The Bond Buyer articles from November 2003

The Bond Buyer archives from November 2003

October Sees Sharp Decline In Volume: Rising Yields Rattle Long-Term Issuers.
November 3, 2003... Rattled by a gradual increase in yields, many issuers in the long-term municipal bond market sat on the sidelines in October, resulting in a significant year-over-year drop-off in new-issue volume. Borrowers tapped the bond markets for...

Trinity Health to Sell $284M Via Nine Issuers in Dutch Auction.
November 3, 2003... Trinity Health, a multi-state health care company based in Michigan, will bring about $284 million of debt to market this week with a Dutch auction of variable-rate new-money and refunding bonds sold through nine issuers in seven states across...

Colorado's Big Smoke: Gov. Owens Wants $800M in Tobacco Bonds.
November 3, 2003... Colorado Gov. Bill Owens on Thursday said he'd like to see the state issue about $800 million of tobacco revenue bonds to beef up programs and finance a start-up rainy-day fund. The Republican governor made the announcement as he took the...

The Digest.
November 3, 2003... Municipal bonds rose Friday catching a bid when Treasuries advanced in part on bond-friendly personal spending data. Complete market coverage by Nicholas Chesla and Anastasija Johnson appears on page 2 News THE BOND BUYER today named...

Friday's Market: Municipals, Treasuries Rise in Part On Bond-Friendly Spending Data.
November 3, 2003... Municipal bonds rose Friday, catching a bid when Treasuries advanced in part on bond-friendly personal spending data. Governments rose while equities ended mixed. Treasuries began their ascent when September personal spending fell 0.3%...

News In Brief: Chicago PMI Gains To 55.0 in Oct.
November 3, 2003... The Chicago Purchasing Manager's Business Barometer gained to 55.0 in October from 51.2 in September, the sixth straight month of expansion, the Purchasing Management Association of Chicago said Friday. The data is compiled on a seasonally...

News In Brief: NAPM-NY BCI Rises To 226.4 in Oct.
November 3, 2003... The New York Business Conditions Index in the National Association of Purchasing Management-New York's Report on Business posted a monthly gain in October, the second straight monthly gain in the index. The BCI gained to 226.4 in October...

News In Brief: Personal Income Up; Spending Falls.
November 3, 2003... Personal income increased 0.3% and consumption expenditures fell by the largest percentage in a year, dropping 0.3% in September, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Personal income increased $27.1 billion to slightly more than $9.27...

News In Brief: Consumer Sentiment Index Rose in Oct.
November 3, 2003... The University of Michigan's final October consumer sentiment index was at 89.6, up from the preliminary October reading of 89.4 and the final September reading of 87.7, and the final August index of 89.3, according to market sources. ...

A Correction.(Correction Notice)
November 3, 2003... A front-page story Friday misstated the amount of the fiscal 2004 budget for Cook County, Ill. Cook County Board President John Stroger introduced a $2.99 billion budget proposal. Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

Research Dollars in Mind, Oklahoma Mulls Selling Grand River Dam Agency.
November 3, 2003... Oklahoma could begin building a $1 billion endowment for research facilities by privatizing the Grand River Dam Authority, the state's largest public utility and leading debt issuer, according to a special economic task force appointed by Gov....

The Bond Buyer Announces Regional Deal of the Year Awards.
November 3, 2003... The Bond Buyer today named offerings that financed airports, housing, highways, pension obligations, and power purchases as the five regional winners of its 2003 Deal of the Year Awards. Five other deals, one from each region of the...

P.G. Corbin, Former VP Deny Calif. Water District Charges.
November 3, 2003... P.G. Corbin & Co. and Lennard Cuenco, its former vice president, are denying allegations that they wrongly told the West Basin Municipal Water District in Carson, Calif., that the interest rate swap it entered into in October 2001 was a...

Regulation: MSRB Revises, Reorganizes Guidance On Rule G-37 to Reflect SEC Changes.
November 3, 2003... The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has reorganized and revised its guidance on Rule G-37 to reflect rule changes that were approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year. The 22-page document, which the board...

The Week Ahead: Georgia and Arizona Deals Lead Sparse Issuance Calendar.
November 3, 2003... A few deals will grace supply-starved states in a sparse issuance calendar this week. Georgia, which carries triple-As from all three major rating agencies, will sell $485.2 million of general obligation bonds this week. The deal...

Commerce Bancorp Confirms SEC Inquiry of Commerce Capital.
November 3, 2003... Commerce Bancorp Inc. last week confirmed that the Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an "informal non-public confidential" inquiry into the municipal underwriting business of it subsidiary, Philadelphia-based Commerce Capital...

