Municipal Bond News & Insight

• Why CDDs?

Ten years ago, about 8,000 residents lived in The Villages, an active adult retirement community an hour north of Orlando. Attracted by its virtually limitless amenities and idyllic weather, the number of residents today has swelled to more than 80,000, with still more room to grow.

• CDDs: Separating Fact From Fiction

The Orlando Sentinel recently published a few articles on Community Development Districts (CDDs) and financial challenges facing some of them. These articles, along with a recent article in the Fort Myers News-Press, cite a common source - who sells a newsletter on defaulted CDD bonds. Missing from these stories is much needed perspective and insight into real estate financing, and they contain a number of misstatements that we would like to correct.

• Bond Laddering: An Idea Whose Time Still Hasn't Come

Are you afraid of owning long-term bonds? That's what we're hearing from some investors, who are encouraged by their brokers and financial planners to construct short-term bond ladders as a hedge against rising interest rates.

• Moody's:State-Issued Debt to be Paid on Time

Despite a tough economy, debt service for state-issued bonds will be paid on time in the next fiscal year, according to a new report by Moodys Investors Service.

• Forecast Cloudy for Interest Rate Predictions

Who knows where interest rates are going?