WSJ on VRDNs "New Monkey, Same Backs"
The article says, "[A]n increasing number of municipalities are being hit with sharply higher interest on their variable-rate demand notes because dealers of the debt are having trouble selling it." It adds, "With limited room on their balance sheets to hold the ballooning inventory of variable-rate demand notes, firms such as Bear Stearns Cos., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Morgan Stanley have bounced bonds back to 'backstop' banks or notified them that they may do so in coming days and weeks if their sales efforts continue to founder."
Also today, see MarketWatch's "The 15-minute tip: A money market tour".
Finally, note Bloomberg's "Moody's May Cut $27 Billion of Sigma Finance Debt" and Reuters' "Moody's says may cut Gordian Knot's Sigma".
