MUS News and Press, Blackrock MuniHoldings Quality Fund Inc

Rating agencies reported that upgrades outpaced downgrades in 2021. The decline in the stock market produced concern that pension funding may decline, and the rise in inflation may reduce benefits. The shorter bonds can be sold to take advantage of large outflows from mutual funds...

Interest rate volatility prompted another month of negative total returns. Below-average issuance was counterbalanced by a slowdown in demand. November could provide opportunities ahead of seasonal strength in December and January. For further details see: Muni Seasonal ...

Rising interest rates drove negative total returns. Supply and demand dynamics turned less seasonally favorable and acted as a headwind. More attractive valuations could provide near-term opportunity. For further details see: Munis Remained Tethered To Rates In September...

Modestly negative performance in August capped a robust summer seasonal period. Issuance exceeded expectations, resulting in less of a supply/demand imbalance than is typical. We maintain a defensive posture into the historically less favorable month of September. For furthe...

The US House Ways and Means Committee released their new 881-page tax proposal –there's some tricky stuff in it. If passed, the new top Federal rate in the US will be 46.4 percent, while the top capital gains tax rate appears it will be 31.8 percent from my calculations. NY...

While they may have become more common over the last 10 years, municipal defaults and bankruptcies still remain rare overall. The five-year all-rated cumulative default rate of municipal bonds throughout the study period (1970-2020) was unchanged at 0.08% and still remains very low. ...

The option-adjusted-spread ((OAS)) on the investment grade or high-grade corporate bond index, is presently about 95-100 bps better than the equivalent Treasury. As of last Friday, August 27th, 2021, the BBB OAS was yielding about 104 bp’s over equivalent Treasuries, which shou...

Last year, we were looking at distribution changes due to the COVID pandemic sell-off. CEFs distribute out most of their earnings as distributions, so they pay relatively higher yields. However, relatively higher yields mean that any downturn is likely to cause distribution cuts. ...

The muni bond market is complex, fragmented and in a constant state of change. It has more than one million individual bond issues outstanding, representing more than 50,000 distinct issuers. One of the biggest challenges facing investors today is finding the right bonds to buil...

The intensity of the income need only grows as investors move closer to - and enter - their retirement years. While diversified credit portfolios offer benefits, the potential drawdowns could be too much for some investors’ risk tolerances. For tax-sensitive investors, the ...