, Shoshone Medical Center, a small 15-bed hospital in sleepy Kellogg, Idaho, will finally have access to the capital...

D.C. 'Jock Tax' Proposal Running Into Some Congressional Opposition.
June 2, 2003... The District of Columbia's proposal to tax professional baseball players' income earned in the city in order to back $291.9 million of municipal bonds that would be sold to help finance a $463 million stadium is running into opposition from...

Foes of Texas' School-Financing System Get New Court Date.
June 2, 2003... The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of 38 school districts that allege the state's school finance formulas are unconstitutional, sending their lawsuit against the state back to the trial court that dismissed the action two...

Toyota to Get Its Wish With $23 Million of San Antonio's Starbright Bonds.
June 2, 2003... San Antonio will make good on promises it made to Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America with the June 11 sale of $23.25 million of insured taxable contract revenue bonds through a new issuer created solely for this purpose. The...

The Week Ahead: Illinois, California Deals Top List as Rollover Season Starts.
June 2, 2003... Investors who find themselves in the midst of the beginning of June rollover season this week will have to try to recover from sticker shock long enough to reinvest the proceeds of their called and maturing bonds in some of the mammoth deals on...

Trends in the Region: Maryland and Its Issuers Prepare for $1 Billion Summer.
June 2, 2003... Maryland issuers plan to sell more than $1 billion of debt this summer, including natural triple-A rated bonds to be issued by the state, Howard County, and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. The gilt-edged state will...

DELAWARE: New Bond Chief.
June 2, 2003... The position of state director of bond finance, empty since Brett Taylor vacated it earlier this year, has been filled. Jim Lisa, formerly director of policy and planning for the Delaware Economic Development Office, will take over the post...

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Security Retention.
June 2, 2003... The headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security is staying put in the nation's capital, the agency's secretary told a congressional committee last month. In response to a question from the district's nonvoting delegate in the...

MAINE: Gaming Decision.
June 2, 2003... The House voted last week to let state residents decide in November whether a casino should be built in southern Maine. Representatives voted against a bill that would have authorized two Indian tribes to build a gambling resort in the...

MASSACHUSETTS: Framingham Bans.
June 2, 2003... Framingham will be in the market tomorrow with approximately $23 million in bond anticipation notes. The sale will be broken into two parts. Series 2003, totaling $20.67 million, will be general obligation bond anticipation notes set to...

NEW JERSEY: Middlesex Sales.
June 2, 2003... Moody's Investors Service has assigned a Aa1 rating to upcoming bond sales by Middlesex County and the Middlesex County Improvement Authority. The county is expected to sell $23.2 million in general obligation debt on June 15, and the...

NEW YORK: A Resigned Man.
June 2, 2003... Jack Gaffney, executive director of the New York State Bridge Authority, resigned May 22 amid questions about excessive expenses. The Albany Times Union reported that sources within Gov. George Pataki's administration said Gaffney is the...

PENNSYLVANIA: UPMC Unaffected.
June 2, 2003... Standard & Poor's last week said its A rating and stable outlook on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health System will not be affected by a charge against earnings. The western Pennsylvania health system reported a $161.5...

Moody's Negative on Indianapolis Housing Debt.
June 2, 2003... Moody's Investors Service placed $22.8 million of multifamily revenue bonds issued through Indianapolis for the Lake Nora and Fox Club apartments on its watch list for a possible downgrade Friday, citing the difficulty in filling unit...

Growing Gwinnett County, Ga., Readies $75 Million Deal.
June 2, 2003... Investors looking to pick up some gilt-edged general obligation bonds from a Georgia issuer might look to a $75 million deal being sold competitively on Wednesday by Gwinnett County. The deal will provide an opportunity to buy GOs from a...

NEW-ISSUE VOLUME NOTES.
June 2, 2003... The new-issue volume tables are based on information compiled by The Bond Buyer from Thomson Financial's data base on Friday, May 30, 2003. All figures are preliminary and subject to revision. Long-term bonds have final stated maturities...

LONG-TERM BONDS: January-May.
June 2, 2003... 2003 2002 Volume No. of Volume No. of Pct. ($000s) Issues ($000s) Issues Chg TOTAL $145,625,400 5,331 $128,033,600 5,756 +13.7 % January 26,616,100 930 21,792,100 ...

