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Reports on the plan of Wisconsin to sell a second general obligation bond issue. Similarity of the extendible notes to traditional commercial paper; Structure of the bond sale.

Reports on the white paper of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts for the application of the federal securities laws to disclosure in Washington. Encouragement of municipal issuers to provide bond-related information to investors; Establishment of a national gateway page on the web site of municipal issuers; Development of disclosure guidance.

Reports that fund managers in the United States are going after nonrated papers to diversify their portfolios. American Express Financial Corp. portfolio manager Paul Hylle's purchase of both high-quality and high-yielding paper; Nonrated papers purchased by Columbia Management Co. portfolio manager Greta Clapp.

This article reports that two issues of solid-waste disposal bonds totaling $58.8 million that were issued by Oregon for a paper mill owned by Georgia-Pacific Corp. have been formally declared taxable by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the company acknowledged in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Georgia-Pacific also disclosed in the same filing that the IRS is auditing $184.6 million in solid-waste disposal bonds that were issued for five other facilities at company mills in three other states, although it said the IRS had confirmed to the company that it is willing to continue to discuss possible settlements regarding those five bond issues.

Municipal strategists say intermediate securities, premium bonds with short calls, and investment-grade paper, top their holiday wish lists of must-have securities as 2014 winds down, while they forecast continued steady performance by municipals into early 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Announces the plan of Harris County in Texas to sell general obligation bonds within November 2003. Types of bonds include in the deal; View of Edwin Harrison, director of finance for the county, on the proposed deal; Projects that would benefit from the sale of bonds.

Reports on the mixed reaction of municipal securities repositories about the United States Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's (MSRB) proposal to create a Web-based centralized index that would list all secondary financial market disclosure filings by municipal issuers and borrowers. Points of contention in the proposed rules raised by the repositories.

Reports that the U.S. Federal Reserve Board proposed in October 2004 that it halt the processing of bearer or paper bonds and coupons for depository institutions by the end of 2005, claiming the service will no longer be cost effective and will cause the board to violate a federal law.

Presents the views of Howard Zucker, president of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, regarding the treatment of electronic documents. Necessity of providing treatment similar to paper documents under federal securities fraud laws; Request for public comments on issuers' liability for securities-related information posted on their Web sites.

Reports on Wisconsin's expansion of the use of municipal security in its debt program. Plans to sell transportation revenue bonds; Similarity of extendible notes and traditional commercial paper.

Reports on the plan of Cook County, Illinois to sell variable-rate bonds. Advantages offered by low interest rates offered on floating-rate paper; Uses of the proceeds from the bond issue.

Reports the release of a draft paper containing disclosure practices for variable-rate and short-term securities from the National Federation of Municipal Analysts in the U.S. Rule governing money market funds to be invested; Tax exemption of the purchasers of the securities; Restrictions on security structure, portfolio diversification and credit quality.

Reports that retail investors in the United States are avoiding long-term municipal bonds and putting their money into short-term and intermediate securities. Investors' purchasing of paper with short-term maturities while fleeing from long-dated bonds; Waning of the appeal of short-term securities to investors with the United States Federal Reserve's cutting down of interest rates.

Reports that American money market fund managers are less enthusiastic with securities coming to the market for 1998. Fund managers' wait and see strategy; Maturities pressure on reinvestment pressures.

The article presents the recommendations proposed by the Tax-Exempt Bond Recycling Coalition of the U.S. to regulate the use of solid-waste bonds. Drafted in May 2004, these recommendations aim to eliminate the no-value test and change the concept of solid waste for municipal bond purposes. They also assert the Coalition's belief that all regulations should allow tax-exempt financing for paper recycling facilities until the fiber is reconstituted into paper through paper machine processing.

Reports on Christopher Kersey's sale of extendible commercial notes in the United States. Future of money market investments; Variation of commercial paper; Foregoing of a bank's guarantee.

Reports that securities rating company Standard & Poor's Corp. is questioning the liquidity of extendible commercial notes, a type of note that allows issuers to unilaterally extend the maturity. Outstanding corporate issuance of the note; Analysts concerns on how the notes are priced; Potential problem of unloading the notes is issures exercise their option to extend the maturity.

