- There's typically not a whole lot of municipal bond issuance in December, but the tax bill debate has changed that this year. There's been $43B of paper issued through the first half of the month - the busiest pace since 1990, according to Thomson Reuters. Friday alone saw $8B of action.
- At the end, the agreed-upon bill eliminates the exemption on so-called advance refunding bonds, a move D.C. expects will boost federal tax receipts by$17.3B over the next decade. The exemption for private-activity bonds - removed in the House version of the tax bill - was placed back in during conference.
- The whole affair has created plenty of price volatility in muni markets and plenty of headaches for municipal treasurers, many of whom are trying to rush out advance refunding paper before the bill becomes law.
- Source: Heather Gillers at the WSJ
- ETFs: MUB, NVG, NEA, IIM, NUV, NAD, PML, NZF, PMF, VMO, LEO, EVN, KTF, PMX, AFB, BFK, VGM, DSM, NXP, BKN, EIM, PZA, XMPT, IQI, BLE, VKI
- Now read: Give Yourself A Tax Break With This CEF Yielding 6.48%
Original article