Issue Comments

BAM.PF.H Firm On Good Volume

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. has announced:

the completion of its previously announced Class A Preference Shares, Series 44 issue in the amount of C$250,000,000. The offering was underwritten by a syndicate led by Scotiabank, CIBC, RBC Capital Markets, and TD Securities Inc.

Brookfield issued 10,000,000 Series 44 Shares at a price of C$25.00 per share, for total gross proceeds of C$250,000,000. Holders of the Series 44 Shares will be entitled to receive a cumulative quarterly fixed dividend yielding 5.00% annually for the initial period ending December 31, 2020. Thereafter, the dividend rate will be reset every five years at a rate equal to the greater of: (i) the 5-year Government of Canada bond yield plus 4.17%, and (ii) 5.00%. The Series 44 Shares will commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange this morning under the ticker symbol BAM.PF.H.

BAM.PF.H is a FixedReset, 5.00%+417M500, announced September 24. It will be tracked by HIMIPref™ and has been assigned to the FixedResets subindex.

The issue traded 1,304,995 shares today (consolidated exchanges) in a range of 24.95-03 before closing at 24.96-99, 14×57. Vital statistics are:

BAM.PF.H FixedReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-02
Maturity Price : 23.13
Evaluated at bid price : 24.96
Bid-YTW : 4.93 %

Implied Volatility analysis for the BAM FixedResets is difficult to take seriously, since the fit is so poor – but it is interesting to compare the following chart with the chart published on the announcement day. The issue’s siblings have been very weak in the intervening time, with the low Expected Future Current Yield moving from about 4.40% to 4.60% and several issues moving to have an EFCY of about 5%, on a level with the new issue. I will point out that this equivalence makes no sense – lower-spread issues should trade with a lower yield as compensation for their lower risk of call. Mind you, all this ignores the rate floor on the new issue!

impVol_BAM_151002
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Market Action

October 1, 2015

There is official concern about a sharp rise in buy-to-let investments in the UK:

Buy-to-let lending could pose a risk to financial stability.
The actions of buy-to-let investors affect the broader housing and mortgage markets as individuals compete to buy the same pool of properties. Looser lending standards in the buy-to-let sector could contribute to general house price increases and a broader increase in household indebtedness. And in a downswing, investors selling buy-to-let properties into an illiquid market could amplify falls in house prices, potentially raising losses given default for all mortgages. This could be a particular concern in a rising interest rate environment, if properties become unprofitable given higher debt-servicing costs. Buy-to-let borrowers are potentially more vulnerable to rising interest rates because loans are more likely to be interest only and extended on floating-rate terms, and affordability tends to be tested at lower stressed interest rates
than owner-occupied lending.

The FPC continues to monitor closely conditions in UK property markets given high household indebtedness. Aggregate UK household debt to income, while falling gradually since 2010, remains high compared to historical and international norms (Chart F). The distribution of debt has improved marginally, with the tail of households with debt to income ratios greater than 4.0 falling in early 2015. House prices and activity in the housing market have increased again recently, and mortgage rates on many mortgage products are historically low. House prices grew at an annual rate of 5.6% in the three months to May 2015, compared with 3% in 2014 Q4; and 68,000 mortgages were approved in April, compared with 60,000 per month in 2014 Q4. Given this, the FPC judges that the policies it introduced in June 2014 to insure against the risk of a marked loosening in underwriting standards and a further significant rise in the number of highly indebted households remain warranted. In the buy-to-let mortgage market, lending has continued to grow, with buy-to-let mortgage lending now accounting for 15% of the stock of outstanding mortgages and nearly 20% of the flow in 2015 Q1 (Chart G). As it set out in October 2014, HM Treasury will consult later this year on giving to the FPC the power of Direction to limit residential mortgage lending at high loan to value or high debt to income ratios, including interest coverage ratios, for buy-to-let lending. Parliament provided the equivalent powers to the FPC for owner-occupied lending in April this year.

This has already attracted the interest of the Central Planners:

Landlords are being offered the largest number of buy-to-let mortgage deals since the financial crisis as banks try to profit from older savers cashing in their pensions to buy property.

There are now more than 1,000 buy-to-let products on the market for the first time since April 2008, according to data analyst Moneyfacts.

The rise was attributed to the new pension freedoms introduced in April. Under the rules savers have unlimited access to their funds from age 55, and many older investors have said they will spend the cash on properties to let to students or City workers. Banks are spotting the opportunity to attract wealthy customers and have offered attractive new deals.

But experts now believe the entire market could begin to collapse following changes to tax laws which were announced by George Osborne in July.

The Chancellor said that by 2020 higher-rate taxpayers will no longer be able to deduct the cost of their mortgage interest from their rental income when they calculate a profit on which to pay tax. Only basic-rate relief will be available.

BCE Inc., proud issuer of a huge number of preferred shares, has been confirmed at Pfd-3(high) by DBRS:

DBRS Limited (DBRS) has today confirmed the long- and short-term ratings of Bell Canada (Bell Canada or the Company) and its parent company BCE Inc. (BCE) at A (low)/R-1 (low) and BBB (high)/R-1 (low), respectively. DBRS has also confirmed the ratings of Bell Canada’s Subordinated Debentures at BBB. All trends remain Stable. It should be noted that BCE’s ratings are linked to the ratings of Bell Canada and reflect the structural subordination of debt (currently none outstanding) and its preferred share obligations relative to Bell Canada. The ratings acknowledge the increase in financial leverage resulting from the acquisition of Astral Media and privatization of Bell Aliant (which DBRS believes enhanced the Company’s scale and diversification), but also reflect the expectation for deleveraging over the medium term. The ratings continue to be supported by the Company’s large and established subscriber base and quad-play offerings, and also consider intensifying competition and the risks associated with regulatory change.

The fourth quarter began with a return to normal in the Canadian preferred share market, by which I mean it was a lousy day, with PerpetualDiscounts losing 74bp, FixedResets down 49bp and DeemedRetractibles off 3bp. It looks like a sell programme kicked in at about 3:40pm – until then, the market was off a little, but nothing too serious:

TXPR_151001
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One really has to wonder how the decision to execute this sell programme was rationalized. On the one hand, it seems very strange to start executing mass sales late in the day in a little backwater market like Canadian preferred shares. On the other hand … for the past nine months, executors of aggressive sell programmes have been patting themselves on the back a little while later, regretting only that they didn’t execute a few days earlier.

The Performance Highlights table is its usually lengthy self, highlighted by four issues that got caught by the late day sales and lost more than 5% (bid/bid). Volume was average.

For as long as the FixedReset market is so violently unsettled, I’ll keep publishing updates of the more interesting and meaningful series of FixedResets’ Implied Volatilities. This doesn’t include Enbridge because although Enbridge has a large number of issues outstanding, all of which are quite liquid, the range of Issue Reset Spreads is too small for decent conclusions. The low is 212bp (ENB.PR.H; second-lowest is ENB.PR.D at 237bp) and the high is a mere 268 for ENB.PF.G.

Remember that all rich /cheap assessments are:
» based on Implied Volatility Theory only
» are relative only to other FixedResets from the same issuer
» assume constant GOC-5 yield
» assume constant Implied Volatility
» assume constant spread

Here’s TRP:

impVol_TRP_151001
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Implied Volatility dropped significantly today.

TRP.PR.E, which resets 2019-10-30 at +235, is bid at 17.73 to be $0.96 rich, while TRP.PR.C, resetting 2016-1-30 at +164, is $0.48 cheap at its bid price of 12.10.

impVol_MFC_151001
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Another good fit today for MFC, with Implied Volatility unchanged.

Most expensive is MFC.PR.M, resetting at +236bp on 2019-12-19, bid at 20.00 to be 0.64 rich, while MFC.PR.I, resetting at +286bp on 2017-9-19, is bid at 20.92 to be 0.57 cheap.

impVol_BAM_151001
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The fit on the BAM issues continues to be horrible. Note that the pending new issue has been added with a price of 25.00; the valuation effects of the rate floor have been ignored.

The cheapest issue relative to its peers is BAM.PF.A, resetting at +290bp on 2018-9-30, bid at 18.48 to be $0.63 cheap. BAM.PF.G, resetting at +284bp on 2020-6-30 is bid at 19.70 and appears to be $0.90 rich.

impVol_FTS_151001
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FTS.PR.H, with a spread of +145bp, and bid at 13.65, looks $0.41 expensive and resets 2020-6-1. FTS.PR.G, with a spread of +213bp and resetting 2018-9-1, is bid at 16.85 and is $0.39 cheap.

pairs_FR_151001
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Investment-grade pairs predict an average three-month bill yield over the next five-odd years of -1.19%, with one outlier above 0.00%. The distribution is bimodal, with bank NVCC non-compliant pairs averaging -1.74% and other issues averaging -0.42%. There are four junk outliers above 0.00%.

pairs_FF_151001
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Shall we just say that this exhibits a high level of confidence in the continued rapacity of Canadian banks?

