September 30, 2007 — Traditionally, the shape of the Treasury yield curve has a positive slope; longer dated securities offer higher yields than shorter dated maturities. In normal market environments, this relationship applies to all yield curves such as the mortgage and corporate markets, where the yield spread over Treasuries increases for longer maturities. The main reason for higher yield or spread is to compensate the investor for the added risk of inflation and/or credit risk associated with the issuer. However, there have been times when the slope of the yield or credit curve has become flat or inverted. Typically, a negative yield curve (short rates higher than long rates) has been a precursor to an economic recession or slowdown. In this environment, a tight monetary policy and a flight to quality are a result of a projected slowdown in growth and inflation leading investors to accept a lower yield for longer dated securities. In contrast, the Municipal yield curve has been able to maintain a positive slope over time, in spite of the shifting shape of the Treasury yield curve.

June 1, 2006 — Over the past 24 months, municipal bonds have had a stellar run relative to other asset classes on an after-tax and risk adjusted basis. In addition to the municipal market’s overall return, the tobacco obligation bond sector has experienced double digit returns, while other sectors have realized comparatively lower returns. This extraordinary performance, driven primarily by event risk, had a significant impact on the Lehman Municipal Long Bond Maturity Index’s return. In this short report, we examine the recent historical effects of tobacco obligation bonds on the Lehman Broad Municipal Index

July 1, 2003 — The volatility of the markets can sometimes blur the relative value of good, steady performers in the investment universe. This phenomenon has been particularly evident with regard to the striking performance offered by municipal bonds in recent years. Indeed the cocktail chit-chat, which most employ to mark territory or illustrate success in the market, rarely contain stories about that municipal bond that really pushed it or that tax-exempt bond stash that took some lucky investor to the moon. But, it is well worth noting that in the midst of all the hoopla about equity’s returns during the last decade, muni’s have generated tax adjusted returns close to or better than many of the key equity indices over most time periods since the early 1990’s. Moreover, municipal securities have provided greater tax adjusted gross returns than the broad investment grade, high yield, and convertible bonds markets for most time periods during the last 10 years.