Muni Commentary

 This week we bring you the September 2017 DIVER Geo Scores and take a broader look than we have over the past few months. In addition to presenting the locations with the greatest moves year on year, we also present the top and bottom Geo Scores for States, counties and cities for September. Why the change? Based on feedback, it seems readers want to see not only year on year changes, but also the current status of States, counties and cities at both ends of the Geo Score scale.

 DIVER Geo Scores are designed to quickly communicate the overall economic health of a selected geographic area on a scale of 0 to 10. The Geo Score reflects the relative economic well-being of the location and is available for all States, counties, and approximately 350 of the largest cities. Calculations are released monthly and are based on multiple, meaningful economic and demographic data from the employment, income and housing categories.

Before getting started, we here at Lumesis send our thoughts and prayers to those impacted by Harvey. This week we bring you the August 2017 DIVER Geo Scores and a look at the SEC’s Beaumont Order.

DIVER Geo Scores are designed to quickly communicate the overall economic health of a selected geographic area on a scale of 0 to 10. The Geo Score reflects the relative economic well-being of the location and is available for all States, counties, and approximately 350 of the largest cities. Calculations are released monthly and are based on multiple, meaningful economic and demographic data from the employment, income and housing categories.

 This week we bring you the July 2017 DIVER Geo Scores and highlight a data point of concern – wages.  We also look at home ownership rates over the past quarter and year. As regular readers know, I have expressed ongoing concern over housing prices. Jane and Julie thought it would be interesting to test my concerns against home ownership rate data.

 DIVER Geo Scores are designed to quickly communicate the overall economic health of a selected geographic area on a scale of 0 to 10. The Geo Score reflects the relative economic well-being of the location and is available for all States, counties, and approximately 350 of the largest cities. Calculations are released monthly and are based on multiple, meaningful economic and demographic data from the employment, income and housing categories.

 This week we bring you the June 2017 DIVER Geo Scores and a look at population data for the 18-64 age group, aka the “working age group.” The numbers for the “working age group” may surprise (or concern) you.

DIVER Geo Scores are a measure of the overall economic health of a selected geographic area on a scale of 0 to 10. The Geo Score reflects the relative economic well-being of the location and is available for all States, counties, and 350 of the largest cities. Calculations are released monthly and are based on multiple, meaningful economic and demographic data from the employment, income and housing categories.

Last week, while everyone else was distracted by the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup and James Comey, the rest of us in Muniland were on the edge of our seats during President Trump’s “Infrastructure Week.” During the campaign, President Trump proposed a $1 trillion plan to repair the nation’s infrastructure. Five months into his presidency, and having as many major legislative achievements as Patrick Ewing has championship rings,[1] we thought “Infrastructure Week” would be a great chance for the President to offer more details on the one issue with bipartisan support in Washington these days.

This week we bring you the May 2017 DIVER Geo Scores and a look at State level GDP data.

DIVER Geo Scores are designed to quickly communicate the overall economic health of a selected geographic area on a scale of 0 to 10. The Geo Score reflects the relative economic well-being of the location and is available for all States, counties, and approximately 350 of the largest cities. Calculations are released monthly and are based on multiple, meaningful economic and demographic data from the employment, income and housing categories.

This week we bring you the April 2017 DIVER Geo Scores and takea look at our top and bottom movers in Geo Scores and how these locations have fared over the past two years. Depending on your feedback, this may become part of our monthly review.

DIVER Geo Scores are designed to quickly communicate the overall economic health of a selected geographic area on a scale of 0 to 10. The Geo Score reflects the relative economic well-being of the location and is available for all States, counties, and approximately 350 of the largest cities. Calculations are released monthly and are based on multiple, meaningful economic and demographic data from the employment, income and housing categories.

This week we take a look at the importance of continuing disclosure for Issuers of municipal debt and suggest some best practices.

 This week we cover two topics – Weekly Earnings, looking at the haves and have nots, and Pension Obligations and Liabilities. Alex Pendolino guides us through the Weekly Earnings with insightful analysis. We then offer a few quotes and a link to a commentary prepared by John Mauldin.

This week we bring you the March 2017 DIVER Geo Scores and take a look at housing at the State level. Given some of what we articulate below, expect to see a bit more on housing in the coming month.

 DIVER Geo Scores are designed to quickly communicate the overall economic health of a selected geographic area on a scale of 0 to 10. The Geo Score reflects the relative economic well-being of the location and is available for all States, counties, and approximately 350 of the largest cities. Calculations are released monthly and are based on multiple, meaningful economic and demographic data from the employment, income and housing categories.