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 -2.7450 % 1,596.7
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -2.7450 % 2,791.8
Floater 4.65 % 4.68 % 62,296 16.13 3 -2.7450 % 1,697.4
OpRet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.0324 % 2,761.9
SplitShare 4.34 % 4.81 % 67,083 4.49 5 -0.0324 % 3,236.8
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.0324 % 2,525.4
Perpetual-Premium 5.83 % 5.88 % 55,000 14.00 5 0.1274 % 2,466.5
Perpetual-Discount 5.74 % 5.74 % 73,874 14.24 32 -0.7444 % 2,483.0
FixedReset 5.18 % 4.76 % 189,226 15.17 75 -0.4902 % 1,963.5
Deemed-Retractible 5.23 % 5.26 % 98,669 5.46 33 -0.0307 % 2,540.7
FloatingReset 2.65 % 4.59 % 61,278 5.83 9 -0.8710 % 2,048.7
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
TRP.PR.B FixedReset -5.66 % Reasonably real, in that yes, there was a trade at the closing bid of 11.01. However, this is timestamped 3:59pm; there is an oddlot trade also timestamped 3:59bp at the price of 11.67. It looks like algorithmic selling, since all but three of the last 25 trades were for 100 shares and the earliest of these 25 trades was at 3:49.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 11.01
Evaluated at bid price : 11.01
Bid-YTW : 4.76 %
W.PR.J Perpetual-Discount -5.63 % This one is strange and illustrates the kind of things that can happen in a thin market. The last trade, for 100 shares, was at 21.95 so, as above, we can call the quote technically real. But there were three trades timestamped 3:43pm, each of which was for 100 shares, all executed at 22.98. So the thing dropped over a buck in the last 17 minutes! The volume in this time was 1,300 shares! So the market maker – assuming he was awake – got scared, for either good reasons or bad; there’s no way of telling according to the data available to me.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 21.70
Evaluated at bid price : 21.95
Bid-YTW : 6.40 %
W.PR.H Perpetual-Discount -5.50 % Another Thin Market Special! The closing bid is technically real, since there were two actual trade at 21.91 – both for 100 shares in the closing two minutes. On the other hand, there were trades timestamped 3:43 at 22.84! So again, the market-maker got scared. YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 21.55
Evaluated at bid price : 21.81
Bid-YTW : 6.32 %
TRP.PR.F FloatingReset -5.00 % This looks like another victim of the sell programme, as all but one of the last 25 trades was for 100 shares, taking the trade price from 12.80 at 3:40 to 12.35 at 3:59.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 12.35
Evaluated at bid price : 12.35
Bid-YTW : 4.72 %
BMO.PR.Y FixedReset -3.94 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 19.73
Evaluated at bid price : 19.73
Bid-YTW : 4.65 %
HSE.PR.E FixedReset -3.05 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 21.33
Evaluated at bid price : 21.33
Bid-YTW : 5.18 %
BAM.PR.B Floater -2.94 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 10.23
Evaluated at bid price : 10.23
Bid-YTW : 4.65 %
BAM.PR.C Floater -2.89 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 10.08
Evaluated at bid price : 10.08
Bid-YTW : 4.72 %
TRP.PR.A FixedReset -2.68 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 14.50
Evaluated at bid price : 14.50
Bid-YTW : 4.92 %
BMO.PR.Z Perpetual-Discount -2.53 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 22.41
Evaluated at bid price : 22.71
Bid-YTW : 5.59 %
FTS.PR.J Perpetual-Discount -2.46 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 21.02
Evaluated at bid price : 21.02
Bid-YTW : 5.72 %
BAM.PR.K Floater -2.40 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 10.16
Evaluated at bid price : 10.16
Bid-YTW : 4.68 %
CM.PR.Q FixedReset -2.25 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 19.94
Evaluated at bid price : 19.94
Bid-YTW : 4.49 %
RY.PR.M FixedReset -2.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 19.40
Evaluated at bid price : 19.40
Bid-YTW : 4.50 %
TD.PF.B FixedReset -2.01 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 18.52
Evaluated at bid price : 18.52
Bid-YTW : 4.40 %
FTS.PR.F Perpetual-Discount -1.82 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 21.33
Evaluated at bid price : 21.60
Bid-YTW : 5.73 %
GWO.PR.H Deemed-Retractible -1.81 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.69
Bid-YTW : 6.83 %
CU.PR.H Perpetual-Discount -1.75 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 22.15
Evaluated at bid price : 22.50
Bid-YTW : 5.92 %
RY.PR.N Perpetual-Discount -1.70 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 22.20
Evaluated at bid price : 22.55
Bid-YTW : 5.57 %
BAM.PR.X FixedReset -1.65 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 14.31
Evaluated at bid price : 14.31
Bid-YTW : 4.86 %
TRP.PR.D FixedReset -1.57 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 16.93
Evaluated at bid price : 16.93
Bid-YTW : 4.91 %
BNS.PR.Y FixedReset -1.53 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.35
Bid-YTW : 6.26 %
BMO.PR.R FloatingReset -1.38 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.40
Bid-YTW : 4.70 %
BAM.PF.G FixedReset -1.35 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 19.70
Evaluated at bid price : 19.70
Bid-YTW : 4.91 %
BAM.PF.B FixedReset -1.32 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 17.23
Evaluated at bid price : 17.23
Bid-YTW : 5.22 %
IFC.PR.C FixedReset -1.29 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.42
Bid-YTW : 7.54 %
RY.PR.W Perpetual-Discount -1.28 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 22.82
Evaluated at bid price : 23.10
Bid-YTW : 5.36 %
BAM.PF.A FixedReset -1.28 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 18.48
Evaluated at bid price : 18.48
Bid-YTW : 5.20 %
GWO.PR.Q Deemed-Retractible -1.27 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.61
Bid-YTW : 6.58 %
RY.PR.J FixedReset -1.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 20.01
Evaluated at bid price : 20.01
Bid-YTW : 4.47 %
BNS.PR.D FloatingReset -1.18 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.47
Bid-YTW : 6.51 %
HSB.PR.C Deemed-Retractible -1.17 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.51
Bid-YTW : 5.51 %
BMO.PR.W FixedReset -1.15 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 18.09
Evaluated at bid price : 18.09
Bid-YTW : 4.44 %
NA.PR.W FixedReset -1.15 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 18.11
Evaluated at bid price : 18.11
Bid-YTW : 4.53 %
NA.PR.S FixedReset -1.13 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 19.28
Evaluated at bid price : 19.28
Bid-YTW : 4.41 %
BAM.PF.F FixedReset -1.13 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 19.33
Evaluated at bid price : 19.33
Bid-YTW : 4.98 %
BNS.PR.Z FixedReset -1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.65
Bid-YTW : 6.60 %
TD.PF.C FixedReset -1.08 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 18.25
Evaluated at bid price : 18.25
Bid-YTW : 4.45 %
SLF.PR.G FixedReset -1.06 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 14.92
Bid-YTW : 8.65 %
CU.PR.D Perpetual-Discount -1.06 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 21.52
Evaluated at bid price : 21.52
Bid-YTW : 5.77 %
BAM.PR.N Perpetual-Discount -1.05 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 19.85
Evaluated at bid price : 19.85
Bid-YTW : 6.03 %
GWO.PR.N FixedReset -1.01 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 13.75
Bid-YTW : 9.58 %
PVS.PR.B SplitShare 1.02 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2019-01-10
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.75
Bid-YTW : 4.81 %
TRP.PR.E FixedReset 1.03 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 17.73
Evaluated at bid price : 17.73
Bid-YTW : 4.76 %
SLF.PR.J FloatingReset 1.17 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 12.95
Bid-YTW : 9.83 %
FTS.PR.K FixedReset 1.21 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 16.77
Evaluated at bid price : 16.77
Bid-YTW : 4.59 %
BMO.PR.T FixedReset 1.35 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 18.75
Evaluated at bid price : 18.75
Bid-YTW : 4.32 %
IFC.PR.A FixedReset 1.96 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 15.60
Bid-YTW : 9.18 %
PWF.PR.P FixedReset 2.18 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 15.00
Evaluated at bid price : 15.00
Bid-YTW : 4.08 %
FTS.PR.H FixedReset 2.25 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 13.65
Evaluated at bid price : 13.65
Bid-YTW : 4.25 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
RY.PR.M FixedReset 107,934 Scotia crossed 100,000 at 19.90.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 19.40
Evaluated at bid price : 19.40
Bid-YTW : 4.50 %
BMO.PR.Y FixedReset 61,975 RBC crossed 48,600 at 20.65.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 19.73
Evaluated at bid price : 19.73
Bid-YTW : 4.65 %
MFC.PR.J FixedReset 56,748 Scotia crossed 55,300 at 20.35.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.32
Bid-YTW : 6.30 %
FTS.PR.K FixedReset 44,635 TD crossed 16,700 at 16.94.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 16.77
Evaluated at bid price : 16.77
Bid-YTW : 4.59 %
GWO.PR.N FixedReset 39,049 Nesbitt crossed 19,400 at 13.85.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 13.75
Bid-YTW : 9.58 %
PWF.PR.P FixedReset 34,115 TD crossed 24,800 at 15.05.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 15.00
Evaluated at bid price : 15.00
Bid-YTW : 4.08 %
There were 34 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
W.PR.J Perpetual-Discount Quote: 21.95 – 23.60
Spot Rate : 1.6500
Average : 1.0335

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 21.70
Evaluated at bid price : 21.95
Bid-YTW : 6.40 %

W.PR.H Perpetual-Discount Quote: 21.81 – 23.20
Spot Rate : 1.3900
Average : 0.8409

