Dan Seymour

Most muni bond exchange-traded funds performed noticeably worse in the fourth quarter than the indexes they were designed to track.

Investors kept pulling cash from municipal bond mutual funds at a record pace last week as frightened money continued to flee the market.

The return of bank profitability, coupled with some of the provisions of the federal stimulus, coaxed banks to buy state and local government debt in the first half.

The Basel III bank capital requirements proposed earlier this month threaten to eviscerate the supply of eligible investments for tax-free money market funds — an industry already struggling with a severe supply shortage.

The unit investment trust has quietly blossomed into the dominant investing vehicle for Build America Bonds, the taxable municipal debt created under last year's stimulus legislation.

Closed-end funds devoted to stocks, bank loans and taxable bonds have taken a wild ride this year, but closed-end municipal bond funds have avoided the turbulence.

Investors pulled cash out of municipal bond mutual funds last week for just the third time in a year and a half, despite a strong week for state and local government debt.

Invesco PowerShares plans to roll out its second exchange-traded fund devoted to Build America Bonds, highlighting both the proliferation of municipal ETFs and the growing importance of taxable state and local government debt.

Charles Schwab Corp. has formed a partnership with Pacific Investment Management Co. to offer wealthy clients in or approaching retirement a managed municipal bond laddering product.