Reports on the growing popularity of 15-month notes in bond issuers in the United States. Concerns of money market fund managers; Marginal impact of the notes.

Reports on money fund managers' shift towards shorter-term notes and commercial paper due to the shortening supply of notes in November 1998. Fund manager Janet Sehested's purchase of bonds that mature within the 13-month range as well as floaters and commercial paper; Portfolio manager Walter Beveridge's prediction of a tightening note market in August.

Reports on the demand for revenue bond offering from several financial institutions before the end of the year 2000 in the United States. Popularity of tax-free bonds; Details on the scarcity value offered by the New Jersey paper; Consideration of the incremental yields during credit pricing.

Reports on the plan of Massachusetts for a 650 million dollar general obligation bond issue. Appeal of bonds to retail investors; Structure of the planned bond issue.

Focuses on three general obligation bond offerings (GO) in the United States for the week ending February 22, 1999. California's $500 million GO deal; Amount of Massachusetts's offering; Rating for Maryland's $225 million offer.

Reports on the delay of the sale of Austin, Texas' water revenue bonds. Structure of the bonds; Uses of the proceeds from the bond issue.

Reports on several bond issues in the United States as of September 27, 1999. Includes Washington general obligation bonds; Seattle sewer revenue bonds; Alabama Public School & College Authority general obligation bonds; New Jersey Building Authority state building revenue bonds.

Reports on developments related to bonds in demand in the United States as of June 14, 1999. Concerns about the next move of the Federal Open Market Committee; Growth of intermediate national funds; Volatility of funds.

Reports on developments related to bonds in the United States as of June 10, 1999. New York City general obligation bonds; New Jersey State Turnpike Authority revenue bonds; Los Angeles Municipal Improvement Corp. Academy Awards project.

Reports that synthetic short-term securities continue to bolster the supply of tax-exempt money market-eligible paper, according to statistics compiled by rating agencies in the United States. Number of synthetic issues rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service in the first quarter of 1999; Ratings released by other rating agencies.

The article focuses on the application of a proposed change to Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's(MSRB's) Rule G-8 on books and records. The proposal was filed by the Board with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This would eliminate the requirement for broker-dealers to maintain paper copies of Form G-40 listing their electronic mail contacts. According to a notice from the Board, it will be effective on March 21, 2008.

The article comments on the financial performance of bonds issued by various companies. It adds further that municipal bonds remained static, but the market had firm underlying tone due to specific buying interest. While a $222 million Massachusetts special obligation gas tax revenue offering rounded out major new issuance for the abbreviated holiday week. Treasuries crawled into positive territory in the second half of the session, providing support to the tax-exempt market, where some crossover accounts, trusts departments and insurance companies were looking for specific paper to fit their needs.

Presents statistics related to short-term tax exempt yields in the U.S. as of December 7, 2001. Daily rate of return on commercial papers during December 5-7, 2001; Money Market Municipal Index of U.S.-based Lehman Brothers Inc.

Presents data on invisible supply of securities in western United States as of June 14, 2001. Alaska State Housing Finance Corp. revenue bonds; Los Angeles, California, Airports commercial paper; Washington State general obligation bonds.

Reports on the bond issuance of California and Texas in January and February 2001.

Presents a chart related to scales for negotiated bond sales in the United States as of February 7, 2000.

Analyzes trends in the money market fund sector in the United States, as of September 24, 1999. Impact of the California revenue anticipation notes on the market; Holdings of municipal securities by money market funds; Daily rates; Net assets of money market funds.

Reports on the bond issues in New York for the first week of September 1999. Interest on New York issues; Demand for paper; Preference for individual bonds.

Reports on the result of a $3.9 billion Texas tax and revenue anticipation note sale. Tightening of interest rates; Value in the secondary market.

The article reports on the statement of the people from the Ziegler Capital Markets Group that a wave of bond issuance from health care borrowers in the U.S. will hit the market in the coming months in 2008 as issuers try to convert their auction-rate paper. Officials said it is too early to forecast how the restructured debt will appear. Mark Baumgartner of Ziegler suggested that borrowers who plan to refinance should take their credit stories directly to potential buyers.

