Calif. Market Close: Tax-Exempts Finish Mixed

Following news that Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that Bank of America will purchase Merrill Lynch & Co., the California municipal market was mixed today, despite the Treasury market showing steep gains and stocks tumbling.
“This is a bellwether day, and not in a positive sense,” said Richard Ciccarone, a managing director and chief research officer at McDonnell Investment Management LLC. “It opens the door for more problems that might be underneath the surface. And over the years, the financial markets have intertwined themselves with so many new debt instruments that a single failure has implications for many companies, so that seems to have become more intense in recent years.”
“If I told people at the beginning of the year that UBS would be out of the muni market, and that Bear Stearns, Lehman, and Merrill would also be gone, they would have had me drug tested,” a trader in New Jersey said.
To read the column in its entirety, go to The Bond Buyer web site.
Michael.Scarchilli-AT-sourcemedia-DOT-com
Jack.Herman-AT-sourcemedia-DOT-com

Market Close: Munis Mixed After Lehman, Merrill News

Following news that Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that Bank of America will purchase Merrill Lynch & Co., the municipal market was mixed today, despite the Treasury market showing steep gains and stocks tumbling.
“This is a bellwether day, and not in a positive sense,” said Richard Ciccarone, a managing director and chief research officer at McDonnell Investment Management LLC. “It opens the door for more problems that might be underneath the surface. And over the years, the financial markets have intertwined themselves with so many new debt instruments that a single failure has implications for many companies, so that seems to have become more intense in recent years.”
“If I told people at the beginning of the year that UBS would be out of the muni market, and that Bear Stearns, Lehman, and Merrill would also be gone, they would have had me drug tested,” a trader in New Jersey said.
To read the column in its entirety, go to The Bond Buyer web site.
Michael.Scarchilli-AT-sourcemedia-DOT-com
Jack.Herman-AT-sourcemedia-DOT-com

Market Post: Munis Mixed After Lehman, Merrill News

The municipal market was mixed today, despite the Treasury market showing steep gains and stocks tumbling following news that Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that Bank of America will purchase Merrill Lynch & Co.
Traders said tax-exempt yields were lower by about two or three basis points on the short to intermediate end, but weaker by as much as four basis points on the long end.
“This is a bellwether day, and not in a positive sense,” said Richard Ciccarone, a managing director and chief research officer at McDonnell Investment Management LLC. “It opens the door for more problems that might be underneath the surface. And over the years, the financial markets have intertwined themselves with so many new debt instruments that a single failure has implications for many companies, so that seems to have become more intense in recent years.”
To read the column in its entirety, go to The Bond Buyer web site.
Michael.Scarchilli-AT-sourcemedia-DOT-com
Jack.Herman-AT-sourcemedia-DOT-com

Market Post: Munis Mixed After Lehman, Merrill News

The municipal market was mixed today, despite the Treasury market showing steep gains and stocks tumbling following news that Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that Bank of America will purchase Merrill Lynch & Co.
Traders said tax-exempt yields were lower by about two or three basis points on the short to intermediate end, but weaker by as much as four basis points on the long end.
To read the column in its entirety, go to The Bond Buyer web site.
Michael.Scarchilli-AT-sourcemedia-DOT-com
Jack.Herman-AT-sourcemedia-DOT-com