Market Commentaries
Municipal Bond Market Volatility
November 2010Municipal bond prices endured a considerable sell off during the month of November, before showing a rebound leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. Four factors are key to understanding this volatility:Treasury weakness. Pronounced weakness in the Tre …
“In Municipals We Trust?”
November 2010Justin Formas, Director of Municipal Credit Research, summarizes the key points of the market update below. For an introduction to Justin Formas, please read the November 2010 President’s Letter. The United States municipal bond market has drawn a grea …
Credit Research Matters More Than Ever
November 2010As Bernardi Securities, Inc. begins its 27th year, we are acutely aware of the importance of understanding the credit quality of the municipal bond issues we recommend to our clients. We have long believed the bond portfolio research and management pro …
MUNICIPAL BOND MARKET COMMENTARY
October 2010Municipal bond prices declined in October continuing September’s price slide. Bond yields in the 10 year range increased slightly, approximately 4-5 basis points during the month. Recent elevated bond issuance levels coupled with waning demand should p …
MUNICIPAL BOND MARKET COMMENTARY
September 2010Municipal bond prices declined and yields increased during the month as the powerful bond market rally of the last several months subsided. This trend translated, generally, into negative monthly performance for most municipal bond investors. New issue …
Market Commentary (MUNICIPAL BOND MARKET UPDATE)
August 2010Municipal bond prices continued their move upward during the month translating into lower yields on new issues and current market offerrings. The bond price rally has been powerful over the last three months resulting in month end municipal bond yield …
Market Commentary
August 2010In response to the slowing recovery, the Federal Reserve announced yesterday that it would use yet another weapon in its arsenal to keep the economy from slipping back into recession. In addition to repeating its outlook of the last 17 months, that wea …
Municipal Market Update
July 2010In this video briefing, Ronald Bernardi summarizes the key points of the market update below.The three prevailing bond market themes during the first half of 2010 were alternately annoying and unnervingly consistent:1. Annoyingly low, nominal yi …
“The Cost of Waiting”
May 2010In recent months, we have often heard the refrain from investors, “I’m just going to wait until interest rates rise.” and, in fact, many investors are waiting for Federal Reserve policy makers to raise interest rates before committing money to the bond …
Moody’s Recalibrates
April 2010Moody’s recently announced it is changing its municipal rating scale to a uniform global scale. This change should occur by the end of April and will mean its municipal bond ratings will be directly comparable to the ratings it assigns to other bond is …
“Build America Bond Story”
February 2010In this two-part video briefing, Ronald Bernardi summarizes the key points of the President’s Letter below. The 2009 municipal bond market was much kinder and gentler than the 2008 version and, as a result, some investors are falling back into the …
“One Year Later – What is Different Today?”
December 2009Read Article
“All Roads Lead to Rome… or Should we say Washington”
May 2009Read Article as PDF Omnes viae Romam ducant. Tutte le strade portano a Roma. All roads lead to Rome…or should we say, to Washington? For that will be the exact route for state and local governments to travel to raise capital for local infrastructure pr …
“We have met the enemy and he is us!”
November 2008President_Letter_1108
“Market Fundamentals are Different Today”
June 2008Presidents-Letter-June-2008