BOND SALES BY STATE: January-May.
June 2, 2003... 2003 2002 State Rank Volume Rank Volume Pct Chg Alabama 27 $1,159,800 29 $1,436,900 -19.3 % Alaska 39 637,200 37 697,900 -8.7 Arizona 14 3,192,400 9 3,628,600 -12.0...

LARGEST ISSUES: May 2003.
June 2, 2003... Amount Issuer Date $836.4 Pennsylvania (Commonwealth), GOs (ref) (cpt) May 20 650.0 New York City, GOs May 30 600.0 Miami-Dade County, Fla., airports (NM/ref) (AMT/TAX/TE) May 16 599.4 ...

LONG-TERM BONDS: May.
June 2, 2003... 2003 2002 Volume No. of Volume No. of Pct. ($000s) Issues ($000s) Issues Chg TOTAL $28,207,900 1,106 $34,010,100 1,411 -17.1 % Development 676,400 27 920,200 42...

U.S. Securities Prices.
June 2, 2003... Prices as of 3:45 p.m. EST. Source: GovPx Inc. Treasury Bills Yesterday's Prev. Day's Yesterday's (in percent of discount) Bid/Offer Bid/Offer Bid Yield 1M -- 6/26/2003 1.145/140 1.165/155 1.165 3M...

Market Indicators.
June 2, 2003... Dollar amounts are in millions Day's 2003 2003 Daily Yesterday Change High Date Low Date Municipal Bond Index 114-02 unch 114-17 (5/23) 107-26 (1/9) 40 Average Dollar Price 104.13...

Municipal Market Data General Obligation Yields.
June 2, 2003... Aaa Aaa (pure) (ins) Aa A Baa 2004 0.98 1.00 1.01 1.20 1.53 2008 2.08 2.18 2.16 2.45 2.97 2013 3.10 3.21 3.19 3.51 3.99 2018 3.71 3.83 3.81 4.11 4.58...

Short-Term Tax-Exempt Yields.
June 2, 2003... May 30, 2003 May 29, 2003 May 31, 2002 Selected MIG-1/SP-1+ Notes California Rans 2 1/2s (MIG-2) (June 03) 1.55 1.25 1.45 Los Angeles Co Trans 3s (June 03) 0.90 1.00 1.45 Texas Trans 2 3/4s (Aug 03) 1.00...

Placement Ratio.
June 2, 2003... No. Total Amt. Sales from Placement New New Accts. New Accts. Ratio Accts. ($000s) ($000s) (%) 2003 05/30 19 808,851 701,116 86.7 05/23 29 1,747,444 1,682,459 96.3 05/16...

General Obligation Bond Prices for May 30, 2003.
June 2, 2003... Intermediate Long-Term Bond and Ratings (Moody's/S&P's/Fitch) Dated Cpn &Maturity Yield Price Prev Chg Cpn &Maturity Yield Price Prev Chg STATES California Series 2002 (A2/A/A) 10/1/02 4%...

Visible Supply.
June 2, 2003... Competitive Negotiated Total ($000s) ($000s) ($000s) Weekly Averages 5/30/03 3,182,674 7,520,241 10,702,915 5/23 2,563,155 6,930,072 9,493,227 5/16 3,660,878 5,213,215 ...

Municipal Market Yields.
June 2, 2003... Values at 5/30/2003 -- Basis Point Change from 5/23/2003 Aaa Aa A Baa 2004 1.02 -02 1.16 -02 1.40 -02 1.74 -02 2008 2.16 -02 2.34 -02 2.60 -02 2.89 -02 2013 3.25 -02 ...

Reoffering Yields.
June 2, 2003... NRO - Not Reoffered; S.B. - Sealed Bid; SNA - Sold, Not Available Offer Amount Date ($Mil) RECENT OFFERINGS 1 Year 5 10 15 20 25 30 Aaa -- AAA 5/22 11.3 Paragould Sch. Dist. #1, Ark. 1.25 2.35 3.50 4.00 ... ... ...