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 21.55
Evaluated at bid price : 21.81
Bid-YTW : 6.32 %

BMO.PR.R FloatingReset Quote: 21.40 – 21.99
Spot Rate : 0.5900
Average : 0.3948

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.40
Bid-YTW : 4.70 %

TRP.PR.A FixedReset Quote: 14.50 – 15.20
Spot Rate : 0.7000
Average : 0.5122

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 14.50
Evaluated at bid price : 14.50
Bid-YTW : 4.92 %

IFC.PR.C FixedReset Quote: 18.42 – 18.98
Spot Rate : 0.5600
Average : 0.4087

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.42
Bid-YTW : 7.54 %

HSE.PR.E FixedReset Quote: 21.33 – 21.90
Spot Rate : 0.5700
Average : 0.4227

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-10-01
Maturity Price : 21.33
Evaluated at bid price : 21.33
Bid-YTW : 5.18 %

Issue Comments

ALA.PR.B Listed: 31% Conversion

AltaGas Ltd. has announced:

that 2,488,780 of its 8,000,000 Cumulative Redeemable Five-Year Fixed Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series A (“Series A Preferred Shares”) (TSX: ALA.PR.A) were tendered for conversion into Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Shares, Series B (the “Series B Preferred Shares”). As a result of the conversion AltaGas has 5,511,220 Series A Preferred Shares and 2,488,780 Series B Preferred Shares issued and outstanding. The Series A Preferred Shares will continue to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol ALA.PR.A. The Series B Preferred Shares will begin trading on the TSX today under the symbol ALA.PR.B.

The Series A Preferred Shares will continue to pay on a quarterly basis, for the five-year period beginning on September 30, 2015, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of AltaGas, a fixed dividend based on an annual fixed dividend rate of 3.38 percent.

The Series B Preferred Shares will pay a floating quarterly dividend for the five-year period beginning on September 30, 2015, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of AltaGas. The floating quarterly dividend rate for the Series B Preferred Shares for the first quarterly floating rate period (being the period from September 30, 2015 to but excluding December 31, 2015) is 3.04 percent and will be reset every quarter.

For more information on the terms of, and risks associated with an investment in, the Series A Preferred Shares and the Series B Preferred Shares, please see the prospectus supplement dated August 11, 2010 which is available on www.sedar.com.

ALA.PR.A is a FixedReset, currently 3.38%+266. ALA.PR.B is its Strong Pair, a FloatingReset paying 266bp over three month bills, reset quarterly. Both issues will be tracked by HIMIPref™, both relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

The conversion rate was 31%, after my recommendation not to convert.

Vital statistics are:

ALA.PR.A FixedReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 15.41
Evaluated at bid price : 15.41
Bid-YTW : 5.59 %
ALA.PR.B FloatingReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 15.50
Evaluated at bid price : 15.50
Bid-YTW : 4.95 %

Surprisingly, there were actually five trades today, totalling 600 shares – it’s very rare to see trades on the first day of a Floating Reset, since retail (typically) won’t be seeing the shares in their on-line accounts until reorg processes the entries in a batch after the close. But still, I wouldn’t take the quote of 15.50-89 all that seriously!

However:

pairs_FR_150930
Click for Big

The ALA.PR.A / ALA.PR.B Strong Pair predicts an average three-month bill rate of 0.81% over the next five years, well above the average for investment-grade pairs.

Issue Comments

NPI.PR.B Listed: 25% Conversion

Northland Power Inc. has announced:

that 1,498,435 of its 6,000,000 Cumulative Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series 1 (“Series 1 Shares”) have been converted on a one-for-one basis, into Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Shares, Series 2 (the “Series 2 Shares”). Consequently, effective today Northland will have 4,501,565 Series 1 Shares and 1,498,435 Series 2 Shares issued and outstanding.

The Series 1 Shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “NPI.PR.A” and the Series 2 Shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “NPI.PR.B”.

NPI.PR.A is a FixedReset, currently (after reset) 3.51%+280. NPI.PR.B is its FloatingReset Strong Pair, paying three-month bills +280. Both issues will be tracked by HIMIPref™, both relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

The conversion ratio was 25.0% after my recommendation not to convert.

Vital statistics are:

NPI.PR.A FixedReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 14.41
Evaluated at bid price : 14.41
Bid-YTW : 6.22 %
NPI.PR.B FloatingReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 14.00
Evaluated at bid price : 14.00
Bid-YTW : 5.74 %

NPI.PR.B did not trade any shares today on any of the consolidated exchanges, so the quote of 14.00-50 should be taken with a grain of salt!

However:

pairs_FR_150930
Click for Big

The NPI.PR.A / NPI.PR.B Strong Pair predicts an average three month bill rate of 0.28% over the next five years – well above the average for investment-grade pairs.

Better Communication, Please!

FFH.PR.H Listed: 26% Conversion

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited has announced:

 

That’s right, nothing regarding the conversion and listing of FFH.PR.H, which is the same stunt they pulled when FFH.PR.F was listed.

So, I am left to report that FFH.PR.G is a FixedReset, currently 3.318%+256. Its Strong Pair is FFH.PR.H, a FloatingReset paying three month bills +256bp, reset quarterly. Both issues will be tracked by HIMIPref™, both relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

The Toronto Stock Exchange reports that there are 2,567,048 shares of FFH.PR.H outstanding and 7,432,952 of FFH.PR.G; since there were 10-million shares of FFH.PR.G originally issued, we can say that the conversion rate was 26% after my recommendation not to convert.

Vital statistics are:

FFH.PR.G FixedReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 13.74
Evaluated at bid price : 13.74
Bid-YTW : 6.11 %
FFH.PR.H FloatingReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 13.70
Evaluated at bid price : 13.70
Bid-YTW : 5.42 %

No shares of FFH.PR.H traded today (consolidated exchanges) and the closing quote was 13.70-23.00, so nothing about the pricing can be taken too seriously! However:

pairs_FR_150930
Click for Big

The FFH.PR.G / FFH.PR.H pair implies an average three month bill rate over the next five years of +1.03%, so far above the average it is off the charts.

Market Action

September 30, 2015

Apparently, somebody important has told Lapdog Carney to talk about climate change:

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, declared that the warming climate presented major risks for the global economy and global financial stability, and that businesses and regulators needed to move more quickly to try to contain the potential economic damage even though it may seem uncertain and far off.

His warning, delivered in a 4,400-word speech with ample footnotes on Tuesday, is the latest example of how climate change has moved beyond theoretical scientific debates to the start of practical planning for safeguarding the economy and business.

“We don’t need an army of actuaries to tell us that the catastrophic impacts of climate change will be felt beyond the traditional horizons of most actors — imposing a cost on future generations that the current generation has no direct incentive to fix,” he said. “In other words, once climate change becomes a defining issue for financial stability, it may already be too late.”

SEC Commissioner Kara M. Stein has displayed total ignorance of the practical side of software development with her speech titled Market Structure in the 21st Century: Bringing Light to the Dark:

In addressing this challenge, I come back to the basic fact that behind every algorithm, order type, and electronic trading network are human beings: individuals program computers, individuals design trading algorithms, and individuals market products. Individuals supervise and design compliance structures. Regardless of the advancement of technology and innovation in our securities markets, humans – individuals – are necessary to what we do each and every day.

All market participants need to be responsible for their work and, at the same time, its collateral consequences. To do that, every individual within a securities organization – from the coder to the cybersecurity officer, the salesperson to the CEO – needs to understand the new electronic marketplace. Everyone needs to be cognizant of how the work he or she is doing could affect the market as a whole, including from a technological and operational perspective.

Everyone involved also needs to know the rules of the road. Without that, we lose transparency, we do not know who to trust, and confidence in the system diminishes. Just as we license drivers and ensure that vehicles have basic requirements of safety and soundness, we should consider whether certain personnel are so vital in our increasingly “robotic” securities market that they should be licensed. In a world where programming errors are just as damaging to investors as improper sales practices, our regulatory approach may need to evolve.

Complex organizational charts should not shield individuals from accountability. It cannot continue to be the case that so-called “technological glitches” set off a series of finger pointing within firms. Opacity must be replaced with transparency, including within firms themselves. I will be following this issue closely and would like to see firms take it upon themselves to make these changes proactively.

So she wants everybody, from some teeny-bopper programmer to the salesman pushing the button, to “understand the new electronic marketplace”. A laudable objective, but in practice totally divorced from reality.

My strength as a programmer is that I’m also a portfolio manager. My strength as a portfolio manager is that I’m also a programmer. Twenty-five-odd years in the business have given me a pretty good feel for just how rare that combination is.

The things she dismisses as ‘so-called “technological glitches”‘ are, more often than not, just that. They’re bugs. Bugs are inevitable in any complex software project. What does she intend, to hold some $50,000 p.a. teeny-bopper programmer 100% accountable for a bug that bursts the market some day? She’s going to really enjoy destroying some helpless scapegoat for typing “<" when he should have typed ">“?

Bugs is bugs is bugs. I will certainly agree that accountability should exist, but it is entirely appropriate for this accountability – as far as the SEC and the justice system are concerned – to remain at firm level. Nail the firm for not having sufficiently robust error checking and debugging. It is not realistic to hold any individual on any given level of the pyramid 100% accountable for a bug. Theoretically, sure it’s possible. Practically? Give me a break. It’s a recipe for either never getting anything done or for scapegoating some poor sucker who made a good faith effort. Put this woman in charge of the European Space Agency – and then, finally, somebody body will be HELD ACCOUNTABLE for the problems with the Philae Lander.

