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Oversold Yields: Is This The Best Investment Opportunity In Years?
Mike the PhD • Fri, Jun 14 • 21 Comments
From Stockton To Puerto Rico: What's Driving The Muni Market?
Matt Tucker • Wed, Apr 10 • 3 Comments
What Detroit And The Stockton Bankruptcy Mean For Bonds
Mike the PhD • Wed, Apr 3 • 11 Comments
Muni-Bond Outlook: Expecting High Relative Volatility Due To Low Yields, Potential Tax Changes
Morningstar • Wed, Feb 27 • 2 Comments
At What Tax Rate Are Munis Attractive?
Dan Morillo • Mon, Feb 18 • 2 Comments
As the Fiscal Cliff Looms, Investors Favor Munis
Matt Tucker • Thu, Nov 1, 2012 • 8 Comments
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
Wall Street Breakfast • Mon, Sep 24, 2012 • 76 Comments
Municipal Bonds For The Summer Season
Alpha Guru • Wed, Sep 19, 2012 • 2 Comments
5 Quality-Rated Tax-Free Municipal Bond ETFs
David Zanoni • Wed, Jul 25, 2012 • 2 Comments
Municipal Bonds: A Contrarian Play On The Fiscal Cliff
Skyler Greene • Wed, Jun 20, 2012 • 8 Comments
Top 10 Municipal Bond ETFs
David Fry • Sat, Apr 28, 2012 • 4 Comments
Forbes Low Cost All Star Lineup
MyPlanIQ • Wed, Apr 25, 2012 • 2 Comments
Muni-Bond Tax Exemption Under Active Attack -- May Be Limited In 2013
Richard Shaw • Thu, Apr 19, 2012 • 43 Comments
Touring The Muni Bond ETF Universe
Michael Johnston • Thu, Apr 12, 2012 • 1 Comment
Muni Bonds, Corresponding ETFs Off To Best Start To Year Since 1990
Tom Lydon • Fri, Feb 10, 2012 • 9 Comments
Comprehensive 2011 ETF Tax Efficiency Report Card
Michael Johnston • Tue, Jan 10, 2012
Time to Load Up on Muni Bond ETFs?
Matt Tucker • Wed, Aug 3, 2011 • 1 Comment
A Different Kind of Muni Bond ETF: Van Eck Debuts XMPT
Michael Johnston • Wed, Jul 13, 2011
U.S. State and Local Governments Facing Unprecedented Fiscal Strains; Outlook Remains Negative
Research Recap • Thu, Mar 17, 2011
The Looming Muni-Bond Meltdown: Profit From the Collapse - And From the Rebound
Shah Gilani • Thu, Mar 3, 2011 • 51 Comments

There are no Transcripts on SMB.

Build America Bond program resurrected

at MarketWatch.com (Feb 14, 2011)

SMB vs. ETF Alternatives

SMB Description

The Market Vectors Short Municipal Index ETF (SMB) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital AMT-Free Short Continuous Municipal Index . The Index provides broad exposure to investment-grade municipal bonds with a nominal maturity of 1-6 years.
See more details on sponsor's website

Country: United States

Key Info

In Your Portfolio: Broad U.S. Bond ETFs, A Guide to Municipal Bond ETFs and Closed-End Funds
Asset Class Performance: Bonds