Trends in the Region: Maryland University System Cuts Bonding, Eyes Tuition Hike.
November 3, 2003... Maryland's continuing budget problems and recent cuts have caused at least one state agency to scale back its plans for future bond issuance by $30 million a year, according to state officials. Budget cuts have reached the state's higher...

CONNECTICUT: Courthouse GOs.
November 3, 2003... Gov. John G. Rowland last week announced $16 million in new state general obligation bonding funds for courthouse projects. Around $11 million will go to complete a parking garage at the Stamford courthouse, which was finished and opened in...

MASSACHUSETTS: Property Taxing.
November 3, 2003... Deep cuts in aid to cities and towns have led to significant increases in property taxes across the state, and more increases are in the cards, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation concluded in a new report released last week. Total...

NEW YORK: Dorm Deals.
November 3, 2003... The New York State Dormitory Authority last week gave preliminary approval to the sale of $114 million in bonds for Kaleida Health in the Buffalo area and will hold a public hearing on the deal today. The Dorm Authority also gave final...

NEW YORK: Power to the People.
November 3, 2003... Conjunction LLC last week published a public notice informing New Yorkers that it intends to submit plans for the construction of a high-voltage transmission line between upstate and New York City to the state's Public Service Commission on...

NEW YORK: D'Amato Probed.
November 3, 2003... The inspector general of the state Metropolitan Transportation Authority is probing a phone call made by former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato that earned him $500,000 and helped his developer client secure a loan to continue building the agency's...

PENNSYLVANIA: Airline Fight Brewing.
November 3, 2003... Budget carrier Southwest Airlines announced last week that it will begin service at Philadelphia International Airport in May with up to 14 daily flights, a debut which is likely to stiffen competition for US Airways Inc., which maintains a hub...

RHODE ISLAND: Clean Water Pool.
November 3, 2003... The Rhode Island Clean Water Finance Agency will be in the market this week with $68.8 million in revolving fund revenue bonds. The bonds, rated a natural triple-A by all three rating agencies, will price on Nov. 5 through a negotiation led by...

Moratorium on Internet Taxation Dies, But Could Rise Again.
November 3, 2003... The five-year-old moratorium that blocks states and localities from taxing Internet access expired over the weekend, but the Senate could begin considering a bill that would revive and extend the federal ban permanently as soon as this Thursday...

Muni Council's Plan to Choose One Central Facility Raises Policy Questions.
November 3, 2003... I am writing to follow up on your article of Oct. 20, 2003, regarding our request to the Muni Council to reconsider our original proposal for a CPO-only secondary-market disclosure system, "Council Rejects Post Office Bid by Fiduciary...

Pennsylvania Court Sets Hearing to Retire Debt of Defunct Health System.
November 3, 2003... A Pennsylvania court has scheduled a hearing for later this month on a settlement plan for the creditors of the defunct St. Francis Health System, which could lead to the retirement of around $97 million of the system's debt by the end of the...

Manchester, N.H., Prepares for Its Largest-Ever GO Issuance.
November 3, 2003... In what will be the city's largest general obligation sale ever, Manchester, N.H., will enter the market next week with $86.6 million in new-money and refunding bonds, part of which will go toward the construction of a new minor league baseball...

NEW-ISSUE VOLUME NOTES.
November 3, 2003... The new-issue volume tables are based on information compiled by The Bond Buyer from Thomson Financial's data base on Friday, October 31, 2003. All figures are preliminary and subject to revision. Long-term bonds have final stated...

LONG-TERM BONDS: January-October.
November 3, 2003... 2003 2002 Volume No. of Volume No. of Pct. ($000s) Issues ($000s) Issues Chg TOTAL $319,929,200 11,996 $296,194,900 11,860 +8.0 % January 27,023,900 960 21,790,700...

LARGEST ISSUES: October 2003.
November 3, 2003... Amount Issuer Date $2,084.0 Oregon (State), GOs (TAX) Oct 28 1,800.0 California (State), GOs Oct 29 1,033.6 Massachusetts (Commonwealth), GOs (NM/ref) Oct 1 760.0 Tri-State Generation &...

LONG-TERM BONDS: October.
November 3, 2003... 2003 2002 Volume No. of Volume No. of Pct. ($000s) Issues ($000s) Issues Chg TOTAL $30,106,700 948 $42,432,900 1,275 -29.0 % Development 778,800 12 467,200 55 ...

BOND SALES BY STATE: January-October.
November 3, 2003... 2003 2002 State Rank Volume Rank Volume Pct Chg Alabama 24 $4,125,700 20 $4,582,700 -10.0 % Alaska 37 1,514,300 38 1,415,600 +7.0 Arizona 17 5,307,800 10 6,835,100 -22.3...