New-Issue Balances.
June 2, 2003... (,000 Omitted) * Since initial reoffering + Revised upward since last report Amount Date NEW OFFERINGS Sold Balance $17,355 *5/29 San Diego, Calif. $8,355 $9,000 NEW OFFERINGS ...

Municipal Bond Index.
June 2, 2003... Yesterday Previous Day Week Ago The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index 114-02 114-02 114-17 Friday, May 30, 2003 Maturity Par Call Dollar Conversion Converted Date Date Price Factor Price ...

Municipal Bond Prices.
June 2, 2003... These 40 Bonds are evaluated and priced daily by Standard & Poor's Securities Evaluations. All figures are rounded to the nearest eighth when reported in this table. "Change in Bid" is rounded after calculation. Dollar Change...

Municipal Bond Index Update.
June 2, 2003... The list of bonds used to calculate the Municipal Bond Index was revised after the May 30 pricing. The new coefficient is 1.0187. It was derived by dividing the May 30 index (114.072493) by the average converted price of the new set of...

Massachusetts May Issue Two Hefty Refundings This Week.
June 2, 2003... This could be a busy week in Massachusetts. The state is expecting to be in the market with possibly two major refunding deals. One possibility is a grant anticipation revenue note deal between $500 million and $700 million. A general...

California School Districts Diving Into $1 Billion Tran Pool.
June 2, 2003... Hundreds of small- to medium-sized California school districts are pooling together to sell nearly $1 billion of tax revenue anticipation notes this week, in a deal being issued by the California School Cash Reserve Program Authority. ...

Competitive Bond Offerings.
June 2, 2003... ISSUER ST DESCRIPTION AMOUNT ($000s) TIME OF SALE FINANCIAL ADVISER LEGAL OPINION MATURING INSURER MDY'S S&P FITCH BANK-QUAL. LATEST DETAILS Monday, June 2 Tucson AZ Rev 5,000 10 am...

Competitive Note Offerings.
June 2, 2003... ISSUER ST DESCRIPTION AMOUNT($000s) TIME OF SALE FINANCIAL ADVISER LEGAL OPINION MATURING INSURER MDY'S S&P FITCH BANK-QUAL. LATEST DETAILS Monday, June 2 Montebello...

Negotiated Bond Offerings.
June 2, 2003... Tentative dates for negotiated sales of $1 million or more. Please fax all pricing & award Information to 212-989-8442. Week Of June 2 Arkansas Dev Fin Auth AR Rev 7,625 A.G. Edwards -- -- -- A -- May 16 ...

Negotiated Note Offerings.
June 2, 2003... ISSUER ST DESCRIPTION AMOUNT ($000s) LEAD MANAGER INSURER MDY'S S&P FITCH FIRST APPEARED Week Of June 2 California Sch Cash Res CA Rev 965,000 US Bancorp Piper -- -- -- -- -- May 30 ...

Results of Negotiated Sales.
June 2, 2003... ARIZONA Phoenix Industrial Development Authority May 29, 2003 $16,155,000 Multi-Family Housing Revenue Bonds (Arborwood Apartments Project) Series 2003A GNMA Collaterlized (book entry). Dated Jun 11, 2003. Due Feb 20,...

Results of Competitive Sales.
June 2, 2003... ARKANSAS Nemo Vista School District No. 8 May 29, 2003 $1,270,000 Refunding Bonds (bank qualified) (book entry). Dated Jun 15, 2003. Due Feb 1, 2004 to 2020. Callable Aug 1, 2008 at par. Winning bid: Crews &...

Illinois Eyes $6 Billion Deal: Proceeds Will Aid Budget, Pension Funds.
June 3, 2003... Illinois, turning to the corporate investment-grade market to raise funds to help balance its budget and to restructure a portion of its unfunded pension liability, will launch an unprecedented $6 billion taxable general obligation pension...

S&P Lowers Debt Ratings At Airports: But Agency Affirms Continental Airlines.
June 3, 2003... Standard & Poor's yesterday removed Continental Airlines Inc. from CreditWatch and affirmed its outstanding ratings, but lowered the ratings for special facilities revenue bonds backed by the lease payments from the Houston- based airline at...