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Sunday, June 16, 1:56 AM Detroit has become the most populous city to default since Cleveland in 1978 after it missed a $39.7M debt payment on Friday. Overall, Detroit intends to suspend payments on $2B of unsecured debt as part of the plan of Emergency Manager Kevin Orr to turn around the city's horrific finances. Other measures include demanding that unsecured creditors accept a haircut of over 90%, and cutting pensions for active and retired workers. 32 Comments [U.S. Economy, Top Stories]
Friday, June 14, 3:06 AM Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr is due to unveil his restructuring plan for the debt-laden city today to public labor unions, bondholders and bond insurers, including MBIA (MBI) and Assured Guaranty (AGO). Orr will reportedly try to persuade creditors to accept as little as 10 cents on the dollar for the city's debt. He has indicated that creditors would be far better off compromising now than taking their chances with a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing. 15 Comments [U.S. Economy, Top Stories]
Thursday, June 13, 9:20 AM Municipals (MUB) are a buy, writes David Kotok, noting an above-4% yield for very high-grade tax-free muni paper - a taxable equivalent yield above 7%. He suggests fixed-income markets (AGG, BND) have overreacted to the poor communication policies of central banks. "We are now lengthening duration ... If the market wants to give us bargains, our job is to take them." Some closed end muni funds at discounts to NAV: NIO, NVG, BTT, NPM, NRK, MUC, VCV, NEA. Comment! [Quick Ideas]
Thursday, June 13, 5:22 AM U.S. states are expected to end their fiscal year on June 30 with a combined surplus of $23.7B after taking in stronger-than-expected revenues. However, the future is more uncertain, as income this year may have been boosted by residents selling assets ahead of a tax rise. Going forward, states will also have to cope with federal spending cuts, an expansion of Medicaid, and increasing pension and retirement obligations. Comment! [U.S. Economy, Top Stories]
Wednesday, June 12, 5:31 AM Illinois had to pay a premium on the sale of a $600M 10-year sales-tax backed bond yesterday, with the yield of 2.94% 0.75 percentage point higher than triple-A-rated debt on a benchmark scale. The auction came after Fitch and Moody's downgraded Illinois last week due to its inability to address its growing unfunded pension liabilities. Next week, the state legislature is scheduled to hold a special session over the crisis, while in two weeks, Illinois is due to auction a $1.25B bond. Comment! [Global & FX, U.S. Economy]
Tuesday, June 11, 2:48 AM Detroit has a 50/50 chance of filing for bankruptcy, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr told a packed public meeting yesterday. Orr is due to meet with over 100 creditors, union leaders and bond insurers on Friday, when he'll detail his plan to overhaul the city's finances. Detroit's liabilities are estimated at $17B and it has a deficit of $386M, but it has enough cash on hand to see it through Q4 at least. Comment! [U.S. Economy, Global & FX, Top Stories]
Wednesday, June 5, 4:42 AM Jefferson County in Alabama has reached a deal with its creditors that paves the way for it to exit bankruptcy in what has been the largest municipal failure in U.S. history. Under the agreement, debt-holders will receive $1.84B out of the $2.4B that they hold, with JPMorgan (JPM), the largest creditor, to take a haircut of $842M. With a number of other local governments in distress, the case is being closely watched. 4 Comments [Top Stories, Global & FX, U.S. Economy]
Tuesday, June 4, 4:16 AM Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr intends to ask the city's unions and creditors for concessions as part of a restructuring plan for its $17B of liabilities. It's unclear whether the plan would avert bankruptcy or be used as a basis for a court supervised reorganization. Detroit has a $30M debt payment due on June 15, but Orr could reportedly decide not to make it. 1 Comment [Global & FX, Top Stories, U.S. Economy]
Monday, June 3, 4:20 PM Another Pimco income fund trading at a premium to NAV gets hit - today the Pimco California Municipal Income Fund II (PCK -4.9%). Today's decline still leaves it at a 12% premium to the end of May's NAV at a time when the average muni CEF is trading at discount. Three noteworthy ones: NUV, NPM, MQY. Comment! [Financials]
Monday, May 20, 12:30 PM The hot market for corporate junk (HYG, JNK) has pushed the yield on high-yield corporates (4.88%) well below that of high-yield municipals (5.22% nominally, over 8% on a tax-equivalent basis). The nominal spread of 34 bps is down from 56 bps a week ago as investors take notice of the anomaly. High-yield muni ETFs: HYD, HYMB, XMPT. 4 Comments
Friday, May 17, 3:55 PM The bear market in gold (GLD, IAU) has left three closed-end funds trading at abnormally large discounts to NAV, says Morningstar's Cara Esser: GTU, CEF, and PHYS. Likewise, a small selloff in municipal (MUB) paper has left these muni CEFs at attractive values: NXR, MYD, NXP. 2 Comments [Quick Ideas]
Tuesday, May 7, 9:39 PM While fears of widespread defaults in the municipal bond (MUB) market (perpetuated in December of 2010 by Meredith Whitney) have so far proven overblown, Moody's says a disturbing trend seems to be developing. Although only five defaults were recorded in 2012, that's more than four times the average yearly rate logged from 1970 to 2007. Perhaps the most notable thing about last year's five defaults: three of them were general government defaults as opposed to defaults on bonds tied to specific projects. The historical average for general government muni defaults: 1 every 4.3 years. 4 Comments
Tuesday, April 23, 9:29 AM Forecasts of "Armageddon" for the the municipal bond market (MUB) are terribly misguided, writes Randall Forsyth. Higher rates? Variable rate financing is only a small fraction of the market, and any increase would come from rock-bottom levels. Recent bankruptcies? They get a lot of headlines, but last year accounted for just 1% of all obligations. This year, just 0.6%. Comment! [U.S. Economy]
Tuesday, April 23, 5:53 AM San Bernardino's council has passed a budget that will allow the bankrupt Californian city to restart $1.2M in biweekly employer contributions to Calpers while continuing to renege on its commitments to its other creditors, including bondholders. Along with Stockton, San Bernardino represents a test case over who should get paid first when a municipality goes bankrupt - the public employees or the bondholders. (previous) 4 Comments [Global & FX, Top Stories, U.S. Economy]
Thursday, April 18, 1:34 PM A butterfly flaps its wings in California? Tiny Canyon Lake (pop. 11K) notifies CalPERs it wants out of the pension plan, and says it's ready to pay a termination fee to do so. Behind the decision is CalPERs' recent approval of a 50% rise in employer contributions over the coming years. "How many cities might opt out," says a bankruptcy attorney. "The issue here for CalPERs is if Canyon Lake becomes a trend." Comment! [U.S. Economy]
Friday, April 12, 2:46 AM San Bernardino in California has proposed restarting bimonthly $1.2M employer contributions to Calpers almost a year after the city suspended the payments, although it will continue to renege on its commitments to other creditors, including bondholders. The decision highlights the battle over who should take most of the pain when a city goes bankrupt - the bondholders or the public servants. Comment! [U.S. Economy, Global & FX, Top Stories]

