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S&P Removes Negative Outlook From California Muni Rating (BFZ, MUC, EVM, IIC, IQC, NUC, NAC, NXC, PZC, PCK, PCQ)

Administrator — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:34:55 +0000

Is California’s debt rating safe? Or is in the same boat as Greece? That depends upon whom you ask. Meredith Whitney would probably say it is not safe. Standard & Poor’s, however, is now saying something different. After a new budget passage we have seen that S&P has removed its “negative” outlook on the State of California.

The negative outlook is now listed as “stable” and it has maintained a “A-” rating for the state after the $27 billion or so budget gap was mostly filled. This is considered more of a stop-gap that balances the huge difference between expenses and revenues.

S&P even called the budget which Governor Jerry Brown signed as being mostly realistic. It also went as far as to say that the state will now get to issue its revenue anticipation notes. For investors seeking the high income of municipal bonds, this may matter. It was not that long ago that California was believed to be very much at-risk of other downgrades.

There is still some caution at stake because S&P noted some missed opportunities and noted that it does not adequately address many of its accumulated obligations from over the last decade.

This is far from an upgrade. Investors should also consider that this “A-” is still the lowest rating of all 50 states. Some of the more liquid closed-end mutual funds that trade around the California municipal market are as follows:

BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: BFZ)
+0.9% at $13.50; 52-week trading range is $12.02 to $14.99

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Insured Fund, Inc. (NYSE: MUC)
+0.4% at $13.61; 52-week trading range is $12.-7 to $14.70

Eaton Vance Insured California Municipal Bond Fund (NYSE: EVM)
+1.1% at $11.87; 52-week trading range is $10.12 to $13.50

Invesco California Insured Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: IIC)
+0.1% at $13.32; 52-week trading range is $11.84 to $14.95

Invesco California Quality Municipal Securities (NYSE: IQC)
+0.8% at $12.23; 52-week trading range is $10.81 to $13.60

Nuveen California Quality Income Municipal Fund (NYSE: NUC)
-0.35% at $14.36; 52-week trading range is $12.18 to $16.08

Nuveen California Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund (NYSE: NAC)
+0.3% at $12.79; 52-week trading range is $11.50 to $14.50

Nuveen California Select Tax Free Portfolio (NYSE: NXC)
+0.5% at $13.20; 52-week trading range is $12.31 to $14.53

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III (NYSE: PZC)
+0.2% at $9.30; 52-week trading range is $8.33 to $10.56

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund II (NYSE: PCK)
+0.2% at $9.30; 52-week trading range is $7.90 to $10.41

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund (NYSE: PCQ)
-0.26% at $12.89; 52-week trading range is $11.42 to $14.30

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Bonds, Compensation, Corporate Governance, Dividend, Economy, Personal Finance, Politics Tagged: BFZ, EVM, IIC, IQC, MUC, NAC, NUC, NXC, PCK, PCQ, PZC

Media Digest (3/24/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:03:30 +0000

The head of Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) said that an ex-director leaked confidential information. (Reuters)

The prime minister of Portugal stepped down as his austerity plan was rejected by Parliament. (Reuters)

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) results are being hurt by slow TV sales. (Reuters)

Japan stocks stayed down on nuclear concerns. (Reuters)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) changed its search format and ad displays. (Reuters)

Oracle’s (NASDAQ: ORCL) results will indicate enterprise demand for IT. (Reuters)

The sovereign debt crisis grew in Europe. (WSJ)

Social media start-ups continue to have access to funding. (WSJ)

A shortage of electronic parts has slowed auto manufacturing. (WSJ)

Conoco (NYSE: COP) will sell billions of dollars in assets. (WSJ)

Personal income data by state shows how uneven the recovery is. (WSJ)

An investigation of the Deepwater Horizon disaster said a leak in a blow out protector caused the release of tons of oil. (WSJ)

The cost of the quake will be $198 billion over the next three years according to a new estimate. (WSJ)

The new US budget favors business and enterprise. (WSJ)

Retailers are restructuring prices to work for shoppers from sources like Groupon. (WSJ)

The CBS (NYSE CBS) Showtime unit will take some programs off NetFlix (NASDAQ: NFLX). (WSJ)

A number of Hong Kong IPOs will be completed despite uneven markets. (WSJ)

Banks and retailers are fighting for control of new cellphone e-commerce features. (NYT)

