Municipal bond sales to reach 7-month high
State and local governments plan to sell $12 billion in fixed-rate bonds this week. The sales include Build America Bonds, for which the government pays more than a third of the interest expense. Michael Mundaca, the Obama administration's nominee to be the Treasury's assistant secretary for tax policy, wants the BAB program extended. "The future of the BAB program is the most important question facing the municipal bond market today," said John Dillon, a fixed-income strategist at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. "The landscape could be permanently altered by an extension and/or expansion of the program." Bloomberg (11/16)