Market Commentaries
Continuing Municipal Bond Market Volatility
December 2010Volatility in the municipal market was significant during the last quarter and we expect it to continue into the foreseeable future. The fourth quarter of 2010 was brutal period for total return oriented municipal bond investors. The Barclays Capital M …
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 …
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 …