Today is June 30, and that means tomorrow starts a new fiscal year for most states. Which means it certainly is about time for Meredith Whitney's forecast of 50 to 100 significant municipal defaults totaling about $100 billion this calendar year, to start kicking in. Let's pull up a graph of a Municipal Bond index fund for the last year and see how far it's plummeted:
Oh, wait ....
So your special midyear graph-reading contest is, on what two dates did the Pied Piper of Doom predict that "the shit may, indeed, be hitting the fan concerning ... the truly dire straits of the finances of at least some of our country's states and municipalities," and specifically tout Whitney's prediction of a "meltdown" above?
Hint: he at least managed not to bottom-tick the price this time.
P.S. As of the most recent data, state tax collections continue to surprise to the upside, although that still doesn't make up for the loss of federal assistance.