This is not to say there should be a total carte-blanche for software, of course. Salesmen should have a “reasonable” knowledge of what their software does; there must be “reasonable” documentation of who told who to do what when; and there will, from time to time, be clear indications that somebody was deliberately doing something naughty with software, as discussed on August 12 … but total individual accountability is nothing more than a pipe dream.

William C Dudley of the New York Fed made a speech titled Regulation and Liquidity Provision, which makes some points about corporate bond liquidity:

To investigate corporate bond market liquidity in more detail, let’s examine three liquidity measures: the average trade size, “effective” bid-ask spreads and price impact. The evidence on the average trade size for investment grade corporate bonds indicates a slight reduction from between $700,000 to $800,000 in the early 2000s to around $500,000 in the last few years. (Exhibit 6) However, price measures of corporate bond liquidity do not substantiate the trend in this quantity measure. The effective bid-ask spread has been trending down since the early 2000s, around the same time that TRACE reporting was introduced. The spread spiked during the financial crisis, but is now lower than its pre-crisis levels. (Exhibit 7) Similarly, price impact—the effect on price from a $1 million trade—has also been trending down since the early 2000s apart from the jump during the financial crisis. (Exhibit 8)

One metric he leaves out of his assessment is trading intensity, which might also be described as market turnover:

At the moment, trading indicators give the appearance of robust normality. Trading volumes are high, particularly in bonds where they are at record levels. Spreads (the difference between the bid and offer price for a security) are small. The emergence of electronic trading and also a variety of investors gives the impression of a highly liquid market.

But market turnover – the volume of trading relative to outstanding securities – in bonds and shares has fallen significantly.

Government and corporate bond turnover is down about 50 percent, in part reflecting the massive growth in issuance.

In other words, maybe price impact is holding steady because traders and managers are taking longer to do their trades. It is reasonable to suppose that, for instance, if you really want to extend duration in your GE bonds but that costs too much, you’ll extend duration somewhere else, instead – like Treasuries, for instance. You won’t do the GE trade because it’s too expensive – so price impact remains unchanged, but GE market turnover goes down. Liquidity is a very tricky thing to define; what’s worse, it means different things to different people, according to their individual objectives.

Sometimes even different things to the same person! Say I have a PerpetualDiscount that I can trade in size within ten cents, either way, of the midpoint. Well, that’s a liquid issue, right? But it’s yielding 310bp over long term bonds! That’s a great big liquidity premium!

It has also been claimed, quite reasonably, that:

Since 2009 the number of issuers in the high-grade corporate bond market has almost doubled. These “new issuers” tend to have less overall debt outstanding (almost four times less), fewer securities, and don’t trade as frequently. For example, within the JP Morgan U.S. Liquid Corporate Bond Index, bonds that represent over 0.5% of the index had a 31% higher turnover ratio than issuers that fell below the 0.5% threshold.

So what are we to conclude about that?

This was all brought to my attention by Assiduous Reader JP (you know, he’s the guy who sends me interesting links, while the rest of bums think Deep Thoughts with your eyes closed), who sent me a link to a story titled Market Moves That Aren’t Supposed to Happen Keep Happening:

While the New York Fed president argued that there’s little evidence so far that new financial regulation has cut into the ease of trading U.S. Treasuries, TD analysts Priya Misra and Gennadiy Goldberg think otherwise. They point to daily, wild swings in the bond market as evidence of diminished liquidity.

Our findings show that daily changes in 10-year Treasury yields exceeded one standard deviation (σ) 58% of the time so far in 2015—considerably higher than the 49% observed last year (Figure 2). The 58% measure is the highest reading going back to 1975, suggesting that recent volatility in Treasury markets is unprecedented. As if a record number of “choppy” days were not enough, 10-year yield movements also exceeded 3σ in as many as 9% of trading days this year. This is higher than the average of 6% of days since 1975.


While Dudley finds little evidence of average bond market liquidity having deteriorated, TD reckons the problem lies in so-called “tail events,” in which increased regulation and changes to market structure exacerbate the potential for extreme moves. Looking at average liquidity conditions won’t show much evidence of a problem, therefore. That might go some way toward explaining why all those market moves that are supposed to not happen very often keep occurring with some regularity.

Here’s TD’s thinking:

The issue, as reflected by our sigma measure, may very well be one of “fat tails problems” and lower liquidity during these tail events due to lower dealer risk appetite. The argument is that an unexpected macro event or large-sized risk transfer has the potential of creating much larger market moves today compared with the past. This would be consistent with a greater number of days in recent months exhibiting 1σ or 3σ sigma moves.

I hope everybody is sitting down because … it was actually a pretty good day for the Canadian preferred share market! PerpetualDiscounts gained 55bp, FixedResets were up 64bp and DeemedRetractibles won 82bp. There’s good representation of each group on the good side of the lengthy Performance Highlights table. Volume was above average.

PerpetualDiscounts now yield 5.74%, equivalent to 7.46% interest at the standard equivalency factor of 1.3x. Long corporates yield about 4.2%, so the pre-tax interest-equivalent spread (in this context, the “Seniority Spread”) is now about 325bp, a significant rise from the 310bp reported September 23. It was a good day, but one swallow doesn’t make a summer!

For as long as the FixedReset market is so violently unsettled, I’ll keep publishing updates of the more interesting and meaningful series of FixedResets’ Implied Volatilities. This doesn’t include Enbridge because although Enbridge has a large number of issues outstanding, all of which are quite liquid, the range of Issue Reset Spreads is too small for decent conclusions. The low is 212bp (ENB.PR.H; second-lowest is ENB.PR.D at 237bp) and the high is a mere 268 for ENB.PF.G.

Remember that all rich /cheap assessments are:
» based on Implied Volatility Theory only
» are relative only to other FixedResets from the same issuer
» assume constant GOC-5 yield
» assume constant Implied Volatility
» assume constant spread

Here’s TRP:

impVol_TRP_150930
Click for Big

Implied Volatility edged up again today.

TRP.PR.E, which resets 2019-10-30 at +235, is bid at 17.55 to be $0.58 rich, while TRP.PR.C, resetting 2016-1-30 at +164, is $0.65 cheap at its bid price of 12.21.

impVol_MFC_150930
Click for Big

Another good fit today for MFC, with Implied Volatility edging downward.

Most expensive is MFC.PR.M, resetting at +236bp on 2019-12-19, bid at 20.00 to be 0.60 rich, while MFC.PR.G, resetting at +290bp on 2016-12-19, is bid at 21.14 to be 0.53 cheap.

impVol_BAM_150930
Click for Big

The fit on the BAM issues continues to be horrible. Note that the pending new issue has been added with a price of 25.00; the valuation effects of the rate floor have been ignored.

The cheapest issue relative to its peers is BAM.PR.Z, resetting at +296bp on 2017-12-31, bid at 19.00 to be $0.62 cheap. BAM.PF.G, resetting at +284bp on 2020-6-30 is bid at 19.97 and appears to be $0.98 rich.

impVol_FTS_150930
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FTS.PR.M, with a spread of +248bp, and bid at 19.37, looks $0.21 expensive and resets 2019-12-1. FTS.PR.G, with a spread of +213bp and resetting 2018-9-1, is bid at 16.85 and is $0.26 cheap.

pairs_FR_150930
Click for Big

Investment-grade pairs predict an average three-month bill yield over the next five-odd years of -1.11%, with one outlier above 0.00%. The distribution is bimodal, with bank NVCC non-compliant pairs averaging -1.57% and other issues averaging -0.47%. There are three junk outliers above 0.00%, including all three of the new Strong Pairs that came into existence today.

pairs_FF_150930
Click for Big

Shall we just say that this exhibits a high level of confidence in the continued rapacity of Canadian banks?

