Market Commentaries
Black River Falls, Wisconsin
April 2014$5.225 Million Electric System Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2014 The Bonds are being issued for the purpose of refunding, on a current basis, the 2014 through 2030 maturities of the City’s Series 2010A Taxable Electric System Revenue Bonds (Build Am …
Detroit settles with UTGO creditors – BOND is Right Side Up! Still “Waiting for Godot”
April 2014By Ronald P. Bernardi Detroit Settles on UTGO Debt The family vacation photo that made its debut this past December, “Will Detroit turn BOND upside down?”, returns today, right side up. Last week Detroit reached a settlement with three bond insurers ov …
The Problem with Waiting for the “Fed” to Raise Rates
March 2014Following Janet Yellen’s recent testimony, many investors may just want to wait for Federal Reserve policy makers to raise interest rates before committing money to the bond market. After all, the fed funds rate has been held in the 0% to 0.25% range f …
The Problem with Waiting for the “Fed” to Raise Rates
March 2014By Jeffrey D. Irish Following Janet Yellen’s recent testimony, many investors may just want to wait for Federal Reserve policy makers to raise interest rates before committing money to the bond market. After all, the fed funds rate has been held in the …
2013 Municipal Bond Wēijī: Does Crisis Equal 2014 Opportunity?
January 2014The municipal bond market’s behavior in 2013 could be summed up by the old saying that the Chinese word for “crisis” – wēijī – is actually composed of two characters representing “danger” and “opportunity.” John F. Kennedy is credited for popularizing …
Will Detroit turn BOND upside down?
December 2013By Ronald P. Bernardi Will the Detroit Chapter 9 bankruptcy turn the municipal bond world upside down? A random vacation photo captured this concern fairly well. With such a big question looming over the market, let’s review the ways in which th …
Perspective and Strategy Discussion
December 2013Historical U.S. Treasury Bond Yield Curves Red Line = November 2003 (New, 30-yr. Treasuries were not being issued at this time) Orange Line = November 2008 Blue Line = November 2013 (current) Green Line = November 2012 Over the years, we’ve talked ab …
A Century of Tax-Exempt Municipal Bonds: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
December 2013“There are two kinds of people in the world, my friend: Those with a rope around the neck, and the people who have the job of doing the cutting.” – Tuco “the Ugly” (Eli Wallach), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, 1966 As the repeal of federal income tax- …
September Turbulence & Outperformance
October 2013Last month was a turbulent experience for the Treasury markets, though municipals have been able to sustain a relative rally. The catalyst to each ebb and flow of last month’s bond market has left our purview as the debt ceiling crisis and brinksmanshi …
August 2013 Commentary on MarketWatch
September 2013The Bernardi Securities August 2013 market commentary written by Scott Rausch, Outperforming the Madness of Municipal Bond Fund Herds, was mentioned in an August 30, 2013 blog post on MarketWatch as a market professional perspective on mitigating the c …
Continuing Disclosure Filings and MSRB Filing Tools
September 2013As many of you know, certain contractual agreements entered into under SEC Rule 15c2-12 (the “Rule”) require ongoing disclosures by municipal securities issuers. These disclosures may include financial information, operational information and event not …
Outperforming the Madness of Municipal Bond Fund Herds
August 2013Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one [i]— Charles MackayIt can be said that relative portfolio outperformance – and the overall security of pr …
2013 Mid-Year Municipal Market Update
August 2013The bond market experienced sharp, rapid adjustment in the second quarter — arguably the greatest since the fall of 2008. The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 1.63% in early May and finished June yielding 2.49%. As of June 28, year-to-date it had lost 2.5 …
City of Detroit Chapter 9 Filing
July 2013Below are several credit research notes related to the City of Detroit. Our goal with this commentary is to frame the relevant general obligation bond issue and clearly articulate our credit perspective. Detroit HAS NOT been on our firm’s li …
Colona, Illinois
July 2013$2.735 Million General Obligation Waterworks & Sewerage Alternate Revenue Source Bonds, Series 2013 The Bonds are being issued to finance capital improvements to the City’s waterworks and sewerage systems and to pay costs associated with the issuan …