MBIA Muni Wraps Upgraded: BTIG Says Reuters Misses The Point

Bond insurer MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI)’s National Public Finance Guarantee Corp. recent upgrade to AA- from A by Standard & Poor’s has caused some discussion about how much of a difference there really is between the two ratings for a bond investor. A recent post from Cate Long on Reuter’s MuniLand concluded that the possibility of default is probably too low to merit bond insurance. While he doesn’t disagree with her reasoning, according to bond analyst Mark Palmer at BTIG Research, it’s not the impact on investors that really matters. The MuniLand post imagines an investor who already owns bonds (or…