Free Republic

The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Miami and its former budget director of securities fraud related to several municipal bond offerings. The city and Michael Boudreaux made materially false and misleading statements and omissions about interfund transfers in three 2009 bond offerings totaling $153.5 million, the SEC said in a statement Friday. Boudreaux orchestrated the transfers to mask growing deficits in the city’s general fund, the SEC said. The SEC in 2010 started cracking down on state and local governments for not providing investors in the municipal bond market with accurate information about pension liabilities. Since then, Illinois and New...

Recent headlines trumpeting staggering budget deficits in states and cities throughout the nation have stricken fear into the hearts of municipal bond investors. California's deficit has grown to an astounding $25 billion, while Illinois is grappling with a projected deficit that could swell to $15 billion. In September 2010, Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg, announced its intention to default on $3.3 million in bond obligations, before their bond insurer stepped in to bail them out. Crunch the numbers and it's not hard to see why investors are feeling nervous about how municipal bond issuers are going to make good on their obligations...

Budget shortfalls and subsequent muni bond defaults "could derail the recovery, cost a million public employees their jobs and require another big bailout package that no one in Washington wants to talk about," ... Gov. Christie does an excellent job of framing this discussion by pointing out the huge disconnect between the benefits of public sector employees vs. their private-sector counterparts. "I think the general public thinks, 'I can't believe anybody gets a pension anymore. I've got a 401(k). It got killed in the stock market. I don't know what I'm gonna do for my retirement. I can't believe people...

(Unable to post graph, sorry) That's IQI, a levered municipal bond fund. It yields 6.5% at present - totally unsustainable in today's ZIRP environment. At that discount (from recent price destruction) you're either getting the buy of the century or the portfolio is about to detonate in your face. Pick one.

When Warren Buffett speaks, it’s usually worth paying attention. This time, the Oracle of Omaha is voicing concerns about the ability of some battered local and state governments to pay off their debts. The idea of cities and states facing insolvency is alarming for sure, and Buffett isn’t alone. Moody’s recently assigned a “negative outlook” to the creditworthiness of all the nation’s local governments. The agency has rarely made such a sweeping generalization but said the magnitude of this recession warranted the move. The comments are the latest to have shaken the once-staid world of municipal bond investing. Traditionally, muni...