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 -0.4765 % 1,641.8
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.4765 % 2,870.6
Floater 4.52 % 4.55 % 61,744 16.32 3 -0.4765 % 1,745.3
OpRet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0508 % 2,762.8
SplitShare 4.49 % 4.73 % 64,971 3.02 4 0.0508 % 3,237.8
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0508 % 2,526.3
Perpetual-Premium 5.82 % 5.87 % 68,535 14.03 8 0.1461 % 2,463.4
Perpetual-Discount 5.68 % 5.74 % 72,000 14.22 30 0.5517 % 2,501.7
FixedReset 5.16 % 4.65 % 182,272 15.33 75 0.6440 % 1,973.1
Deemed-Retractible 5.23 % 5.28 % 98,396 5.47 33 0.8215 % 2,541.4
FloatingReset 2.63 % 4.48 % 60,623 5.84 9 0.5265 % 2,066.7
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
CM.PR.Q FixedReset -1.92 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 20.40
Evaluated at bid price : 20.40
Bid-YTW : 4.39 %
W.PR.H Perpetual-Discount -1.79 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 22.80
Evaluated at bid price : 23.08
Bid-YTW : 5.97 %
CU.PR.H Perpetual-Discount -1.51 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 22.57
Evaluated at bid price : 22.90
Bid-YTW : 5.81 %
GWO.PR.N FixedReset -1.49 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 13.89
Bid-YTW : 9.44 %
FTS.PR.M FixedReset -1.42 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 19.37
Evaluated at bid price : 19.37
Bid-YTW : 4.49 %
BAM.PR.B Floater -1.13 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 10.54
Evaluated at bid price : 10.54
Bid-YTW : 4.49 %
PWF.PR.T FixedReset -1.08 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 21.73
Evaluated at bid price : 22.01
Bid-YTW : 3.81 %
PVS.PR.B SplitShare 1.03 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2019-01-10
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.50
Bid-YTW : 5.14 %
GWO.PR.R Deemed-Retractible 1.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.75
Bid-YTW : 6.74 %
GWO.PR.L Deemed-Retractible 1.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.57
Bid-YTW : 5.93 %
SLF.PR.G FixedReset 1.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 15.08
Bid-YTW : 8.51 %
BAM.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 20.05
Evaluated at bid price : 20.05
Bid-YTW : 5.97 %
SLF.PR.H FixedReset 1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 17.25
Bid-YTW : 7.83 %
RY.PR.H FixedReset 1.13 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 18.86
Evaluated at bid price : 18.86
Bid-YTW : 4.31 %
SLF.PR.B Deemed-Retractible 1.17 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.63
Bid-YTW : 6.82 %
BAM.PF.A FixedReset 1.19 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 18.72
Evaluated at bid price : 18.72
Bid-YTW : 5.13 %
GWO.PR.G Deemed-Retractible 1.20 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.85
Bid-YTW : 6.48 %
BAM.PR.Z FixedReset 1.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 18.98
Evaluated at bid price : 18.98
Bid-YTW : 5.16 %
SLF.PR.D Deemed-Retractible 1.25 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.25
Bid-YTW : 7.34 %
POW.PR.D Perpetual-Discount 1.25 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 21.55
Evaluated at bid price : 21.81
Bid-YTW : 5.74 %
RY.PR.Z FixedReset 1.29 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 18.87
Evaluated at bid price : 18.87
Bid-YTW : 4.27 %
CU.PR.F Perpetual-Discount 1.32 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 20.01
Evaluated at bid price : 20.01
Bid-YTW : 5.69 %
FTS.PR.K FixedReset 1.35 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 16.57
Evaluated at bid price : 16.57
Bid-YTW : 4.65 %
NA.PR.S FixedReset 1.35 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 19.50
Evaluated at bid price : 19.50
Bid-YTW : 4.36 %
BMO.PR.T FixedReset 1.37 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 18.50
Evaluated at bid price : 18.50
Bid-YTW : 4.38 %
TD.PF.B FixedReset 1.39 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 18.90
Evaluated at bid price : 18.90
Bid-YTW : 4.30 %
TRP.PR.F FloatingReset 1.40 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 13.00
Evaluated at bid price : 13.00
Bid-YTW : 4.47 %
BNS.PR.P FixedReset 1.42 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.21
Bid-YTW : 3.73 %
GWO.PR.Q Deemed-Retractible 1.46 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.90
Bid-YTW : 6.40 %
GWO.PR.P Deemed-Retractible 1.50 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.75
Bid-YTW : 6.15 %
RY.PR.N Perpetual-Discount 1.50 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 22.61
Evaluated at bid price : 22.94
Bid-YTW : 5.47 %
PWF.PR.K Perpetual-Discount 1.52 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 21.85
Evaluated at bid price : 22.09
Bid-YTW : 5.69 %
BAM.PR.N Perpetual-Discount 1.62 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 20.06
Evaluated at bid price : 20.06
Bid-YTW : 5.96 %
BAM.PR.T FixedReset 1.65 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 16.01
Evaluated at bid price : 16.01
Bid-YTW : 5.07 %
MFC.PR.G FixedReset 1.68 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.14
Bid-YTW : 6.01 %
GWO.PR.I Deemed-Retractible 1.69 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.10
Bid-YTW : 6.82 %
FTS.PR.F Perpetual-Discount 1.85 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 21.75
Evaluated at bid price : 22.00
Bid-YTW : 5.62 %
BAM.PR.R FixedReset 1.89 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 15.60
Evaluated at bid price : 15.60
Bid-YTW : 5.10 %
SLF.PR.E Deemed-Retractible 1.93 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.62
Bid-YTW : 7.14 %
SLF.PR.A Deemed-Retractible 2.03 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.58
Bid-YTW : 6.79 %
GWO.PR.S Deemed-Retractible 2.05 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.35
Bid-YTW : 6.23 %
MFC.PR.B Deemed-Retractible 2.10 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.40
Bid-YTW : 6.82 %
POW.PR.B Perpetual-Discount 2.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 23.09
Evaluated at bid price : 23.35
Bid-YTW : 5.74 %
MFC.PR.N FixedReset 2.25 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.56
Bid-YTW : 6.68 %
SLF.PR.C Deemed-Retractible 2.26 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.40
Bid-YTW : 7.23 %
PWF.PR.P FixedReset 2.30 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 14.68
Evaluated at bid price : 14.68
Bid-YTW : 4.17 %
MFC.PR.M FixedReset 2.35 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.00
Bid-YTW : 6.46 %
SLF.PR.J FloatingReset 2.40 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 12.80
Bid-YTW : 9.97 %
FTS.PR.G FixedReset 2.43 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 16.85
Evaluated at bid price : 16.85
Bid-YTW : 4.60 %
RY.PR.D Deemed-Retractible 2.55 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.90
Bid-YTW : 4.68 %
FTS.PR.J Perpetual-Discount 2.62 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 21.55
Evaluated at bid price : 21.55
Bid-YTW : 5.58 %
TRP.PR.E FixedReset 2.63 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 17.55
Evaluated at bid price : 17.55
Bid-YTW : 4.81 %
TRP.PR.A FixedReset 2.69 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 14.90
Evaluated at bid price : 14.90
Bid-YTW : 4.79 %
TRP.PR.C FixedReset 2.86 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 12.21
Evaluated at bid price : 12.21
Bid-YTW : 4.76 %
FTS.PR.H FixedReset 2.93 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 13.35
Evaluated at bid price : 13.35
Bid-YTW : 4.34 %
GWO.PR.H Deemed-Retractible 3.03 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.09
Bid-YTW : 6.58 %
HSE.PR.E FixedReset 3.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 21.66
Evaluated at bid price : 22.00
Bid-YTW : 5.00 %
SLF.PR.I FixedReset 3.39 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.85
Bid-YTW : 6.67 %
MFC.PR.C Deemed-Retractible 3.49 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.76
Bid-YTW : 7.07 %
TRP.PR.D FixedReset 3.61 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 17.20
Evaluated at bid price : 17.20
Bid-YTW : 4.83 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
IFC.PR.C FixedReset 71,388 Scotia crossed 54,900 at 18.30.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.66
Bid-YTW : 7.36 %
TRP.PR.D FixedReset 58,645 TD crossed 30,000 at 17.21.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 17.20
Evaluated at bid price : 17.20
Bid-YTW : 4.83 %
TRP.PR.E FixedReset 52,342 TD crossed 30,000 at 18.00.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 17.55
Evaluated at bid price : 17.55
Bid-YTW : 4.81 %
MFC.PR.K FixedReset 50,050 Scotia crossed 39,200 at 18.55.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.58
Bid-YTW : 7.16 %
BMO.PR.R FloatingReset 49,700 RBC crossed 48,400 at 21.60.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.70
Bid-YTW : 4.46 %
BMO.PR.K Deemed-Retractible 34,388 Scotia crossed 25,000 at 25.54.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2016-11-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.38
Bid-YTW : 4.37 %
There were 39 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
IAG.PR.G FixedReset Quote: 20.17 – 20.95
Spot Rate : 0.7800
Average : 0.5161

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.17
Bid-YTW : 6.61 %

FTS.PR.H FixedReset Quote: 13.35 – 13.95
Spot Rate : 0.6000
Average : 0.4362

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 13.35
Evaluated at bid price : 13.35
Bid-YTW : 4.34 %

PVS.PR.D SplitShare Quote: 23.80 – 24.20
Spot Rate : 0.4000
Average : 0.2954

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2021-10-08
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.80
Bid-YTW : 5.53 %

MFC.PR.K FixedReset Quote: 18.58 – 18.92
Spot Rate : 0.3400
Average : 0.2380

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.58
Bid-YTW : 7.16 %

PWF.PR.T FixedReset Quote: 22.01 – 22.40
Spot Rate : 0.3900
Average : 0.2923

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 21.73
Evaluated at bid price : 22.01
Bid-YTW : 3.81 %

POW.PR.G Perpetual-Discount Quote: 24.16 – 24.50
Spot Rate : 0.3400
Average : 0.2489

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-30
Maturity Price : 23.69
Evaluated at bid price : 24.16
Bid-YTW : 5.79 %

Market Action

September 29, 2015

There are high level worries about the Hong Kong property market:

Hong Kong home prices are the highest relative to shares of the city’s publicly-traded developers in almost two decades. For Bocom International Holdings Co. analyst Alfred Lau, that’s a sign that the property market’s about to drop as much as 20 percent.

