Fixed income

Here's a fearless prediction: In the years ahead, bond investors won't enjoy stellar returns like those of the last five to 10 years.

In his more than 25 years on the municipal bond desk at Merrill Lynch and BlackRock, Peter Hayes has had front-row seats to some of the biggest changes in asset management, and in particular, how they've affected the municipal bond industry. He brings those to bear in his analysis for 2013.

Cynthia Friedlander has been named director of fixed income regulation in the member regulation division of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, FINRA announced Thursday.

Inflows to municipal bond mutual funds, while still robust, have fallen for a second straight week, to $871 million from funds that report their flows weekly.

JPMorgan's new callable commercial product is gaining momentum in the municipal market, receiving high demand from investors and catching on with others in the industry.

Wall Street is charging Main Street the least since 2009 to sell its bonds, giving U.S. states and cities an added boost as they borrow at the lowest yields in more than four decades.

Investors in mutual funds rushed to bond funds in 2012, shunning stock mutual funds.

The tax-exempt market continued to outperform Treasuries this week as new issues in the primary market were well received and the secondary market was active, pushing yields lower across the board.

Tax-exempt money market funds gave up two-thirds of the impressive gains they generated last week.

Municipal bond mutual funds recorded a second consecutive week of strong flows, as funds that report their flows weekly saw $1.44 billion in inflows for the week of Jan. 16.

A Securities and Exchange Commission member said Wednesday that many improvements to the municipal securities market can be made by the SEC without seeking regulatory authority over municipal issuers from Congress.

More municipal bond investors have shown an affinity for actively managed muni ETFs.

Inflows returned to the market for municipal bond mutual funds with a vengeance, at $1.55 billion for the week ended Jan. 9.

Net Inflows among tax-exempt money market funds were $6.18 billion in the week ended Jan. 7, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

In the shadow of the fiscal cliff agreement, the likelihood of comprehensive tax reform that would seriously damage municipal bonds this year has slightly diminished, according to a research firm and other market participants.

After another year of record low municipal bond interest rates, next year is expected to see a slight increase in yields, according to municipal research analysts.

Flows to muni bond mutual funds, though still negative, recovered much of their lost ground over the previous two weeks.

After months of rancorous fighting, Congress narrowly passed a last-minute deal to avoid most of the scheduled tax hikes and spending cuts and did not include a cap on tax exemption, allowing the muni market to breathe a temporary sigh of relief.

B of A Merrill Lynch ranked number one among municipal bond underwriters of long-term issuance for 2012, with a total of $53 billion. Among financial advisors, Public Financial Management retained its number one spot.

Market participants wonder if the Justice Department will indict more firms and individuals for bid-rigging of bond-related investment and derivatives contracts.