CHICAGO — When it comes to investing your money, there’s more than enough pessimism to go around, and nowhere is it easier to find than in today’s municipal bond market. Many state and local municipalities are facing the toughest budget problems they have ever seen. California, Illinois and New Jersey are among the states wrestling with money woes. Major cities such as Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Columbus, Ohio, are on a long list of municipalities looking at major tax increases and/or cutting of services and personnel as a last resort for rising above an enveloping debt crisis.
Marilyn Cohen, president and CEO of Envision Capital Management, describes the current bond market as “the biggest slow-motion train wreck I've ever seen.”