While home values kept rising in August, sales showed signs of a slowdown. The number of transactions tumbled 37 percent from a year earlier amid concern about China’s economic outlook and the prospect of higher borrowing costs as the Federal Reserve prepares to raise interest rates. Analysts including JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Cusson Leung and Morgan Stanley’s Praveen K. Choudhary are calling for Hong Kong property prices to slide as much as 10 percent next year.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a report Friday the risk of a “downward adjustment” in home prices is increasing amid volatility in global and domestic financial markets.

One wonders what implications that will have for Vancouver and, to a lesser extent, for Toronto.

We may see more rights offerings in Canada:

On September 24, 2015, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced the adoption of a streamlined prospectus-exempt rights offering process, which is aimed at providing reporting issuers with greater access to this prospectus exemption. Rights offerings permit issuers to distribute to their existing securityholders rights to purchase securities, generally at a discount to the prevailing market price. These offerings are often viewed as a fair way to raise capital because they protect existing investors from dilution. The rights offering prospectus exemption has historically not been frequently used in Canada, owing to the time and cost associated with the current regime. Under the new regime, none of the materials provided to securityholders will be reviewed by regulators prior to their use, substantially reducing the time frame in which an issuer can complete a rights offering. The new rights offering prospectus exemption will be available only to reporting issuers (other than investment funds) issuing an existing class of securities.

The process for completing a rights offering under the streamlined new prospectus exemption and the required documentation are set out below.

  • •Prior to the commencement of the exercise period for the rights, the issuer files a rights offering notice on SEDAR and sends it to all securityholders resident in Canada holding the class of securities to be issued on the exercise of the rights. The notice contains only basic information about the offering, such as the size of the offering, the steps required to participate in the offering and how to access the rights offering circular electronically. The CSA does not expect a rights offering notice to be longer than two pages.
  • •Concurrently with the filing of the rights offering notice, the issuer files a rights offering circular on SEDAR (the issuer is not required to send the circular to securityholders). The rights offering circular includes, in question-and-answer format, limited disclosure regarding the distribution, such as information relating to the particulars of the offering, the sources and uses of funds available after the offering and insider participation in the offering. The issuer must also disclose in the circular any material facts or material changes that have not yet been disclosed and include a statement that there are no undisclosed material facts or materials changes in respect of the issuer. The circular also must be certified not to contain a misrepresentation by the issuer’s CEO, CFO and two of its directors. The CSA does not expect a rights offering circular to be longer than 10 pages.
  • •The exercise period for the rights must be at least 21 days but not more than 90 days.
  • •On the closing date of the offering, the issuer must issue and file on SEDAR a news release setting out, among other things, the aggregate proceeds of the distribution and the number of securities issued under the basic subscription privilege, any additional subscription privilege and stand-by commitment.

Under this new rights offering prospectus exemption, the permitted dilution under an exempt rights offering will be increased from the current 25% to 100% in any 12-month period, which should make the exemption more attractive to smaller issuers. Rights offerings that result in greater dilution will have to be conducted by way of a prospectus.

We expect that the new rights offering prospectus exemption will be well received by reporting issuers because it should reduce the time and cost associated with rights offerings, thereby making such offerings a more practical means of raising capital. Issuers that are not reporting issuers and that wish to raise capital from existing securityholders will now have to rely on the existing shareholder exemption or one of the other exemptions available under Canadian provincial securities laws, such as the accredited investor exemption or the private issuer exemption.

DBRS downgraded 31 European banks due to removal of systemic support:

DBRS Ratings Limited and DBRS Inc., collectively DBRS, have downgraded the senior debt and deposit ratings of 31 banking groups in Europe that had previously benefited from some uplift for systemic support. The short-term debt ratings of 13 banking groups were also downgraded. At the same time, positive fundamental trends have led to an upgrade of the Intrinsic Assessment of 10 banks, which has offset the removal of support uplift for these banks.

These rating actions conclude the reviews that were initiated on 20 May 2015. They reflect DBRS’s view that developments in European regulation and legislation mean that there is less certainty about the likelihood of timely systemic support. Overall, DBRS views this as negative for European banks’ senior bondholders, whilst noting that certain fundamental improvements – particularly in capitalisation – have offset some of the impact from these developments.

DBRS has reviewed and changed the support assessment for 46 banking groups to reflect DBRS’s view of the reduction in the predictability of systemic support. This has led to the removal of systemic support uplift from the senior debt ratings for a total of 31 banking groups, removing 1 notch of uplift from 29 banks and 2 notches of uplift from 2 banks. At the same time the Intrinsic Assessments (IAs) of 10 banks were raised by 1 notch, offsetting the impact of the removal of support uplift. In addition, the senior debt ratings of 5 banks were unaffected by the change in the support assessment, because their Intrinsic Assessments were already at the same level as or higher than the respective sovereign rating.

HSBC Holdings and hence HSBC Bank Canada, proud issuer of HSB.PR.C and HSB.PR.D, was caught in the sweep but preferred share ratings are unaffected:

DBRS Limited (collectively with DBRS Ratings Limited and DBRS Inc., DBRS) has today downgraded the Long-Term Deposits and Senior Debt of HSBC Bank Canada to A (high) from AA (low) and its Subordinated Debt ratings to “A” from A (high). The trend is now Stable. Today’s rating actions follow DBRS’s lowering of the ratings of HSBC Holdings plc, HSBC Bank Canada’s ultimate parent. DBRS has also removed the ratings from Under Review with Negative Implications, where they were placed on May 20, 2015. There is no change to the Short-Term Instruments rating nor to the Non-Cumulative Preferred Shares Class I rating of HSBC Bank Canada as a result of today’s actions.

Today’s rating actions are driven by DBRS’s having downgraded the senior debt and deposit ratings of a number of banking groups in Europe, including HSBC Holdings plc, that had previously benefited from some uplift for systemic support. These rating actions conclude the review that was initiated on May 20, 2015, and reflect DBRS’s view that developments in European regulation and legislation mean that there is less certainty about the likelihood of timely systemic support. Given HSBC Bank Canada’s position in HSBC’s global franchise, DBRS has assigned an SA1 designation to the bank, which implies strong and predictable support from the parent, should it be required. As a supported rating with a SA1 designation, HSBC Bank Canada’s rating will generally move in tandem with HSBC Holdings plc’s rating.

As part of a continuing series on well-known Canadian preferred share investors, PrefBlog proudly introduces the Wicked Witch of the East:

WWEHouse
Click for Big

In a startling turn of events, not all classes of Canadian preferred share had a bad day today, as PerpetualDiscounts were off 23bp, FixedResets down 69bp and DeemedRetractibles gained 12bp. The Performance Highlights table continues to be absurdly long. Volume was very high.

For as long as the FixedReset market is so violently unsettled, I’ll keep publishing updates of the more interesting and meaningful series of FixedResets’ Implied Volatilities. This doesn’t include Enbridge because although Enbridge has a large number of issues outstanding, all of which are quite liquid, the range of Issue Reset Spreads is too small for decent conclusions. The low is 212bp (ENB.PR.H; second-lowest is ENB.PR.D at 237bp) and the high is a mere 268 for ENB.PF.G.

Remember that all rich /cheap assessments are:
» based on Implied Volatility Theory only
» are relative only to other FixedResets from the same issuer
» assume constant GOC-5 yield
» assume constant Implied Volatility
» assume constant spread

Here’s TRP:

impVol_TRP_150929
Click for Big

Implied Volatility jumped again today.

TRP.PR.B, which resets 2020-6-30 at +235, is bid at 11.67 to be $0.55 rich, while TRP.PR.C, resetting 2016-1-30 at +164, is $0.64 cheap at its bid price of 11.87.

impVol_MFC_150929
Click for Big

Another good fit today for MFC, with Implied Volatility edging upward.

Most expensive is MFC.PR.H, resetting at +313bp on 2017-3-19, bid at 22.75 to be 0.48 rich, while MFC.PR.G, resetting at +290bp on 2016-12-19, is bid at 20.79 to be 0.73 cheap.

impVol_BAM_150929
Click for Big

The fit on the BAM issues continues to be horrible. Note that the pending new issue has been added with a price of 25.00; the valuation effects of the rate floor have been ignored.

The cheapest issue relative to its peers is BAM.PR.R, resetting at +230bp on 2016-6-30, bid at 15.30 to be $0.77 cheap. BAM.PF.G, resetting at +284bp on 2020-6-30 is bid at 19.90 and appears to be $1.02 rich.

impVol_FTS_150929
Click for Big

FTS.PR.M, with a spread of +248bp, and bid at 19.65, looks $0.65 expensive and resets 2019-12-1. FTS.PR.G, with a spread of +213bp and resetting 2018-9-1, is bid at 16.45 and is $0.51 cheap.

pairs_FR_150929
Click for Big

Investment-grade pairs predict an average three-month bill yield over the next five-odd years of -1.03%, with one outlier above 0.00%. The distribution is bimodal, with bank NVCC non-compliant pairs averaging -1.46% and other issues averaging -0.43%. There are two junk outliers above 0.00%.

pairs_FF_150929
Click for Big

Shall we just say that this exhibits a high level of confidence in the continued rapacity of Canadian banks?

