Municipal Finance – For Practitioners

Tax-Offset Municipal Securities
The Bond Buyer (July 9, 2012)
A superior alternative to insured municipal bonds

Rethinking TIC Calculation - Introducing TIC+
The IPREO MuniNewsletter (June 2012)
True Interest Cost that incorporates option value

The Allure of 5% Bonds: Coupon Levitation Creates Magical Savings
The Bond Buyer (January 27, 2012)
Investors love them, but do 5% bonds make sense for the issuer?

SEC Testimony on Municipal Swaps
Birmingham, Alabama, July 29, 2011
Wall Street’s $20 billion hidden tax on municipalities

Call to Issuers: You Pay for Your Options; Why Not Use Them Wisely?
GFOAToday (May 23, 2011)
Municipal refunding practice tends to be wasteful
Do it right using the Bond Buyer Online's Advance Refunding Calculator

Refunding by Rule-of-Thumb: A County Finance Fable
The Bond Buyer (March 25, 2011)
A tongue-in-cheek look at refunding practices

What Makes Muni Swaps So Special?
The Bond Buyer (February 4, 2011)
Municipalities are always overcharged

Making Sense of the Make-Whole Call, From its Origins to BABs
The Bond Buyer (July 26, 2010)
Why investors don’t charge for make-whole calls

Making the Right Call
Credit (October 2010)
Explains contemporary refunding theory
Do it right using the Bond Buyer Online's Advance Refunding Calculator

Ratcheting the Goose That Lays Golden Eggs
The Bond Buyer (May 22, 2009)
Ratchet bonds would eliminate inefficient refundings

Build America Bonds: Seeking the Missing Option
The Bond Buyer (May 11, 2009)
Taxable bonds awaken municipalities to the cost and value of the call option

What Makes the Municipal Yield Curve Rise?
The Journal of Fixed Income (Winter 2008)
Because the yields are of callable bonds
Related Analytics: iteRate™

The Right Discount Rate Can Save Your Life
Financial Engineering News (January/February 2007)
Municipalities should value tax-exempt liabilities using their taxable rates

The Timing of Advance Refunding of Tax-Exempt Municipal Bonds
Municipal Finance Journal (Summer 1998)
Advance refunding should be decided by comparing the savings from refunding to the option value of the bond
Do it right using the Bond Buyer Online's Advance Refunding Calculator

Refunding Tax-Exempt Corporate Bonds in Advance of the Call
The Financier (February 1994)
A case study for an electric utility tender for which AKA served as advisor