Austria may have experienced a Chretien moment:
It is evident, but again that Austria must be more independent from the financial markets.
-Werner Faymann, Austrian Chancellor (translation by Bing)
Remember Chretien back in 1994? ‘We aren’t doing this [austerity programme] because the bond markets think we should! We are doing this because we don’t want to care what the bond markets think!’ or words to that effect. It was the only intelligent thing ever said by a senior politician about national debt. Ever. Until Faymann.
Wikipedia is going dark on Wednesday to protest the US Stop Online Piracy Act. Good for them!
It was a mixed day on light volume for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts losing 32bp, FixedResets off 4bp and DeemedRetractibles gaining 5bp. Not much volatility, with only four entries in the Performance Highlights table. As noted, volume was light.
| HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices Values are provisional and are finalized monthly |
|||||||
| Index | Mean Current Yield (at bid) |
Median YTW |
Median Average Trading Value |
Median Mod Dur (YTW) |
Issues | Day’s Perf. | Index Value |
| Ratchet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.0365 % | 2,313.2 |
| FixedFloater | 4.75 % | 4.12 % | 42,390 | 17.21 | 1 | 0.1502 % | 3,282.8 |
| Floater | 2.88 % | 3.04 % | 68,713 | 19.64 | 3 | -0.0365 % | 2,497.7 |
| OpRet | 4.96 % | 1.40 % | 64,744 | 1.33 | 7 | -0.0549 % | 2,490.5 |
| SplitShare | 5.37 % | 0.69 % | 67,217 | 0.90 | 4 | 0.1014 % | 2,605.6 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.0549 % | 2,277.3 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.42 % | -3.19 % | 88,986 | 0.09 | 23 | 0.0712 % | 2,204.6 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.06 % | 4.95 % | 145,292 | 15.52 | 7 | -0.3196 % | 2,393.5 |
| FixedReset | 5.06 % | 2.81 % | 207,306 | 2.40 | 64 | -0.0428 % | 2,375.5 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 4.92 % | 3.56 % | 191,542 | 1.71 | 46 | 0.0545 % | 2,290.1 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| BAM.PR.N | Perpetual-Discount | -2.08 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-01-16 Maturity Price : 23.57 Evaluated at bid price : 24.04 Bid-YTW : 4.95 % |
| BAM.PR.M | Perpetual-Discount | -1.51 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-01-16 Maturity Price : 23.79 Evaluated at bid price : 24.08 Bid-YTW : 4.96 % |
| W.PR.J | Perpetual-Premium | 1.02 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2012-02-15 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.66 Bid-YTW : -24.34 % |
| SLF.PR.I | FixedReset | 1.18 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-12-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.82 Bid-YTW : 4.31 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| BAM.PR.Z | FixedReset | 197,909 | Nesbitt crossed 75,000 at 25.95. RBC crossed four blocks: 29,400 and 14,700 shares, as well as 14,700 and 11,300, all at the same price. Nesbitt bought 10,000 from Scotia at 25.91. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-01-16 Maturity Price : 23.38 Evaluated at bid price : 25.92 Bid-YTW : 4.09 % |
| HSE.PR.A | FixedReset | 88,855 | Desjardins crossed blocks of 54,000 and 20,000 at 25.95. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-01-16 Maturity Price : 23.49 Evaluated at bid price : 25.87 Bid-YTW : 2.98 % |
| TD.PR.Y | FixedReset | 82,375 | TD crossed blocks of 50,000 and 30,000 at 26.05. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-10-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.07 Bid-YTW : 2.54 % |
| POW.PR.C | Perpetual-Premium | 80,619 | RBC crossed 79,500 at 25.65. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2012-02-15 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.55 Bid-YTW : -19.50 % |
| RY.PR.H | Deemed-Retractible | 48,743 | Nesbitt crossed 40,500 at 27.25. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-05-24 Maturity Price : 26.00 Evaluated at bid price : 27.10 Bid-YTW : 2.82 % |
| MFC.PR.G | FixedReset | 42,160 | RBC crossed 30,000 at 24.85. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.70 Bid-YTW : 4.52 % |
| There were 19 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| PWF.PR.A | Floater | Quote: 20.10 – 21.29 Spot Rate : 1.1900 Average : 0.9423 YTW SCENARIO |
| FTS.PR.E | OpRet | Quote: 27.08 – 27.60 Spot Rate : 0.5200 Average : 0.3356 YTW SCENARIO |
| GWO.PR.M | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 26.01 – 26.50 Spot Rate : 0.4900 Average : 0.3393 YTW SCENARIO |
| CIU.PR.B | FixedReset | Quote: 27.51 – 27.95 Spot Rate : 0.4400 Average : 0.2932 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PR.G | FixedFloater | Quote: 20.00 – 20.35 Spot Rate : 0.3500 Average : 0.2240 YTW SCENARIO |
| PWF.PR.E | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 25.36 – 25.80 Spot Rate : 0.4400 Average : 0.3214 YTW SCENARIO |