A lack of parts will idle Toyota (NYSE: TM) US plants. (NYT)

Investors made record bets on Japan ETFs. (NYT)

The Federal Reserve did not approve a plan by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to bring back its dividend. (FT)

China’s largest banks will have another year of record profits .(Bloomberg)

Nissan said the Japan parts shortage was serious.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: BBY, CBS, COP, NAC, NFLX, ORCL, TM, YHOO

California Muni Bond Funds Defy Hangman (AB, BLK, EV, MS, AKP, BCK, RAA, BFZ, BCL, BJZ, MUC, CEV, EVM, CCA, IIC, IQC, ICS, NUC, NVX, NAC, NZH, NXC, PZC, PCK)

247wallst — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:00:13 +0000

It seems that even the Governator is having a hard time saving California, and many are blaming him for the state’s ballooning budget deficit. The company is facing billions in deficits and the headlines around the web put the state only weeks away from a financial meltdown. The state entered another moratorium for foreclosures, yet ask anyone from outside of the state if they think property has yet to get dirt cheap there. There are probably 20 or so single-state closed-end municipal bond funds that investors own. These come from AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB), BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Nuveen, and PIMCO. Interestingly enough, most of these municipal bond funds are up on the day. This is also not the full list in the entirety of the California single-state muni funds and does not include the open-ended funds:

Alliance California Municipal Income Fund Inc. (AKP)
+0.15% at $11,34; 52-week trading range is $6.56 to $14.23

BlackRock California Insured Municipal Income Trust (BCK)
+0.27% at $11.19; 52-week trading range is $7.15 – 13.45

BlackRock California Investment Quality Municipal Trust (RAA)
+0.47% at $10.59; 52-week trading range is $6.80 to $12.52

BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust (BFZ)
+0.26% at $11.65; 52-week trading range is $7.35 to $14.54

BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust II (BCL)
+2.3% at $11.45; 52-week trading range is $6.85 to $14.00

BlackRock California Municipal 2018 Term Trust (BJZ)
-1.3% at $13.60; 52-week trading range is $9.02 to $15.49

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Insured Fund, Inc. (MUC)
+0.55% at $10.84; 52-week trading range is $5.50 to $12.57

Eaton Vance California Municipal Income Trust (CEV)
+1% at $9.99; 52-week trading range is $5.26 to $13.90

Eaton Vance Insured California Municipal Bond Fund (EVM)
+0.4% at $10.42; 52-week trading range is $6.22 to $13.70

MFS California Insured Municipal Fund (CCA)
+1.8% at $9.38; 52-week trading range is $6.09 to $11.92

Morgan Stanley California Insured Municipal Income Trust (IIC)
+0.27% at $11.23; 52-week trading range is Z$7.24 to $13.56

Morgan Stanley California Quality Municipal Securities (IQC)
+0.9% at $10.52; 52-week trading range is $6.75 to $13.77

Morgan Stanley Insured California Municipal Securities (ICS)
FLAT at $12.25; 52-week trading range is $9.95 to $15.00

Nuveen California Quality Income Municipal Fund (NUC)
+0.9% at $11.80; 52-week trading range is $7.44 to $13.65

Nuveen California Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund 2 (NVX)
+1.6% at $11.45; 52-week trading range is $7.25 to $13.21

Nuveen California Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund (NAC)
+0.3% at $10.83; 52-week trading range is $7.24 to $13.74

Nuveen California Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund 3 (NZH)
+0.65% at $10.55; 52-week trading range is $6.94 to $13.34

Nuveen California Select Tax Free Portfolio (NXC)
+0.4% at $12.21; 52-week trading range is $9.15 to $14.50

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III (PZC)
+3.8% at $7.97; 52-week trading range is $4.28 to $13.93

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund II (PCK)
+4.9% at $7.89; 52-week trading range is $4.25 to $14.17

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund (PCQ)
+2% at $10.52; 52-week trading range is $6.85 to $16.20

There is a very simple reason we did not include the dividend yields in these. Many have seen very sporadic dividend yields and these change often from month to month. In certain extreme cases, the dividends can also be skipped.

It used to be that you could buy the insured municipal funds with no perceived risk. But in today’s world, the questions loom about how much strength the insurer for the single muni issuers has. Too many got hung up in mortgage insurance woes.

