BFK News and Press, BlackRock Municipal Income Trust From 07/21/19

By Patricia Healy, CFA The positive trend of upgrades to downgrades continues. S&P reported on May 8th that upgrades outpaced downgrades by 2.39 to 1 in Q1 2019, which compares to 2.09 to 1 for all of 2018. In our monitoring of rating agencies' actions, this trend appears to have conti...

By Cooper J Howard When you buy a municipal bond, you're making a loan to a state or local government, for which it promises to pay you back an amount at some date in the future - potentially as long as 30 years in the future. How do you know if the municipality will be able to make good...

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Closed-end funds ("CEFs") rebounded in the month of June alongside risk markets after a weaker May. Discounts across the CEF space ended the month at -5.11%, about 27 bps tighter than on May 31. Z-scores continue to inch higher and rose to +0.75 from +0.58. CEFs have had a bit of a period of...

BlackRock Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: BFK ) declares $0.0535/share monthly dividend , -8.5% decrease from prior dividend of $0.0585. Forward yield 4.64%. Payable Aug. 1; for shareholders of record July 15; ex-div July 12. Press Release See BFK Dividend Scorecard, Yield Cha...

By John R. Mousseau, CFA The muni bond market has been on a tear so far this year. Not only have yields dropped, but they have dropped relative to US Treasuries across the board. The chart below shows where we are now and where we were at the start of the year. The big squeeze has been...

By Cooper J Howard The municipal bond market is off to its hottest start in five years, led by the lower-rated segments of the muni market. It may be tempting to chase returns, but we suggest that investors instead take a cautious approach and focus on higher-rated issuers during the secon...

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The municipal bond market continues to heat up, and while issuance volume remains low, some sales have crossed the wires. This week we shine a spotlight on a proposed Los Angeles TRANs transaction, as well as Intel Corporation Project-related Revenue Bonds out of Chandler, Arizona. ...

By Sheila Amoroso, Senior Vice President, Director, Municipal Bond Department; Daniel Workman, CFA, Vice President, Portfolio Manager; Jennifer Johnston, Vice President, Research Analyst; and John W. Wiley, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group Onc...