Voluntary Compliance Program Has Them Confessing to the IRS.
June 3, 2003... Thanks to its burgeoning voluntary compliance program, an increasing number of issuers are approaching the Internal Revenue Service to tell the agency when they may have done something to put their tax-exempt bonds in jeopardy of being...

The Digest.
June 3, 2003... Municipal bond yields rose between two and five basis points yesterday, while in moderate new-issue activity, underwriters priced $109 million of Frisco, Tex., combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation. Complete market coverage by...

Monday's Market: Muni Yields Rise 2 to 5 Basis Points; $109M Frisco, Tex., Certificates Priced.
June 3, 2003... Municipal bond yields rose between two and five basis points yesterday, while in moderate new-issue activity, underwriters priced $109 million of Frisco, Tex., combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation. Treasuries were mostly...

News In Brief: ISM Manufacturing Index Rises in May.
June 3, 2003... The overall economy expanded for the 19th straight month in May, while the manufacturing sector contracted for the third straight time, the Institute for Supply Management reported yesterday. According to the ISM's monthly report on...

News In Brief: Construction Outlays Slip 0.3% in April.
June 3, 2003... Construction spending dropped for the fourth consecutive month but is still above last April's figure. Construction spending fell by 0.3% in April, Commerce Department figures released yesterday show. Total construction spending dropped...

News In Brief: Weekly T-Bills Go At 1.110%, 1.095%.
June 3, 2003... Tender rates for the Treasury's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were higher as the three-months incurred a 1.110% high rate, up from the previous auction's rate of 1.100% and as the six-months incurred a 1.095% high rate, up from...

News In Brief: Treasury to Sell 4-Week Bills Today.
June 3, 2003... The Treasury Department said yesterday it will sell $18 billion of four-week discount bills today. The four-week, or 28-day, bills will raise new cash in the amount of $12 billion by auctioning $18 billion to refund $6 billion of maturing...

News In Brief: Cash-Managements Draw 1.175% High.
June 3, 2003... The Treasury yesterday sold $24 billion, two-day cash management bills, dated June 3, due June 5 at a 1.175% high tender rate. The bid-to-cover ratio was 2.35. The coupon equivalent was 1.281%. The price was 99.993. The low bid was 1.150%....

California to Meet Cash Needs With $11 Billion in Raws.
June 3, 2003... California expects to sell $11 billion in revenue anticipation warrants on June 11, with ratings on the record-setting issue to appear in the next few days. Proceeds will meet the state's near-term cash needs as it faces a $38 billion...

Texas Legislature OKs $117B Budget That Strengthens Disclosure Statutes.
June 3, 2003... Texas lawmakers on Sunday gave final approval to a $117.4 billion budget for the 2004-2005 biennium that allows the state to participate in the national Powerball lottery game and deregulates tuition rates for public universities. The...

Green Light for $80 Million in Liberty Bonds.
June 3, 2003... The board of the New York City Housing Development Corp. is expected today to clear the way for the sale of $80 million in tax-exempt bonds through the Liberty bond program for a 386-unit residential rental project at 90 Washington Street in...

Officials Mull NRMSIRs, Pro and Con, at Florida Conference.
June 3, 2003... Leon County finance director Bill Bogan had to include a disclaimer in the official statement for nearly $21 million of capital improvement revenue bonds he's closing on this Friday stating that he could not independently prove one of the...

Moody's Downgrades Tobacco, Once Again.
June 3, 2003... Moody's Investors Service yesterday downgraded the ratings by as many as three notches on $19 billion of municipal bonds backed by securitized tobacco payments made to states under the terms of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. The...

Bush to Nominate SEC's Atkins for Additional 5-Year Term.
June 3, 2003... President Bush has announced his intention to nominate Paul S. Atkins to serve an additional five-year term as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission. If confirmed by the Senate, the former accounting firm partner would serve...

The Trading Floor.
June 3, 2003... BB&T Capital Snags Franklin BB&T Capital Markets has hired John Franklin, former head of the senior living group at UBS PaineWebber Inc., as a managing director and head of its health care group. Franklin, who is based at BB&T's...