Market Indicators.
November 3, 2003... Dollar amounts are in millions Day's 2003 2003 Daily Yesterday Change High Date Low Date Municipal Bond Index 109-31 +13/32 115-28 (6/13) 105-22 (7/31) 40 Average Dollar Price 100.17...

U.S. Securities Prices.
November 3, 2003... Prices as of 3:45 p.m. ET. Source: GovPx Inc. Treasury Bills Yesterday's Prev. Day's Yesterday's (in percent of discount) Bid/Offer Bid/Offer Bid Yield 1M -- 11/28/2003 0.945/ 0.945/940 0.961 3M --...

Short-Term Tax-Exempt Yields.
November 3, 2003... Oct 31, 2003 Oct 30, 2003 Nov 1, 2002 Selected MIG-1/SP-1+ Notes California Raws Ser A 2s (MIG-1) (June 04) 1.35 1.38 1.60 Los Angeles Co Trans 2s (June 04) 1.00 1.03 1.55 Texas Trans 2s (Aug 04) 1.04 ...

Municipal Market Data General Obligation Yields.
November 3, 2003... Aaa Aaa (pure) (ins) Aa A Baa 2004 1.05 1.09 1.10 1.22 1.72 2008 2.40 2.50 2.49 2.71 3.23 2013 3.68 3.80 3.78 4.07 4.61 2018 4.22 4.33 4.32 4.60 5.14...

Placement Ratio.
November 3, 2003... No. Total Amt. Sales from Placement New New Accts. New Accts. Ratio Accts. ($000s) ($000s) (%) 2003 10/31 12 354,828 348,738 98.3 10/24 22 1,068,534 1,037,689 97.1 10/17...

General Obligation Bond Prices for October 31, 2003.
November 3, 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 (A3/BBB/A) 10/1/02 4%...

Visible Supply.
November 3, 2003... Competitive Negotiated Total ($000s) ($000s) ($000s) Weekly Averages 10/31/03 1,958,692 5,349,593 7,308,285 10/24 1,655,445 8,275,862 9,931,307 10/17 2,104,109 7,206,416 ...

Municipal Market Yields.
November 3, 2003... Values at 10/31/2003 -- Basis Point Change from 10/24/2003 Aaa Aa A Baa 2004 1.04 -02 1.18 -02 1.39 -02 1.69 -02 2008 2.43 +01 2.58 +01 2.82 +01 3.10 +01 2013 3.73 ...

New-Issue Balances.
November 3, 2003... (,000 Omitted) * Since initial reoffering + Revised upward since last report Amount Date RECENT OFFERINGS Sold Balance $13,955 10/27 Northfield Ind. Sch. Dist. #659, Minn. $6,090 $3,410 ...

Reoffering Yields.
November 3, 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 10/21 67.7 Stamford, Conn. 0.95 2.38 SNA 4.27 SNA... .... 10/21 ...

Municipal Bond Index Update.
November 3, 2003... The list of bonds used to calculate the Municipal Bond Index was revised after the Oct. 31 pricing. The new coefficient is 1.0193. It was derived by dividing the Oct. 31 index (109.973999) by the average converted price of the new set of...

Municipal Bond Index.
November 3, 2003... Yesterday Previous Day Week Ago The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index 109-31 109-18 109-31 Friday, October 31, 2003 Maturity Par Call Dollar Conversion Converted Date Date Price Factor ...

Municipal Bond Prices.
November 3, 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...

California to Vote on Lowering Percentage Needed to Pass Budget.
November 3, 2003... California voters will decide in March if they want to make a major change to the state's budget process. The measure, called Proposition 56 or the Budget Accountability Act, would reduce to 55% from two-thirds the majority required in...

Competitive Bond Offerings.
November 3, 2003... Letter F next to the issuer's name signifies the Official Notice of Sale is available on the internet! Go to www.bondbuyer.com ISSUER ST DESCRIPTION AMOUNT ($000s) TIME OF SALE FINANCIAL ADVISER LEGAL OPINION MATURING...

Competitive Note Offerings.
November 3, 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, November 3 ...

Negotiated Bond Offerings.
November 3, 2003... Tentative dates for negotiated sales of $1 million or more. Please fax all pricing & award Information to 212-989-8442. Week Of November 3 Salt River Project AZ COPs 300,000 Goldman Sachs Public Fin Mgmt -- --...

