The New York Times touts an online personal finance video series:
After all, there are few entirely conflict-free places where investors can educate themselves on the topic, and there’s little to no money-related guidance offered within the public school system, which is where the financial groundwork should really be laid.
Joshua Rauh, a finance professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, is acutely aware of that. And it’s why he felt compelled to open his graduate-level course on the finance of retirement and pensions to the masses. “My goal is to try to empower people to make better decisions about their finances with an eye toward retirement and for retirees who are thinking about managing their money,” Professor Rauh said, “whether it is buying an annuity or having a spending rule.”
The course, which is offered free online, begins on Monday. I sat for nearly half of his online video lectures — on topics like “saving for retirement” and “making smart decisions as a stock market investor” — earlier this week. Watching remotely means you won’t be party to the discussion that will emerge from the Socratic method Professor Rauh uses in his traditional classroom on campus. And there are already 13,000 students, so it’s hard to expect any personal attention.
DBRS confirmed Advantaged Preferred Share Trust at STA-2 (middle):
Since October 2012, the performance of the Portfolio has been fairly stable. The weighted-average yield of the Portfolio is approximately 5.18%, as of September 30, 2013. The Trust’s current net income (including a regular additional payment under the forward agreement to offset operating expenses) covers the full distribution paid out to Unitholders. As a result, the rating of STA-2 (middle) on the Units has been confirmed. The main constraints to the rating are the interest rate risk of the Portfolio and the potential for capital losses and reductions in income resulting from underlying securities being called for redemption by their respective issuers.
DBRS confirmed TDS.PR.C at Pfd-2:
On October 18, 2012, DBRS upgraded the ratings on the Class C Preferred Shares to Pfd-2 from Pfd-2 (low), due to a steady increase in downside protection in the months leading up to the rating action, as well as a greatly improved dividend coverage ratio. Since then, performance has been generally positive, with the net asset value (NAV) of the Company fluctuating around $30.00 before increasing to $33.51 as of October 10, 2013. Downside protection available to holders of the Class C Preferred Shares increased to 70.2% as of October 2013, compared with 66.1% in October 2012. As a result, the rating of the Class C Preferred Shares has been confirmed at Pfd-2.
It was a mixed day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts gaining 6bp, FixedResets off 7bp and DeemedRetractibles up 8bp. A surprisingly lengthy performance highlights table was dominated by FixedResets, both winners and losers. Volume was enormous.
| 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 | -0.3470 % | 2,440.5 |
| FixedFloater | 4.30 % | 3.57 % | 28,862 | 18.28 | 1 | 0.0000 % | 3,904.8 |
| Floater | 2.77 % | 3.02 % | 64,031 | 19.68 | 5 | -0.3470 % | 2,635.1 |
| OpRet | 4.62 % | 2.72 % | 64,291 | 0.60 | 3 | 0.0257 % | 2,641.5 |
| SplitShare | 4.77 % | 5.23 % | 63,249 | 3.99 | 6 | 0.2071 % | 2,944.4 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0257 % | 2,415.4 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.82 % | -0.07 % | 108,543 | 0.08 | 7 | 0.2167 % | 2,285.1 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.56 % | 5.57 % | 168,410 | 14.47 | 30 | 0.0624 % | 2,343.8 |
| FixedReset | 4.98 % | 3.78 % | 235,758 | 3.40 | 85 | -0.0656 % | 2,440.5 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 5.14 % | 4.40 % | 187,794 | 6.85 | 43 | 0.0822 % | 2,379.0 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| ENB.PR.D | FixedReset | -1.82 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-10-18 Maturity Price : 22.44 Evaluated at bid price : 23.22 Bid-YTW : 4.53 % |
| BNS.PR.Y | FixedReset | -1.35 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.35 Bid-YTW : 4.02 % |