Deal in Focus: Rates Prompt TPFA to Pump Up Offering to $190 Million.
June 3, 2003... The Texas Public Finance Authority today will sell about $190 million of general obligation bonds in a deal that has been beefed up from its original size to take advantage of low interest rates to raise new capital and refinance debt to...

ARIZONA: Slap Shot.
June 3, 2003... Glendale recently won record-low interest rates on a $155.2 million sale of triple-A insured excise-tax revenue bonds to finance the Phoenix Coyotes National Hockey League arena. Because the bonds were sold while the yield on the 10-year...

ARIZONA: National Uproar.
June 3, 2003... Arizona municipalities make up half the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that seeks $1.3 billion from National Century Financial Enterprises and claims the defunct health care financier defrauded them in a Ponzi scheme. In the suit filed May 23 in...

ARKANSAS: Secession Skirmish.
June 3, 2003... Members of the school board of the Pulaski County Special School District last week said they would not allow residents of Jacksonville to form their own public school system without a fight. Members of the city want to defect from the...

COLORADO: Voucher Backers.
June 3, 2003... Several groups that favor school vouchers filed motions Thursday in support of the defendants in a lawsuit that seeks to kill a new state law that would allow low-income students to use vouchers to attend private schools. The Institute for...

OKLAHOMA: Trooper Savers.
June 3, 2003... Vehicle tag fees will rise by $2 to maintain the current number of state troopers on the highway under a bill Gov. Brad Henry expects to sign this week. Designed to overcome the revenue shortfall that would have forced furloughs among...

TEXAS: Invited Guest.
June 3, 2003... Just one month after offering his resignation to the Harris County Hospital District, former district president and chief executive officer John Guest abruptly decided to stay on at the district during a closed-door session of the board of...

UTAH: Charter Doubts.
June 3, 2003... The Board of Education is expected to reject applications for three new charter schools, citing concerns about special education, curriculum, and financial impact on local districts. A board committee has said it will recommend June 6 that...

South Carolina Preparing $90 Million GO Deal, Heavy on the Refunding.
June 3, 2003... Triple-A rated South Carolina will competitively sell $90 million of general obligation bonds tomorrow, most of which will be refunding debt, for an expected net-present-value savings of between 4% and 5%. The bonds will be sold in four...

Alleging Unauthorized Expenditures, Oklahoma May Fire Dam Agency Board.
June 3, 2003... Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry is considering a bill that would dismiss the entire board of the Grand River Dam Authority and restrict spending after an audit released in April cited nearly $2 million in unauthorized payments. The authority,...

Florida Agency Gears Up to Price Triple-A, $100M Water Deal.
June 3, 2003... The Florida Water Pollution Control Financing Corp.'s $100 million of uninsured revenue bonds backed by natural gilt-edged ratings from the three major rating agencies will go on the day-to-day calendar today. The Series 2003 pollution...

Market Indicators.
June 3, 2003... Dollar amounts are in millions Day's 2003 2003 Daily Yesterday Change High Date Low Date Municipal Bond Index 113-25 -9/32 114-17 (5/23) 107-26 (1/9) 40 Average Dollar Price 103.82...

U.S. Securities Prices.
June 3, 2003... Prices as of 3:45 p.m. EST. Source: GovPx Inc. Treasury Bills Yesterday's Prev. Day's Yesterday's (in percent of discount) Bid/Offer Bid/Offer Bid Yield 1M -- 6/26/2003 1.145/140 1.145/140 1.165 3M...

Short-Term Tax-Exempt Yields.
June 3, 2003... Jun 2, 2003 May 30, 2003 Jun 3, 2002 Selected MIG-1/SP-1+ Notes California Rans 2 1/2s (MIG-2) (June 03) 1.40 1.55 1.45 Los Angeles Co Trans 3s (June 03) 1.05 0.90 1.40 Texas Trans 2 3/4s (Aug 03) 1.00 1.00...

Municipal Market Data General Obligation Yields.
June 3, 2003... Aaa Aaa (pure) (ins) Aa A Baa 2004 0.98 1.00 1.01 1.20 1.53 2008 2.11 2.21 2.19 2.48 3.00 2013 3.13 3.24 3.22 3.54 4.02 2018 3.75 3.87 3.85 4.15 4.62...