Treasurer Cahill Announces Results After Day Two of Bond Sale

Two-Day Retail Order Period Totals Close to $380 million

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 – The State Treasurer’s Office announced today that demand for Commonwealth General Obligation Bonds from individual investors continued for the second day of the state’s two-day retail only order period for Massachusetts bonds. The Commonwealth received another $53 million in orders for bonds on Tuesday, bringing the total order for bonds from individual investors to approximately $380 million. This amount is approximately $80 million more than the Treasurer’s Office had planned to sell.

“We had a strong response from investors yesterday that translated into today’s sale,” said Treasurer Tim Cahill. “To sell close to $380 million to individual investors in a single sale is remarkable and it underscores the demand for high-quality bonds.”

The original plan of sale was to sell $300 million in bonds to individual investors over a two-day retail only order period, followed by a competitive sale to institutional investors on Wednesday. However, orders for bonds on Monday alone surpassed this number, and the Treasurer’s Office increased the original size of the transaction to meet the increased demand from investors.

“The stronger the demand, the better the pricing on the bonds,” said Treasurer Tim Cahill. “This is a signal that investors continue to want to buy highly-rated paper such as the Commonwealth’s bonds.”

The Commonwealth will sell $250 million - $320 million in bonds competitively to institutional investors tomorrow, May 20^th.

The Commonwealth’s bond ratings are ‘AA/Aa2/AA’ from Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investor Services, and Standard & Poor’s, respectively. These ratings were affirmed by the rating agencies on Friday, May 15^th. For more information on the upcoming sale, please go to www.buymassachusettsbonds.com

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