Negotiated Note Offerings.
November 3, 2003... ISSUER ST DESCRIPTION AMOUNT ($000s) LEAD MANAGER INSURER MDY'S S&P FITCH FIRST APPEARED Week Of November 3 Nashoba Reg SD MA Bond Antic 3,470 First Southwest -- -- -- -- -- Oct 31 ...

Results of Negotiated Sales.
November 3, 2003... CALIFORNIA California Statewide Communities Development Authority Oct 30, 2003 $23,500,000 Weekly Variable Rate Demand Multi-Family Housing Revenue Bonds, Series 2003W (Vineyard Creek Apartments) Letter of Credit Issued by...

House OKs Stopgap Funding Legislation.
November 3, 2003... The House approved legislation yesterday on a 406-to-13 vote that would continue funding federal government agencies and the District of Columbia at fiscal 2003 levels through Nov. 7, as Congress continues to struggle to pass 10 remaining...

Capital Idea: Jackson Securities Boosts Coffers With Merrill's Aid.
November 4, 2003... Determined to continue to build on the legacy of its late founder Maynard Jackson, Jackson Securities LLC has announced a recapitalization plan involving Merrill Lynch & Co. that will double its net capital. The company announced late last...

Ill.'s Gamble Yields Mixed Results: Casino Sale Out, Building Deals On.
November 4, 2003... Illinois no longer expects to collect an estimated $350 million from the sale of a riverboat casino license during the current fiscal year, but officials expect that they will soon announce the sale of two major state office buildings that...

Mutual Funds Under Fire: Hit by Legislation, Enforcement, Regulation.
November 4, 2003... The mutual fund industry came under intense fire yesterday as lawmakers in the Senate and House vowed to move forward with reform legislation and federal regulators announced several investigations and enforcement actions spurred by abusive...

The Digest.
November 4, 2003... Municipal bonds weakened yesterday in thin trading pressured by declining Treasuries. Governments fell, extending earlier losses when the October Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index rose to 57.0 from 53.7 in September, which was...

A Correction.(Correction Notice)
November 4, 2003... Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings both rate Manchester, N.H., AA-plus. A story Friday on an upcoming general obligation bond sale incorrectly stated that both agencies do not rate the city's credit. Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All...

News In Brief: ISM Index Climbs To 57.0 in Oct.
November 4, 2003... The overall economy expanded for the 24th straight month in October, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the fourth time in as many months, the Institute for Supply Management reported yesterday. According to the ISM's monthly...

News In Brief: Construction Outlays Hit Record High.
November 4, 2003... Construction spending increased 1.3% in September, with both total construction and its major components at record levels, Commerce Department figures released yesterday show. Total construction spending was estimated at a record $910.6...

News In Brief: Treasury Estimates Record 4Q Borrowing.
November 4, 2003... The Treasury Department announced yesterday that it expects to borrow a record $117 billion in marketable debt during the October-December 2003 quarter and to have a cash balance of $35 billion on Dec. 31. The latest borrowing plans...

News In Brief: Weekly T-Bills Go At 0.940%, 1.025% Highs.
November 4, 2003... Tender rates for the Treasury's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were mixed, as the three-months incurred a 0.940% high rate, unchanged from the previous auction's rate of 0.940%, and as the six-months incurred a 1.025% high rate, up...

News In Brief: Treasury to Raise $2B With 4 Weeks.
November 4, 2003... The Treasury Department said it will sell $17 billion of four-week discount bills today. The four-week, or 28-day, bills will raise $2 billion in new cash by auctioning $17 billion to refund $15 billion of maturing bills. Copyright...

Monday's Market: Municipals Lower in Sparse Activity; ISM Numbers Higher Than Expected.
November 4, 2003... Municipal bonds weakened yesterday in thin trading, pressured by declining Treasuries. Governments fell, extending earlier losses, when the October Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index rose to 57.0 from 53.7 in September,...

N.Y. Counties Eying Deals for Pensions, Early Retirements.
November 4, 2003... New York counties are lining up a number of bond deals to pay for early retirement incentives to cut their payrolls. A number of counties and local governments are also considering the sale of pension bonds as they complete their financial...

D.C.'s Williams Supports Using City Funds, Debt for New Hospital.
November 4, 2003... District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams supports a District Council plan to use both city funds and municipal bonds to help build a new proposed $175 million hospital in the nation's capital that would be operated by Howard University,...

Schwarzenegger Taps Donna Arduin To Be California's Finance Director.
November 4, 2003... Cleaning up California's budget mess is going to be Donna Arduin's next assignment. Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger announced yesterday that he will appoint Arduin as his director of finance. She will replace Steve Peace, Gov. Gray...

