There’s trouble in North Korea:
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un publicly rebuked officials for the “pathetic” management of an amusement park in Pyongyang in an effort to bolster his image five months after taking power in the totalitarian state.
Kim toured the Mangyongdae Funfair in the capital and pointed out a broken pavement and chipped paint on rides while plucking weeds, the official Korean Central New Agency said yesterday. Improving the facility should be “an opportunity to remove outdated ideological views from officials’ heads and end their old work-style,” KCNA quoted him as saying.
However, I understand that the Hall of Head Squeezing is considered a leader in its field!
It must be a lot of fun reading Greek newspapers!
Greece’s political leaders go into a fifth day of talks today to carve out a government with Evangelos Venizelos, the socialist Pasok leader, set to press counterparts on a proposal for a unity government that would avert a new election.
Venizelos, who received the mandate to form a government yesterday, said there was a first “good omen” since the inconclusive May 6 election, after Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis outlined a proposal designed to keep the country in the euro area.
“Our views are very close,” Venizelos said to reporters in Athens after meeting with Kouvelis. “I will continue the effort, preparing the ground for the phase of negotiation that will be coordinated by the president of the republic.”
…
Kouvelis, whose party holds 19 seats in the 300-seat parliament, said the unity government would last until 2014 and would have a specific agenda to negotiate a gradual “disengagement” from bailout austerity measures. He called on all parties to support his proposal.The first opinion poll since Greeks voted showed anti- bailout party Syriza, which placed second in the election, would boost its showing if new elections were held.
…
Kouvelis’s Democratic Left party criticized Syriza yesterday, saying Tsipras was pushing the country toward another election and that his insistence on cancelling the bailout agreement “constitutes a break with the euro.”
Will there be a revulsion towards reusable grocery bags?
A nasty stomach bug likely spread to a girls’ soccer team from a reusable shopping bag that was kept in a hotel washroom, say U.S. disease detectives who tracked down the source of the outbreak.
…
Researchers said the virus aerosolized in the bathroom used by an infected girl settled onto a grocery bag and its contents. That served as the source of illness for seven team members aged 13 to 14 who were attending a soccer tournament in King County, Wash. in 2010.
I wonder how many nickels that cost!
It was a mixed day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualPremiums and FixedResets both gaining 5bp, while DeemedRetractibles were off 3bp. Volatility was minimal. Volume was well below average.
| 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 | 0.8528 % | 2,493.7 |
| FixedFloater | 4.42 % | 3.78 % | 27,979 | 17.77 | 1 | 0.6554 % | 3,567.8 |
| Floater | 2.90 % | 2.91 % | 55,417 | 19.93 | 3 | 0.8528 % | 2,692.6 |
| OpRet | 4.75 % | 2.56 % | 50,630 | 1.10 | 5 | 0.1532 % | 2,509.2 |
| SplitShare | 5.24 % | 2.93 % | 62,698 | 0.60 | 4 | 0.0593 % | 2,699.6 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.1532 % | 2,294.4 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.44 % | 1.63 % | 74,474 | 0.09 | 25 | 0.0461 % | 2,231.7 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.05 % | 4.97 % | 161,556 | 15.49 | 8 | 0.5145 % | 2,457.0 |
| FixedReset | 5.03 % | 2.96 % | 181,521 | 2.10 | 68 | 0.0496 % | 2,402.8 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 4.94 % | 3.54 % | 172,227 | 1.95 | 45 | -0.0269 % | 2,330.0 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| SLF.PR.I | FixedReset | 1.18 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2016-12-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.70 Bid-YTW : 3.71 % |
| BAM.PR.B | Floater | 1.73 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-05-10 Maturity Price : 18.23 Evaluated at bid price : 18.23 Bid-YTW : 2.90 % |
| BAM.PR.M | Perpetual-Discount | 1.94 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-05-10 Maturity Price : 23.69 Evaluated at bid price : 24.15 Bid-YTW : 4.95 % |
| BAM.PR.N | Perpetual-Discount | 1.95 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-05-10 Maturity Price : 23.83 Evaluated at bid price : 24.11 Bid-YTW : 4.97 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| MFC.PR.G | FixedReset | 42,470 | RBC crossed 25,000 at 25.45. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2016-12-19 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.38 Bid-YTW : 4.20 % |
| ENB.PR.D | FixedReset | 34,083 | RBC crossed 10,000 at 25.80. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2018-03-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.78 Bid-YTW : 3.56 % |
| MFC.PR.E | FixedReset | 30,317 | TD crossed 25,000 at 26.45. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-09-19 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.40 Bid-YTW : 3.48 % |
| HSE.PR.A | FixedReset | 27,705 | RBC crossed 20,000 at 26.02. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-05-10 Maturity Price : 23.56 Evaluated at bid price : 26.01 Bid-YTW : 3.12 % |
| RY.PR.A | Deemed-Retractible | 23,706 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-05-24 Maturity Price : 25.25 Evaluated at bid price : 25.66 Bid-YTW : 3.50 % |
| BNS.PR.Z | FixedReset | 22,380 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.08 Bid-YTW : 3.16 % |
| There were 23 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| IAG.PR.C | FixedReset | Quote: 26.06 – 26.28 Spot Rate : 0.2200 Average : 0.1452 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PR.C | Floater | Quote: 18.01 – 18.35 Spot Rate : 0.3400 Average : 0.2664 YTW SCENARIO |
| BNS.PR.X | FixedReset | Quote: 26.72 – 26.95 Spot Rate : 0.2300 Average : 0.1575 YTW SCENARIO |
| RY.PR.I | FixedReset | Quote: 25.90 – 26.14 Spot Rate : 0.2400 Average : 0.1685 YTW SCENARIO |
| FTS.PR.F | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 25.26 – 25.50 Spot Rate : 0.2400 Average : 0.1722 YTW SCENARIO |
| PWF.PR.H | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 25.37 – 25.64 Spot Rate : 0.2700 Average : 0.2035 YTW SCENARIO |