California Democrats and Republicans seized on the results of June 11, 2003's 11 billion dollar revenue anticipation warrant sale to advance opposing views about whether tax hikes are needed to close the state's massive budget shortfall. Not surprisingly, a poll shows Californians are frustrated with politicians and the state's 38 billion dollar deficit, but they oppose most plans to raise taxes to balance the budget and do not want to see services cut. Republican leaders pointed to strong bidding for the one-year warrants as evidence that California debt remains highly desirable for investors. The results of the sale dispel the notion put forth by Governor Gray Davis and others that a new half-cent sales tax is necessary to secure 10.7 billion dollars in deficit financing bonds proposed by the governor in his fiscal 2004 budget, according to the republican Dave Cox's spokesman Peter DeMarco.

Focuses on the concern of the Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities over the fate of the United States Office of Municipal Securities (OMS) and hyperlinks. Plans of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for OMS; Opposition to the SEC stance on hyperlinks; Application of securities laws to electronic disclosure, delivery and trading.

Reports on the bond issue of California. Structure of the bonds; Price of the bonds; Use of the proceeds from the bonds.

Reports on the Bond Market Association's (TBMA) opposition to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) stance on embedded hyperlinks in official statements. Call for the SEC to reject the concept of republishing in connection with issuer Web sites; Need for the SEC to provide greater flexibility to issuers and underwriters to conduct online offerings of municipal securities.

Reports on developments related to bond issues in the United States as of September 13, 1999. Includes California general obligation bonds; Florida Housing Finance Corp. multi-family mortgage revenue bonds; Arizona Student Loan Acquisition Authority revenue funding.

The article reports that the University of Missouri System in Kansas City will enter the market with up to 265 million dollars of Build America Bonds (BAB) to fund improvements at its various campuses and health care facilities. It mentions that the university is relying on its solid operating performance, the strong ratings of its papers, and Missouri's top marks to attract investors in a crowded market. It also mentions that the bonds are tentatively structured to mature in the year 2041.

The article reports on the several new bond issues offered to investors in the U.S. It includes new issues from plain-vanilla tax-exempt general obligation bonds and short-term notes to Build America Bonds, high-yield paper, and securities being converted from variable to fixed-rate mode. It offers information on the plan of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to issue $246.8 million of second senior Proposition C sales tax revenue refunding bonds in California.

The article provides updates concerning municipal bond market in the U.S. for June 2007. On June 25, the market was slightly firmer as market participants took advantage of the yield levels and followed the Treasury market rally. According to New York trader, the market is up about two to three basis points, it is feeling firm and retail is coming in and putting away some of paper.

The article reports that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a proposed rule change containing its articles of incorporation and bylaws. The articles and bylaws generally have been in place at the board since 1989. The MSRB would make more explicit its indemnification provisions for board members and employees.

Reports on the prevalence of the bond issues of charter schools in the U.S. Benefits of new laws aimed at opening the capital markets for charter schools; Rating of outstanding education revenue bonds; Interest rates for early charter school deals.

The article presents information on the recent developments in the bonds market of the U.S. Primary activity dominated the municipal market with the underwriters distributing $3.15 billion of sizeable new deals on May 25, 2005 while a technical correction in high-flying Treasuries pulled the tax-exempt secondary lower. After ticking higher in the morning, traders said long-dated tax-exempts finished lower in price and higher in yield by three basis points. Shorter-dated paper was less volatile throughout the session.

Reports on the plan of the city of Austin in Texas to sell five bond issues, including variable-rate demand bonds for Austin Water and Wastewater. Plan to swap the variable-debt to a synthetic fixed-rate in a forward swap with JP Morgan; Elimination of the city's last outstanding debt issued for water and sewer projects under the old covenant; Subordination of debt issued by Austin energy and the water and wastewater agency to the Combined Utility System's paper.

Reports on the increase in the number of state housing finance agencies (HFA) using interest rate swaps due to the decline in interest rates. Production by the low interest rate environment of a high volume of prepayments and compression between tax-exempt and taxable rates; Implication of the use of interest rate swaps to reduce rates on housing bonds; Use by HFA of commercial paper in addition to swaps.