Читать книгу Handbook for Muni-Bond Issuers - Mysak Joe - Страница 6

THE WRITER THOMAS WOLFE once wrote a story called Only the Dead Know Brooklyn. The title was an allusion to the sheer size of the borough, which before its inclusion into the City of New York at the turn of the century was once one of the biggest cities in America.

In similar fashion, we have the municipal bond market, which is vast, and which is particular and specific to a remarkable degree. No one can know the entire municipal market. This book is an attempt to distill 16 years of experience in covering this most fascinating of all credit markets into a brief and readable format. I have had a lot of help along the way.

First, I wish to thank James Grant and Jay Diamond at Grant’s, who in 1994 welcomed me into their publishing family. Grant’s Municipal Bond Observer, a fortnightly magazine aimed at the trade, was born. In 1997, they further endorsed the idea of launching a special magazine aimed at municipal bond issuers: Grant’s Municipal Bond Issuer. It was not until I put together a fortnightly magazine that I really became a student of the market. Jim and Jay are thorough professionals dedicated to putting out first-rate products, and are also good guys.

There are not many municipal bond journalists, but I have had a chance to work with the best ones, including John Allan, Bill Ryan, Craig Ferris, and John McCorry. These were my teachers.

And then there are my colleagues, the former merry band who comprised the staff of what we then termed the Greatest, Most Elite Newsgathering Organization in the History of the World, now sadly dispersed. These include Jack Doran, Steve Dickson, Dennis Walters, Lynn Stevens Hume, Vicky Stamas, Karen Pierog, April Hattori, Keith DuBay, Sean Monsarrat, Patrick Fitzgibbons, Jim Murphy, Ted Hampton, Aarons Pressman and Task, Kathie O’Donnell, David Gillen, Sharon King, Suzanne Montanaro, Susan Kelly, Christina Pretto, Rob Taylor, Maggie Soares, and Joan Pryde. These people made it a lot of fun to come to work in the morning.

This book would not have been possible without the active assistance of professionals in the field: Jim Hearty, Gary Killian, and Spencer Wright of Lehman Brothers; Christian McCarthy of Merrill Lynch; Jim Lebenthal; Doug Watson and Fran Laserson of Moody’s; Vlad Stadnyk of Standard & Poor’s; Byron Klapper and Frank Rizzo of Fitch Investors Service; Austin Tobin of Delphis Hanover; Mike Ballinger of MBIA; J.B. Kurish of the Municipal Issuers Research and Analysis Center; Sylvan Feldstein; and Jack Kraft of the American College of Bond Counsel.

Not a few issuers have helped me over the course of the years, including Utah’s Ed Alter, Frank Hoadley of Wisconsin, Jan Rzewnicki of Delaware, Bob Lenna of Maine, and Joe Lhota and Mike Geffrard of the City of New York. Three former bankers, Mike Lissack, Steve Strauss, and Bill Wood, helped me on the reinvestment of proceeds and yield-burning sections.

Special thanks, too, to Steve Gittelson of Bloomberg Press – who during a party at Janet Sullivan’s asked, “Do you want to write a book for us?” – and to my editor at Bloomberg, Jacqueline Murphy.

The glossary is largely drawn from the book I wrote with George J. Marlin in 1992, The Guidebook to Municipal Bonds, which was published by The Bond Buyer. The book is not only out of print, but also out of date, which goes to show how fast things have changed in the municipal market.

Finally, I would like to thank some friends for their support over the years, including the aforementioned Marlin, Patrick Foye, Mike Crofton, Mark Reed, Parker Bagley, and Steve Gustavson. And finally I would like to thank my wife, Susan Merett, who is also my best friend.