CREDIT MARKETS

Treasuries:
Treasuries ended Friday lower, cutting into gains from the week, after the monthly jobs report wasn’t as horrific as some had expected. Prices seesawed after the U.S. employers cut 651,000 jobs in February. The market got little help as stock slumped, and players were a little surprised to see VIX volatility index measure rally after the payrolls were done. The government also revised January and December data to reflect higher job losses. The unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent, the highest in 25 years. Many investors were positioned for a much higher number, possibly as much as 1 million jobs lost. The Treasury Department will auction $34 billion in 3-year notes on Tuesday. That will be followed the next day by $18 billion in 10-year debt and $11 billion in 30-year bonds on Thursday. President Barack Obama’s administration is seeking congressional approval for a budget of $3.55 trillion for the fiscal year beginning in October. The week ahead is fairly quiet.

Municipals:
U.S. tax-exempt bond yields reached a five-week high as states and municipalities led by Maryland sold $5.3 billion of fixed-rate bonds this week. Maryland sold $491 million of AAA general obligation debt, including $292 million in its first offering targeted at state residents and other individual investors. Utah sought retail buyers for the first time as part of a $394 million sale of its top-rated bonds. New York state and Massachusetts’s AAA-rated Water Pollution Abatement Trust also borrowed this week. Several municipal borrowers boosted yields on new issues to entice buyers, especially at maturities around 10 years. Retail demand has kind of slowed, and yields have backed up. There’ve been plenty of deals to choose from on the high-grade side. The entire yield curve held steady with a slight increase of 1 bpt in 2017-2020 and a slight decrease of 1-bpt in yields in 2037-2039. The secondary market activity was fairly active NYC BLDG 5½ 1/33 ata 5.66-5.63. tfa 5.5 33 mkt 5.67-5.65; tfa 5.50 39 mkt 5.71-5.66; nys 5 34 mkt 98-98.125.

Commentary/New Issues

Corporate:
Nothing

ABS:
Nothing

Agency:
Nothing

New Issues larger than $250mm. The fixed income offerings mentioned above are for informational purposes only. Toussaint Capital Partners, LLC, member NASD/SIPC, and/or its affiliates may be a participant in the offering mentioned and therefore offerings will be subject to availability.
All statistical data is sourced from Bloomberg Financial Markets.