Moody's: Tuition-Curb Bill Could Hurt Colleges' Credit.
November 4, 2003... Congressional efforts to curb tuition costs could hurt the credit quality of colleges and universities, according to a report released this week by Moody's Investors Service. Rep. Howard P. McKeon, R-Calif., last month introduced the...

Trading Desks: Raymond James Hires Goldman VP to Run New Short-Term Unit.
November 4, 2003... Raymond James & Associates has launched a short-term municipal trading desk in New York and hired Jake B. Plunkett, former vice president at Goldman, Sachs & Co., to head it up. The firm has also hired Peter Hoffman as an underwriter....

Trends in the Region: Cash-Strapped Governors Walking a Tax-Reform Tightrope.
November 4, 2003... Caught between a political rock and financial hard place, freshman governors in the Southwest are searching high and low for the middle ground between tax increases and lost revenues. In Arizona, Democrat Gov. Janet Napolitano is pushing...

ARIZONA: Reaching Closure?
November 4, 2003... Fears that Maricopa County will close its medical center unless Proposition 414 is approved today are overblown, opponents say. "Voters are being misled," said Michael Hunter, vice president of the Arizona Tax Research Association, a...

ARKANSAS: School Study Funding.
November 4, 2003... State Sen. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant, said last week that he wants to use federal funds set aside earlier this year by Gov. Mike Huckabee to finance a statewide evaluation of public school facilities. The cash -- about $68 million from a tax...

KANSAS: Fare Price.
November 4, 2003... Wichita will provide subsidy payments of $607,952 to AirTran Airways to cover the cost of providing service to Atlanta from May through September, city officials say. AirTran, Frontier JetExpress, and Allegiant Air at Wichita's...

NEW MEXICO: Mailing It In, or Not.
November 4, 2003... The effort to merge the governments of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County is off to a troubled start as polls show a possible defeat for the proposal and as the unusual mail-in ballot election encounters difficulties before the votes are even...

OKLAHOMA: Up With Smoke.
November 4, 2003... Oklahoma's Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Fund is well managed, with a market value of $137.2 million, an independent audit by the firm of Finley & Cook reported last week. "Clearly, the audit firm believes the Oklahoma Tobacco...

TEXAS: They're Not Talking.
November 4, 2003... The Texas Department of Transportation last week opted not to release to the public proposed rules about how the state would convert freeways to toll roads. Officials, citing a provision in Texas public information law that exempts some...

TEXAS: Light-Rail Vote.
November 4, 2003... Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said last week that he hopes voters will nix a ballot item in today's bond election that would give Houston's transit agency the okay to begin work on a $5.8 billion light-rail plan and let the county build a...

Busy Two Weeks: Dallas to Sell $337 Million in Two Competitive Deals.
November 4, 2003... In two of the largest competitive deals in the early part of this month, Dallas will take bids on $164 million of water and sewer system revenue bonds tomorrow and follow up next week with a $173 million general obligation bond issue. The...

Bridgeport, Conn., Issuing $89M for Projects, Refundings.
November 4, 2003... Kicking off a four-year capital improvement plan, Bridgeport, Conn., is selling $89 million of insured general obligation bonds today to fund various capital projects and to refund outstanding bond anticipation notes and GO bonds. The sale...

S&P Puts Michigan's AAA on Negative CreditWatch, With Eye on Shortfall Strategy.
November 4, 2003... Standard & Poor's placed Michigan, the largest triple-A rated state, on CreditWatch with negative implications yesterday and stated that how the state deals with a nearly $600 million shortfall will determine if the rating is downgraded. ...

Miami-Dade County Launches Year-Long Drive for $1.6B GO Vote.
November 4, 2003... Miami-Dade County last week launched a year-long effort to explain to voters why they should approve issuance of up to $1.6 billion of general obligation bonds -- the largest in the county's history -- during a referendum scheduled for...

Portland, Ore., Helping to Find Buyers for Troubled Minor League Beavers.
November 4, 2003... Portland, Ore., officials are seeking a buyer for the city's minor league baseball team due to the current owner's failure to pay rent for a stadium upgraded in recent years with bond funds. The owner, formerly Portland Family...

Newly Upgraded Washington Utility District Refunding $75M.
November 4, 2003... Douglas County, Wash., Public Utility District No. 1 goes to market with about $75 million of revenue refunding bonds tomorrow on the back of a rating upgrade from Moody's Investors Service. Moody's recently assigned a Aa2 rating to the...

Market Indicators.
November 4, 2003... Dollar amounts are in millions Day's 2003 2003 Daily Yesterday Change High Date Low Date Municipal Bond Index 109-23 -8/32 115-28 (6/13) 105-22 (7/31) 40 Average Dollar Price 99.88...