| TRP.PR.A | FixedReset | -1.26 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-10-18 Maturity Price : 22.97 Evaluated at bid price : 23.47 Bid-YTW : 4.11 % |
| BAM.PR.K | Floater | -1.25 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-10-18 Maturity Price : 17.33 Evaluated at bid price : 17.33 Bid-YTW : 3.05 % |
| BAM.PR.B | Floater | -1.24 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-10-18 Maturity Price : 17.48 Evaluated at bid price : 17.48 Bid-YTW : 3.02 % |
| MFC.PR.F | FixedReset | -1.21 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 22.02 Bid-YTW : 5.00 % |
| HSB.PR.D | Deemed-Retractible | 1.00 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-12-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.25 Bid-YTW : 4.38 % |
| PWF.PR.A | Floater | 1.02 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-10-18 Maturity Price : 22.50 Evaluated at bid price : 22.76 Bid-YTW : 2.30 % |
| IFC.PR.C | FixedReset | 1.02 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2016-09-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.71 Bid-YTW : 3.28 % |
| SLF.PR.G | FixedReset | 1.09 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.15 Bid-YTW : 4.35 % |
| FTS.PR.H | FixedReset | 1.29 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-10-18 Maturity Price : 21.20 Evaluated at bid price : 21.20 Bid-YTW : 4.08 % |
| CU.PR.C | FixedReset | 1.39 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2017-06-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.48 Bid-YTW : 3.60 % |
| BAM.PR.X | FixedReset | 1.67 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-10-18 Maturity Price : 21.67 Evaluated at bid price : 21.96 Bid-YTW : 4.42 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| CIU.PR.B | FixedReset | 193,575 | Deleted from TXPR. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-06-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.71 Bid-YTW : 3.52 % |
| TD.PR.S | FixedReset | 168,183 | I assume the index weight changed, due to partial conversion to TD.PR.T, which has been added to TXPR. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.52 Bid-YTW : 3.69 % |
| W.PR.H | Perpetual-Discount | 166,758 | Added to TXPR. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-10-18 Maturity Price : 24.19 Evaluated at bid price : 24.45 Bid-YTW : 5.65 % |
| BMO.PR.R | FixedReset | 147,381 | Added to TXPR. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2018-08-25 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.10 Bid-YTW : 2.48 % |
| FTS.PR.K | FixedReset | 130,701 | Added to TXPR. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-10-18 Maturity Price : 22.99 Evaluated at bid price : 24.58 Bid-YTW : 3.96 % |
| PWF.PR.L | Perpetual-Discount | 124,494 | National sold 10,000 to TD at 22.70, then crossed 12,300 at 22.65. Anonymous crossed 10,000 at 22.66, then sold 45,000 to Desjardins at the same price and 15,000 to National at the same price again. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-10-18 Maturity Price : 22.37 Evaluated at bid price : 22.66 Bid-YTW : 5.64 % |
| BMO.PR.M | FixedReset | 122,454 | TD crossed blocks of 44,800 and 20,000 at 24.58. Nesbitt crossed 50,000 at 24.57. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.57 Bid-YTW : 3.78 % |
| CM.PR.M | FixedReset | 101,430 | RBC crossed two blocks of 50,000 each, both at 25.82. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-07-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.70 Bid-YTW : 2.63 % |
| There were 77 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| ENB.PR.Y | FixedReset | Quote: 22.80 – 23.14 Spot Rate : 0.3400 Average : 0.1960 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PR.C | Floater | Quote: 17.35 – 17.75 Spot Rate : 0.4000 Average : 0.2707 YTW SCENARIO |
| BNA.PR.C | SplitShare | Quote: 24.16 – 24.46 Spot Rate : 0.3000 Average : 0.1902 YTW SCENARIO |
| BNS.PR.Y | FixedReset | Quote: 23.35 – 23.62 Spot Rate : 0.2700 Average : 0.1673 YTW SCENARIO |
| CU.PR.G | Perpetual-Discount | Quote: 21.10 – 21.49 Spot Rate : 0.3900 Average : 0.2927 YTW SCENARIO |
| CGI.PR.D | SplitShare | Quote: 23.80 – 24.07 Spot Rate : 0.2700 Average : 0.1899 YTW SCENARIO |