Jon C. Ogg
June 16, 2009

Posted in Bonds, Dividend, Mutual Funds, Politics Tagged: AB, AKP, BCK, BCL, BFZ, BJZ, BLK, CCA, CEV, EV, EVM, ICS, IIC, IQC, MS, MUC, NAC, NUC, NVX, NXC, NZH, PCK, PZC, RAA

California Crisis & California Muni Funds (BCK, BFZ, BCL, BJZ, BZA, MYC, CEV, EVM, CCA, IIC, NAC, NQC, NCA, NVC, PCQ, PCK, VCV)

247wallst — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:39:51 +0000

With ‘the Governator’ saying California is on the verge of financial Armageddon, there is concern about billions of investor dollars in municipal bond funds. This raises many questions about that sustainability of municipal bonds that are issued specifically in California, which are widely held by closed-end funds (and open-end mutual funds). There are many California-only closed-end funds that trade actively. Keep in mind that some funds have seen dividend interruptions and others may based upon discount to net asset values and an inability from some funds to pay dividend series.

We have outlined some of the many California funds and sorted the screened funds by name and ticker, with prices, 52-week trading ranges, indicated dividend yield (some suspended), and by market cap.

Name (Ticker)
Price 52-week range Yield Mkt Cap
BlackRock California Insured Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: BCK)
$8.50 $7.15 – $15.05 7.80% $44.8M

BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: BFZ)
$8.80 $7.84 – $16.51 9.60% $133.1M

BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust II (AMEX: BCL)
$7.90 $6.85 – $15.26 8.60% $63.2M

BlackRock California Municipal 2018 Term Trust (NYSE: BJZ)
$11.95 $9.02 – $16.05 6.10% $76.8M

BlackRock California Municipal Bond Trust (NYSE: BZA)
$8.65 $7.66 – $17.35 9.20% $29.5M

Blackrock MuniYield California Fund, Inc. (NYSE: MYC)
$7.89 $6.91 – $14.00 8.30% $168M

Eaton Vance California Municipal Income Trust (AMEX: CEV)
$6.51 $5.26 – $14.65 10.30% $46.7M

Eaton Vance Insured California Municipal Bond Fund (AMEX: EVM)
$7.00 $6.26 – $14.94 10.60% $151.7M

MFS California Insured Municipal Fund (AMEX: CCA)
$7.75 $7.41 – $12.45 8.40% $21.55M

Morgan Stanley California Insured Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: IIC)
$8.69 $7.24 – $14.75 7.20% $92.6M

Nuveen California Dividend Advantage Municipal Fund (NYSE: NAC)
$8.35 $7.55 – $14.84 8.90% $196M

Nuveen California Investment Quality Municipal Fund Inc. (NYSE: NQC)
$8.14 $6.19 – $14.25 9.00% $110.5M

Nuveen California Municipal Value Fund Inc. (NYSE: NCA)
$8.05 $6.05 – $9.92 7.30% $203.2M

Nuveen California Select Quality Municipal Fund Inc. (NYSE: NVC)
$8.25 $7.00 – $14.17 10.7% $190.8M

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund (NYSE: PCQ)
$8.06 $7.50 – $16.65 11.20% $145.9M

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund II (NYSE: PCK)
$4.69 $4.25 – $14.93 17.4% $143.3M

Van Kampen California Value Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: VCV)
$7.14 $6.69 – $16.10 $12.1% $156.8M

As a reminder, these dividends are high because of plummeting shareprices and the concern that the dividends will be cut off if they havenot already been altered. Many of these dividends are in the processof being cut or delayed due to regulations on closed-end funds. Thereis also an issue about the "insured municipal" status now that the bondinsurers are in their own crisis mode.

It is unfortunate, but many retirees and near-retirement ageindividuals own these bond funds and others as they had been buyingfunds which offer tax-free income.

The prices here are at a major inflection point. It is similar tobeing on the verge of collapse. If California gets some sort of itsown bailout, imagine a new "CARP" fund in Congress, then these willskyrocket. No such plan is known. Some of the holdings in these fundsmay now resemble the pricing of CDO’s with a range of $0.10 to $0.25 onthe dollar, but with the same problem of indications only and no buyersnor any sellers.

Jon C. Ogg
December 11, 2008

Posted in Bonds, Economy Tagged: BCK, BCL, BFZ, BJZ, BZA, CCA, CEV, EVM, IIC, MYC, NAC, NCA, NQC, NVC, PCK, PCQ, VCV