Cartoon

Red Flags

Written by SK Ashby

(Cartoonist - Matt Bors)

In other news, five people were killed this afternoon during a shooting spree that began at the suspect's home and ended at Rancho Tehama elementary school near Corning, California. Some students were reportedly airlifted with injuries.

Thoughts and prayers, etc etc.

Meanwhile, Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke apparently wants to redesign the department's flags and emblems. They've been the same since 1917.

Finally, Bloomberg reports that municipal bond traders are preparing to vacuum up everything they can before Republicans pass a tax cut bill that may or may not raise their taxes.

The House of Representatives bill would require investors to pay income taxes on so-called private activity bonds, or PABs, which finance projects like airports, water facilities and toll roads, and do away with a frequently used refinancing technique known as advanced refunding. While the Senate version leaves PABs intact, the risk may push borrowers to act before the law is changed, Municipal Market Analytics said in a research report.

“It could be a huge end of the year,” Matt Fabian, a partner with MMA, said in an interview. “Issuers will probably begin to access the market shortly just on the risk. If they’re going to borrow next year they might as well accelerate to borrow now.

This doesn't sound reckless and chaotic at all.