OLYMPIA, Wash. – It was a two-day buying frenzy. Retail investors snapped up nearly $90 million in Washington highway bonds Monday and Tuesday. It's the first time in more than 14 years that individual investors have had the chance to buy state bonds ahead of Wall Street.
In this era of "buy local," this was a chance for Washington investors to keep their money at home. State residents got priority status to purchase bonds backed by Washington's motor vehicle fuel tax.
The bonds will help pay for a series of state and local highway projects in the coming years. Demand was so intense, the early-bird sale was expanded by nearly $40 million.
State Treasurer Jim McIntire says there was clearly a lot of pent up demand.
"There are quite a few people in Washington state that are very interested in having the chance to invest in-state and invest in their local economy and see the future grow," McIntire says.
Eighty-five percent of the pre-sale bonds went to investors in Washington. They could purchase in increments of $5,000 up to a maximum of $1 million. They'll get interest payments twice a year.
Wall Street investment banks will bid for the remaining $650 million in bonds.
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