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 -0.5999 % 1,649.7
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.5999 % 2,884.4
Floater 4.50 % 4.54 % 61,917 16.33 3 -0.5999 % 1,753.7
OpRet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0129 % 2,761.4
SplitShare 4.50 % 4.73 % 64,991 3.02 4 0.0129 % 3,236.2
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0129 % 2,525.0
Perpetual-Premium 5.83 % 5.88 % 68,604 13.98 8 -0.2162 % 2,459.8
Perpetual-Discount 5.72 % 5.78 % 71,482 14.18 30 -0.2278 % 2,487.9
FixedReset 5.19 % 4.71 % 179,113 15.19 75 -0.6938 % 1,960.5
Deemed-Retractible 5.27 % 5.15 % 97,431 5.46 33 0.1216 % 2,520.7
FloatingReset 2.65 % 4.55 % 62,346 5.83 9 -0.5407 % 2,055.8
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
BAM.PF.B FixedReset -4.86 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 17.61
Evaluated at bid price : 17.61
Bid-YTW : 5.11 %
BIP.PR.A FixedReset -4.51 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 20.10
Evaluated at bid price : 20.10
Bid-YTW : 5.49 %
SLF.PR.I FixedReset -3.52 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.20
Bid-YTW : 7.12 %
TRP.PR.D FixedReset -2.92 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 16.60
Evaluated at bid price : 16.60
Bid-YTW : 5.01 %
BAM.PF.A FixedReset -2.89 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 18.50
Evaluated at bid price : 18.50
Bid-YTW : 5.20 %
MFC.PR.K FixedReset -2.73 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.52
Bid-YTW : 7.20 %
BAM.PR.Z FixedReset -2.60 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 18.75
Evaluated at bid price : 18.75
Bid-YTW : 5.22 %
BMO.PR.T FixedReset -2.51 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 18.25
Evaluated at bid price : 18.25
Bid-YTW : 4.44 %
BAM.PF.F FixedReset -2.35 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 19.50
Evaluated at bid price : 19.50
Bid-YTW : 4.94 %
SLF.PR.J FloatingReset -2.34 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 12.50
Bid-YTW : 10.27 %
TRP.PR.E FixedReset -2.29 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 17.10
Evaluated at bid price : 17.10
Bid-YTW : 4.94 %
BAM.PR.R FixedReset -2.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 15.31
Evaluated at bid price : 15.31
Bid-YTW : 5.20 %
RY.PR.I FixedReset -2.21 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.47
Bid-YTW : 4.35 %
TRP.PR.F FloatingReset -2.14 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 12.82
Evaluated at bid price : 12.82
Bid-YTW : 4.53 %
RY.PR.D Deemed-Retractible -2.10 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.28
Bid-YTW : 5.15 %
CU.PR.C FixedReset -2.06 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 19.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.00
Bid-YTW : 4.32 %
BAM.PR.N Perpetual-Discount -2.03 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 19.74
Evaluated at bid price : 19.74
Bid-YTW : 6.06 %
MFC.PR.H FixedReset -1.98 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.75
Bid-YTW : 5.31 %
IAG.PR.G FixedReset -1.93 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.30
Bid-YTW : 6.52 %
BAM.PR.K Floater -1.79 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 10.40
Evaluated at bid price : 10.40
Bid-YTW : 4.55 %
MFC.PR.G FixedReset -1.75 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.79
Bid-YTW : 6.23 %
BAM.PF.G FixedReset -1.73 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 19.90
Evaluated at bid price : 19.90
Bid-YTW : 4.86 %
TD.PF.F Perpetual-Discount -1.69 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 22.41
Evaluated at bid price : 22.71
Bid-YTW : 5.48 %
TD.PF.E FixedReset -1.61 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 21.40
Evaluated at bid price : 21.40
Bid-YTW : 4.34 %
TRP.PR.G FixedReset -1.58 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 19.26
Evaluated at bid price : 19.26
Bid-YTW : 4.93 %
FTS.PR.H FixedReset -1.44 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 12.97
Evaluated at bid price : 12.97
Bid-YTW : 4.47 %
MFC.PR.F FixedReset -1.40 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 14.10
Bid-YTW : 9.56 %
TRP.PR.A FixedReset -1.36 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 14.51
Evaluated at bid price : 14.51
Bid-YTW : 4.92 %
MFC.PR.J FixedReset -1.35 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.50
Bid-YTW : 6.18 %
CU.PR.F Perpetual-Discount -1.25 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 19.75
Evaluated at bid price : 19.75
Bid-YTW : 5.77 %
BNS.PR.P FixedReset -1.20 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.87
Bid-YTW : 3.98 %
BAM.PR.M Perpetual-Discount -1.20 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 19.83
Evaluated at bid price : 19.83
Bid-YTW : 6.03 %
PWF.PR.P FixedReset -1.17 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 14.35
Evaluated at bid price : 14.35
Bid-YTW : 4.27 %
HSE.PR.E FixedReset -1.16 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 21.35
Evaluated at bid price : 21.35
Bid-YTW : 5.17 %
PWF.PR.O Perpetual-Premium -1.14 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 24.78
Evaluated at bid price : 25.07
Bid-YTW : 5.88 %
ELF.PR.G Perpetual-Discount -1.13 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 21.01
Evaluated at bid price : 21.01
Bid-YTW : 5.67 %
POW.PR.C Perpetual-Premium -1.12 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 24.49
Evaluated at bid price : 24.72
Bid-YTW : 5.88 %
HSE.PR.A FixedReset -1.05 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 13.22
Evaluated at bid price : 13.22
Bid-YTW : 4.90 %
IFC.PR.A FixedReset -1.03 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 15.34
Bid-YTW : 9.40 %
PWF.PR.L Perpetual-Discount -1.01 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 22.20
Evaluated at bid price : 22.47
Bid-YTW : 5.76 %
BMO.PR.Y FixedReset -1.01 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 20.61
Evaluated at bid price : 20.61
Bid-YTW : 4.44 %
GWO.PR.N FixedReset 1.08 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 14.10
Bid-YTW : 9.24 %
GWO.PR.L Deemed-Retractible 1.08 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.31
Bid-YTW : 6.08 %
MFC.PR.L FixedReset 1.14 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.66
Bid-YTW : 7.20 %
GWO.PR.R Deemed-Retractible 1.27 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.52
Bid-YTW : 6.88 %
W.PR.H Perpetual-Discount 1.38 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 23.20
Evaluated at bid price : 23.50
Bid-YTW : 5.86 %
CM.PR.Q FixedReset 1.41 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 20.80
Evaluated at bid price : 20.80
Bid-YTW : 4.30 %
PWF.PR.F Perpetual-Discount 1.72 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 22.71
Evaluated at bid price : 23.00
Bid-YTW : 5.80 %
RY.PR.J FixedReset 1.80 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 20.40
Evaluated at bid price : 20.40
Bid-YTW : 4.39 %
BMO.PR.Z Perpetual-Discount 1.80 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 22.83
Evaluated at bid price : 23.21
Bid-YTW : 5.46 %
NA.PR.S FixedReset 1.80 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 19.24
Evaluated at bid price : 19.24
Bid-YTW : 4.42 %
RY.PR.F Deemed-Retractible 1.92 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.98
Bid-YTW : 4.57 %
FTS.PR.K FixedReset 2.12 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 16.35
Evaluated at bid price : 16.35
Bid-YTW : 4.71 %
HSE.PR.C FixedReset 2.31 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 20.80
Evaluated at bid price : 20.80
Bid-YTW : 4.90 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
FTS.PR.F Perpetual-Discount 137,700 Desjardins crossed 135,400 at 21.75.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 21.33
Evaluated at bid price : 21.60
Bid-YTW : 5.73 %
MFC.PR.G FixedReset 91,136 Desjardins bought two blocks from RBC, 66,700 and 10,700, both at 20.85.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.79
Bid-YTW : 6.23 %
TD.PR.Y FixedReset 67,277 Desjardins crossed 56,200 at 24.30.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.11
Bid-YTW : 3.78 %
CU.PR.I FixedReset 64,000 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 23.15
Evaluated at bid price : 25.00
Bid-YTW : 4.41 %
GWO.PR.S Deemed-Retractible 56,011 RBC crossed 38,900 at 22.80.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.88
Bid-YTW : 6.52 %
BNS.PR.A FloatingReset 47,890 TD crossed 44,100 at 22.20.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.33
Bid-YTW : 4.40 %
There were 58 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
RY.PR.D Deemed-Retractible Quote: 24.28 – 24.94
Spot Rate : 0.6600
Average : 0.4225

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.28
Bid-YTW : 5.15 %

TRP.PR.E FixedReset Quote: 17.10 – 17.90
Spot Rate : 0.8000
Average : 0.6233

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 17.10
Evaluated at bid price : 17.10
Bid-YTW : 4.94 %

RY.PR.I FixedReset Quote: 23.47 – 23.98
Spot Rate : 0.5100
Average : 0.3404

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.47
Bid-YTW : 4.35 %

W.PR.J Perpetual-Discount Quote: 23.25 – 24.00
Spot Rate : 0.7500
Average : 0.5852

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 22.98
Evaluated at bid price : 23.25
Bid-YTW : 6.03 %

BNS.PR.P FixedReset Quote: 23.87 – 24.30
Spot Rate : 0.4300
Average : 0.2787

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.87
Bid-YTW : 3.98 %

PWF.PR.O Perpetual-Premium Quote: 25.07 – 25.50
Spot Rate : 0.4300
Average : 0.2882

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-29
Maturity Price : 24.78
Evaluated at bid price : 25.07
Bid-YTW : 5.88 %

Press Clippings

Why preferred shares just got pounded – again

John Heinzl was kind enough to quote me in his recent Globe piece, Why preferred shares just got pounded – again:

When Brookfield Asset Management (a.k.a. BAM) announced a $250-million rate-reset preferred-share issue last week, the sell-off that ensued was extreme, even for the beaten-up preferred-share space.