David White
The tax break bill will turn out to be a big thing for enterprise and even SMB equipment sales. Should be a boost for Q1 and later.
1/28/11
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David White
Obama pumping small business stimulus bill. A good idea. We have needed this for the last 2 years. SMB's the heart of US business.
9/3/10
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David White
ADP jobs came out as -11K. But the Challenger layoffs were less. Hence roughly flat. SMB's are clearly hurting. Help from new bill??
9/1/10
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David White
Analysts keep saying RRE is stabilizing. Questionable. Also seem to be ignoring CRE. This may completely crash if no SMB growth soon.
8/9/10
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David White
CNBC saying no comparison now to 2008 re credit. Ignoring tightness of SMB credit. Very tight. Big co.'s have big $ caches now.
7/21/10
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David White
ObamaCare very hard on SMB's. May drive some out of business. Won't "create" jobs. Will cause job losses. CBO says more expensive.
7/14/10
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David White
SMB's have no money to spend. Big co.'s are hoarding money, not spending. Banks have lots of money at Fed, not lending. Contraction?
7/13/10
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David White
Reality: SMB's don't have a big ballot presence as an entity, even if they provide 50+% of jobs. Everything else gets priority. A mistake.
7/13/10
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David White
CNBC pundit saying we need to extend unemployment because of multiplier effect of that money. Helping SMB's would have a bigger multiplier!
7/13/10
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David White
Bernanke is still fretting about SMB lending. Jobs still a problem. Ditto RE. Market will rally until it decides to emphasize the bad again.
7/13/10
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