| Bonds Online |
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| 5/10/2013Market Performance |
| Municipal Bonds |
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S&P National Bond Index
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3.00% |
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S&P California Bond Index
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2.96% |
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S&P New York Bond Index
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3.13% |
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S&P National 0-5 Year Municipal Bond Index
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0.70% |
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| S&P/BGCantor US Treasury Bond |
400.09 |
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| Income Equities: |
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| Preferred Stocks |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index
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848.03 |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (CAD)
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636.26 |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (TR)
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1,701.05 |
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S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index (TR) (CAD)
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1,276.26 |
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| REITs |
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S&P REIT Index
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174.07 |
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S&P REIT Index (TR)
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425.30 |
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| MLPs |
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S&P MLP Index
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2,469.58 |
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S&P MLP Index (TR)
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5,428.50 |
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See Data
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N.J. leads nation in municipal bond downgrades |
Bloomberg News - Dec. 22, 2010
TRENTON — Towns and cities in New Jersey, the second-wealthiest U.S. state, lead the nation in bond-rating downgrades this year.
From Newark to Seaside Heights, home of MTV’s reality television show “Jersey Shore,” Moody’s Investors Service cut ratings on $1.7 billion in general-obligation debt issued by at least 24 municipalities in New Jersey this year, almost twice as much as the next-highest state, New York, according to a tally by Bloomberg News. The moves follow local-aid cuts by Democratic Governor Jon Corzine and his Republican successor, Chris Christie, who has also enacted a 2 percent annual cap on property-tax increases.
“It’s a great referendum on my fiscal policies,” Christie, 48, said of the downgrades on Dec. 16. “It says that we’re getting our fiscal house in order. When other states get their houses in order, they will see the downgrades too.”
Municipal bond-rating cuts by Moody’s this year also include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago, after the slumping housing market ate into real-estate values and assessments of property declined.
Across the U.S., local governments collected 1.8 percent less in taxes this year than in 2009, the Washington-based National League of Cities said in an October report. Revenue may continue declining into 2012 as governments lag at least 18 months behind the private sector in feeling the effects of any economic turnaround, the group said.
‘Downstreaming the Deficit’
In New Jersey, Christie has “cut back a lot to balance the budget, and one of the biggest items in those cutbacks is aid to municipalities,” Alan Schankel, director of fixed-income research at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, a Philadelphia-based broker, said in an interview.
“They’re downstreaming the deficit,” Schankel said. “The state starts out with a deficit; they close it and cut back in a lot of areas, but the biggest impact is on municipalities.”
Christie’s state has 566 towns and cities, 604 school districts and 21 counties, more local governments per square mile than any other, according to the New Jersey League of Municipalities. This abundance of entities with the power to tax and borrow in part contributes to the overall volume of downgrades, said Howard Cure, director of municipal research at Evercore Wealth Management LLC in New York.
The governor reduced state aid to municipalities by $446 million, or 23 percent, in his first budget this year. That followed aid cuts in 2009 by Corzine. Christie also signed a law in July that cuts in half the 4 percent limit on property-tax increases enacted by Corzine. The new cap takes effect in 2011.
For the complete article.
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