Municipals close unchanged ahead of holiday; Colorado, Columbus have big deals in coming week

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, July 3 - Municipals activity practically ground to a halt ahead of the July 4th holiday as market insiders and investors alike headed to the beach, traders reported early in the session.

With little trading and even less primary action going on, yields were unchanged by the end of the short session, said one trader.

"Everyone is gone, so there's not much to report," the trader said.

"It's a tough week to get anything done. The issuers just don't have the time to properly market their deals. I suspect volume will probably be a bit slower for most of the summer. I think issuers sold the bulk of their stuff over the past few weeks."

Colorado preps offering

Looking to next week, the State of Colorado leads new issues with a $500 million sale of series 2012A general fund tax and revenue anticipation notes.

The notes (MIG 1/SP-1+/), which are due June 27, 2013, will be sold competitively on July 10.

Proceeds will be used to finance anticipated cash shortfalls in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

Another major competitive deal on July 10 comes from the City of Columbus, Ohio, which is slated to price $447,035,000 of series 2012 general obligation bonds.

That deal includes $405,605,000 of series 2012A various purpose unlimited tax G.O. bonds, which are due 2014 to 2033, and $41.43 million of series 2012B various purpose limited tax G.O. bonds, which are due 2014 to 2028.

Proceeds from that deal will be used to finance transportation, refuse collection, parks and recreation, and safety and health projects within the city.

Miami-Dade deal set

Another competitive deal set for the coming week is a $290 million sale of short-term notes from the Miami-Dade County School District of Florida.

The notes (MIG 1), which are due Feb. 28, 2013, will be used to finance operating expenses for the district ahead of the collection of ad valorem taxes.

MTA organizes sale

Out on the horizon, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York plans to price $500 million of series 2012E transportation revenue bonds through senior managers Jefferies & Co. and Rice Financial Products Co.

Proceeds from the sale will finance commuter and transit projects.

The authority last came to market on June 28 with $1,263,365,000 of series 2012D transportation revenue refunding bonds (A2/A/A) through Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital Inc. and Loop Capital Markets LLC.

That deal included $1,013,365,000 of series 2012D bonds and $250 million of series 2012D-1 bonds.

The 2012D bonds are due 2015 to 2030 with a term bond due in 2032. The serial coupons range from 3% to 5%. The 2032 bonds have a split maturity with 4% coupon priced at 99.445 and a 5% coupon priced at 110.988.

The 2012D-1 bonds are due 2023 to 2024 with a term bond due in 2027. The serial bonds have 5% coupons. The 2027 bonds have a 5% coupon and priced at 121.973.

Proceeds will be used to refund existing transportation revenue bonds.

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