This week saw mixed news for investors, as markets hit all-time highs on Tuesday, before selling off on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning. Wal-Mart was one of the main forces behind the stock sell-off on Thursday, as the discount retail bellwether reported first quarter earnings that missed estimates and provided lackluster guidance for the remainder of 2014. Wal-Mart reported lower sales growth for the quarter, marking its fifth consecutive quarterly sales decline. Positive macro news hit the markets Friday morning, as both April Housing Starts and Building Permits beat analysts' estimates. April Housing Starts came in at 1,072,000 versus the expected 980,00, while Building Permits came in at 1,080,000 versus the expected 1,010,000. Housing Starts showed a 26.4% growth over last year's April figure and Building Permits grew 3.8% from last year. This is good news for investors, as it shows concrete improvement in an important sector of the market. There was also good news on the jobs front, as Initial Jobless Claims came in well below expectations of 320,000 at 297,000. In the bond markets, 10-Year Treasury yields sunk this week to 2.5, after finishing on Monday at 2.66. Below, we look at all of Moody's municipal bond upgrades and downgrades from the past week.

Upgrades

• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, TN: Moody's upgraded this hospital to Aa1 from Aa2. The upgrade to Aa1 reflects the substantial growth in St. Jude's balance sheet resources and liquidity, guided by strong fiscal stewardship.
• Tallahassee, FL: Moody's upgraded the rating on this city's $46.7 million outstanding parity Capital Refunding Bonds to Aa2 from Aa3. The upgrade reflects the consistently strong debt service coverage ratios afforded by the pledged revenues; the addition of a robust and stable new revenue source that itself covers maximum debt service; recent increases in most pledged revenues, several of which are levied on essential utility services; and satisfactory legal provisions.
• University of La Verne, CA: Moody's upgraded this university to Baa1 from Baa2. The upgrade to Baa1 rating is supported by a combination of continued enrollment and revenue growth, solid cash flow, and material growth in flexible reserves fueled by retained surpluses.
• City of Yonkers, NY: Moody's upgraded this city to A3 from Baa1. The upgrade to A3 factors the city's improved financial management, including new legislation giving city management greater control over the BOE finances. The rating also factors a financial position that is likely to remain slim, a manageable debt profile, and a sizable tax base that has experienced significant declines over the past five years, but is expected to benefit from planned development over the long term.

Downgrades

• New Jersey Municipal and School Qualified Bond Act: Moody's downgraded this organization's financing-level ratings to A2 from A1, and has also downgraded to MIG 2 from MIG 1 the outstanding Bond Anticipation Note ratings for the cities of Paterson and Trenton, as their takeout bonds are authorized to utilize the qualified bond act program.
• City of Golden Valley, MN: Moody's downgraded this city Aa1 from Aaa. The Aa1 rating reflects the mature and affluent tax base bordering Minneapolis (Aa1 stable) with declining valuations, taxpayer concentration, strong financial profile supported by conservative budgeting and the presence of ample reserves, and somewhat elevated debt burden that is expected to remain manageable.
• Norwalk City School District, OH: Moody's downgraded this school district to Aa3 from Aa2. The Aa3 rating is supported by the district's modestly sized tax base and below average income indices, healthy but steadily declining reserve levels, recent levy passage enabling structural balance over the next five years, capable management team, moderate debt burden and above average exposure to poorly funded cost-sharing pension plans.
• Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, MS: Moody's downgraded this airport authority to Baa1. The downgrade to Baa1 reflects expected weakening in the market position of the airport, due to the elimination of service by the airport's second largest carrier, Southwest Airlines. The Baa1 rating also incorporates the airport's importance to the regional economy, in addition to its strong debt service coverage and limited additional debt plans.
• Canisius College, NY: Moody's downgraded this college to Baa3 from Baa2. The downgrade reflects fundamental market challenges evidenced by declining enrollment exacerbated by heightened price sensitivity. As a result, revenue declined each year from 2010-2013, with further and more substantial declines in net tuition revenue expected in FY2014 and FY2015.
• New Jersey: Moody's downgraded New Jersey's General Obligation bonds from A1 to Aa3. The downgrade to A1 reflects the weakened financial position resulting from recurring revenue shortfalls and ongoing reliance on non-recurring resources that have deferred structural imbalances into future years.
• Manchester (City of) NH Airport Enterprise: Moody's downgraded this airport enterprise to Baa1 from A3. The downgrade to Baa1 reflects Moody's assessment of a weakened market position of the airport caused by operational changes of network carriers in the US towards service into dominant regional airports with larger aircraft.
• Crozer Chester Medical Center, PA: Moody's downgraded this medical center to Ba2 from Baa3. The downgrade to the Ba2 rating and negative rating outlook reflect the sharp and unexpected decline in operating performance experienced through nine months of FY 2014 (period ended March 31, 2014) and the expectation of a sizable operating deficit and extremely thin operating cash flow in FY 2014 that may lead to violations of certain covenants in bond and bank documents and provide very thin headroom to other covenants.
• Morehouse College, GA: Moody's downgraded this college to Baa3 from Baa1. The downgrade to Baa3 with a negative outlook is based on Morehouse's structural deficits, with insufficient cash flow from operations to cover debt service; ongoing enrollment declines; and weak liquidity with financial performance that will remain compressed through at least fiscal year (FY) 2015.
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, WA: Moody's downgraded this research center to A3 from A2. The downgrade to A3 reflects significantly weaker operating cash flow generation and weak debt service coverage due to two years of declines in grant and contract revenue.
• Bryan Electric, TX: Moody's downgraded this city's Electric System Revenue and Refunding bonds to A2. The downgrade to A2 reflects the increased leverage and debt service obligations owing to utility's debt obligations issued through the city to fund transmission related costs that will keep fixed obligation charge coverage ratios low at about 1.1 times.
• Manhasset Union Free School District, NY: Moody's downgraded this school district to Aa1 from Aaa. The downgrade to Aa1 reflects the district's weakened financial position following three consecutive years of reserve draws. The Aa1 rating further incorporates the district's large, wealthy tax base and modest debt burden.