August 20, 2012

The Fed is pushing on a string:

The gap between U.S. bank deposits and loans is growing at the fastest pace in two years, providing lenders with more funds to buy bonds and temper the biggest sell-off in Treasuries since 2010.

As deposits increased 3.3 percent to $8.88 trillion in the two months ended July 31, business lending rose 0.7 percent to $7.11 trillion, Federal Reserve data show. The record gap of $1.77 trillion has expanded 15 percent since May, the biggest similar-period gain since July, 2010. Banks have already bought $136.4 billion in Treasury and government agency debt this year, more than double the $62.6 billion in all of 2011, pushing their holdings to an all-time high of $1.84 trillion.

“Every bank is looking for a way to increase their yield,” said Mike Pearce, president of Bank of The West in Grapevine, Texas, whose company has been purchasing government securities after deposits grew faster than loans in 2010 and 2011. Instead of earning the Federal Funds rate of zero to 0.25 percent on the deposits, its bond holdings are yielding about 3.25 percent, he said.

The danger here is that when the economy starts picking up and people actually start competing with the Treasury for loans, yields will skyrocket. Who remembers 1994?

It was a mixed day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualPremiums down 9bp, FixedResets off 7bp and DeemedRetractibles gaining 3bp. Volatility was minimal. Volume continued its recent pattern, with pockets of institutional activity and total lack of interest from retail.

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 -0.7341 % 2,311.4
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.7341 % 3,457.6
Floater 3.15 % 3.17 % 61,409 19.25 3 -0.7341 % 2,495.7
OpRet 4.78 % 2.54 % 32,607 0.84 5 0.0846 % 2,544.0
SplitShare 5.50 % 4.99 % 72,311 4.66 3 0.3815 % 2,790.6
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0846 % 2,326.2
Perpetual-Premium 5.30 % 2.55 % 97,923 0.40 28 -0.0945 % 2,275.1
Perpetual-Discount 4.92 % 4.93 % 99,800 15.55 3 0.2768 % 2,543.3
FixedReset 4.99 % 3.08 % 176,343 3.95 71 -0.0728 % 2,425.9
Deemed-Retractible 4.94 % 2.65 % 129,719 1.15 46 0.0255 % 2,359.7
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
BAM.PR.B Floater -1.47 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2042-08-20
Maturity Price : 16.75
Evaluated at bid price : 16.75
Bid-YTW : 3.16 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
RY.PR.I FixedReset 208,925 Nesbitt crossed 207,500 at 25.75.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-02-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.70
Bid-YTW : 3.07 %
BNS.PR.Q FixedReset 110,410 National crossed 47,000 at 25.42 and sold 50,000 to Nesbitt at the same price.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.41
Bid-YTW : 3.24 %
HSB.PR.E FixedReset 107,141 Desjardins crossed 103,500 at 27.00.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-06-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.90
Bid-YTW : 2.92 %
PWF.PR.I Perpetual-Premium 77,050 Nesbitt sold blocks of 30,000 and 15,000 to National at 25.41 and another 20,000 to RBC at the same price.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2012-09-19
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.40
Bid-YTW : -9.15 %
CM.PR.K FixedReset 76,770 RBC crossed 70,000 at 26.35.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-07-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.25
Bid-YTW : 2.87 %
BMO.PR.P FixedReset 62,100 RBC crossed 48,400 at 26.40.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2015-02-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.44
Bid-YTW : 2.99 %
There were 18 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
MFC.PR.A OpRet Quote: 25.26 – 25.81
Spot Rate : 0.5500
Average : 0.3591

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Soft Maturity
Maturity Date : 2015-12-18
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.26
Bid-YTW : 3.68 %

BAM.PR.C Floater Quote: 16.60 – 16.95
Spot Rate : 0.3500
Average : 0.2155

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2042-08-20
Maturity Price : 16.60
Evaluated at bid price : 16.60
Bid-YTW : 3.19 %

VNR.PR.A FixedReset Quote: 25.81 – 26.05
Spot Rate : 0.2400
Average : 0.1465

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2017-10-15
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.81
Bid-YTW : 3.87 %

ENB.PR.A Perpetual-Premium Quote: 25.50 – 25.78
Spot Rate : 0.2800
Average : 0.1890

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2012-09-19
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.50
Bid-YTW : -19.77 %

PWF.PR.I Perpetual-Premium Quote: 25.40 – 25.66
Spot Rate : 0.2600
Average : 0.1759

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2012-09-19
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.40
Bid-YTW : -9.15 %

BMO.PR.Q FixedReset Quote: 25.44 – 25.69
Spot Rate : 0.2500
Average : 0.1725

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.44
Bid-YTW : 2.97 %

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