“It was total carnage,” said preferred-share expert James Hymas, president of Hymas Investment Management in Toronto.

“A big fat yield like that could well have caused some repricing of the market as a whole,” Mr. Hymas wrote on his PrefBlog.com.

In an interview, Mr. Hymas said it’s unlikely the provision will even come into play because he expects the five-year Canada yield will rise – not fall – from its current depressed levels. Still, given the jangled nerves of investors who have watched the S&P/TSX preferred-share index plunge about 24 per cent this year (excluding dividends), Brookfield and Canadian Utilities may well have set a precedent.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult for the next while to come out with an issue that does not offer a floor,” he said.

After such an extended drop, is it finally safe to invest in preferreds? Certainly, the market has fooled everyone who has called a bottom so far. Given the unpredictable and complex nature of many preferred shares and the propensity for retail investors (who dominate the preferred space) to panic at the first hint of volatility, the market could well tumble again.

But with prices down so sharply – and yields up as a result – Mr. Hymas is seeing some compelling values emerge among rate-resets and straight perpetuals, particularly when the dividend tax credit is taken into account. His advice to anyone thinking about buying preferred shares: Allocate no more than half of your fixed-income holdings to preferreds, and focus on the long-term income they produce, not the price.

Market Action

September 28, 2015

Here’s a story that brings together two themes frequently highlighted on PrefBlog – the difficulty of pricing corporate bonds and the incompetence of traders as investors:

Canada’s C$112 billion ($84 billion) Public Sector Pension Investment Board sued Saba in New York state court on Friday, saying the firm “artificially manipulated” the value of its investment by marking down a significant portion of the fund’s portfolio after the retirement plan asked for all its money back, only to boost the value of the assets the following month.

The lawsuit is another setback to Weinstein, 42, the former co-chief of Deutsche Bank AG’s credit business, who posted three straight years of losses before making 5.2 percent this year through August. Assets at New York-based Saba, which Weinstein started in 2009, have slumped more than two-thirds from a peak of $5.5 billion three years ago and some senior partners have left the firm.

The pension board, represented by law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, said it asked Saba for its money back at the end of the first quarter after the fund couldn’t explain why it had suffered losses, and rejected a request to return its capital in three installments to keep other investors from finding out.

At the time, Saba held McClatchy Co. bonds that were hard to sell, according to the suit. The pension fund claimed that Saba changed the way it priced the debt before it returned the money. Normally, the hedge fund would use independent pricing services or brokers who regularly traded the bonds and had valued them at 50 cents to 60 cents on the dollar.

Instead, the retirement plan said Saba used a different process, which “purportedly produced materially depressed bids,” pricing the bonds at 31 cents as of March 31. Within a month, Saba returned to its usual pricing methodology and the bonds were marked in the 50s, the pension plan said.

Increasing the Fed Funds rate won’t be easy for the Fed:

In the past, the central bank kept the fed funds rate at or near the target chosen by policy makers by injecting or draining bank reserves from the system via the New York Fed’s trading desk. The amounts of cash involved were small and the Fed was pretty good at hitting its desired rate. Not anymore.

Three rounds of so-called quantitative easing from 2008 to 2014, in which the Fed bought bonds to support the economy, has swamped banks with cash — deposited with them by investors who sold bonds to the Fed. That added $2.6 trillion of reserves in excess of requirements to banks’ accounts held at the Fed. It also boosted the size of the Fed’s own balance sheet to $4.5 trillion, a five-fold increase from pre-crisis levels.

With so much cash and little need for banks to borrow in the fed funds market, the Fed has lost the ability to lift the funds rate in the way that it did before the crisis. It has also decided for now against selling the bonds back to investors, which would shrink its own balance sheet and extinguish the excess reserves.

Their main innovation, an overnight reverse repurchase agreement facility, is a powerful solution, but heavy usage may cause problems for banks trying to comply with new regulations installed in the wake of the financial crisis, said Zoltan Pozsar, director of U.S. economics at Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC in New York.

The facility promises to drain reserves from the banks by encouraging investors to withdraw the deposits created when they sold bonds to the Fed, and place the cash in money-market mutual funds.

Through overnight reverse repos, the Fed can borrow the cash from money funds at a specified rate and post securities as collateral, unwinding the trades the next day. In effect, the Fed will be borrowing back the money it created to buy the bonds while cutting out the middlemen in the banking system.

The problem: Banks aren’t sure exactly how much of their deposits they will cede to money-market funds once the Fed starts raising rates, or whose money or how fast. All of those things are important to understand for banks trying to stay in compliance with the liquidity coverage ratio, a major new pillar of global post-crisis banking regulation.

The liquidity rule requires banks to hold more cash and other “high-quality liquid assets” like Treasuries and government-backed mortgage bonds against their deposit base to protect themselves from runs. Because they can hold less cash against retail deposits than investor deposits, they will probably raise retail-deposit rates aggressively to hang on to these customers, according to [director of U.S. economics at Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC in New York Zoltan] Pozsar, who previously studied the plumbing of the post-crisis financial system in positions at the New York Fed and U.S. Treasury.

“They are going to fight for retail deposits like you’ve never seen them fight for retail deposits before,” Pozsar said. “That is going to be basically the defining feature of this hiking cycle.”

The upshot: Credit will become more expensive faster than in previous tightening cycles as banks pass higher deposit costs on to borrowers in an effort to maintain profitability.

In another article:

In a recent note, Credit Suisse analysts Zoltan Pozsar and James Sweeney highlight the potential impact on bank deposits and the potential for turbulence as the Fed approaches its “historic liftoff from the zero lower bound.” At issue are the non-operating accounts held by big institutional investors, which the analysts estimate equate to about 60 percent of the $1.1 trillion in deposits held by U.S. financial institutions.

For banks with lots of HQLA reserves and high-quality assets, the prospect of a bunch of hot money departing for the greener pastures of money market funds may not prove very worrisome. In fact, as deposits depart, such banks may find their balance sheets benefiting from a surplus of capital with which they can do all sorts of amusing things, such as buy back their stock and debt or (gasp!) raise deposit rates.

But for banks that haven’t loaded up on stickier funding or higher-quality assets to offset their non-operating deposits, well, things have the potential to become more interesting. As Pozsar and Sweeney put it: “A rising tide – rising interest rates – may not lift all boats as is typically the case during hiking cycles.”

Banks whose non-operating deposits eclipse their reserves do have a few levers they can pull to try to stem outflows, including paying depositors higher rates or lending out securities from their HQLA portfolios. But the point here should be clear. Two grand experiments, one conducted in the technical backwaters of monetary policy and the other operating in the realm of new banking rules, are about to collide.

So how to get new deposits? Here’s one way:

Since the 1950s, the U.K. has been issuing “premium bonds” that come with a chance to win a million-pound jackpot. An experiment at a South African bank 10 years ago boosted customers’ savings by 38 percent.

Now, D2D Fund, a nonprofit group focused on developing savings tools for low-income groups, has been pushing the idea in the U.S. It helped start “prize-linked savings” accounts at credit unions, which could take advantage of a loophole in federal law that allowed the contests. It also lobbied legislators to undo federal and state laws that banned cash giveaways by banks. President Barack Obama signed the American Savings Promotion Act on Dec. 18. A change in Virginia law took effect in July.

Brian Plum, Blue Ridge Bank’s 35-year-old president, was ready and waiting. He’d read about the concept last year and was eager to try it. He saw it as a way to help customers save more while also attracting new customers and new deposits to the $260-million asset bank.

Each month, the bank has a drawing with one $200 winner and four $50 winners. At the end of the year, it will give away a jackpot of $5,000. Customers get one drawing entry for every $25 increase in their account balance. To encourage savings, the bank allows only one withdrawal from a jackpot savings account per month, or else depositors pay a $5 withdrawal fee.

Another idea might be free toasters!

Bank of Montreal has released a report titled BMO Global Asset Management 2015 ETF Outlook, which is remarkable for its Panglossian insouciance regarding EFT liquidity:

Exchange traded funds have recently been in the news with questions about their liquidity. They have been called out as victims of their own success, growing rapidly and possibly outsizing less-liquid asset classes. The Volcker Rule, which restricts U.S. banks (and foreign banks operating in the United States) from engaging in certain types of speculative trading, may have caused fixed-income dealer trading inventory to drop. For asset classes like high yield bonds, this may mean less support from traditional sources like banks in the event of a liquidity crisis, leaving investors to wonder how an ETF will perform.

We believe all this attention is missing the point. Exchange traded funds are an access vehicle for an asset class – they provide additional benefits of liquidity, tradability, and diversification. This is particularly so for over-the-counter asset classes like bonds.

Investors looking for income, high returns, or portfolio benefits may decide high-yield bonds are appropriate. By trading an established ETF, the natural liquidity between buyers and sellers on the exchange may make the trade more efficient. If one investor is looking to buy and another is looking to sell, they can meet in the middle instead of each buying directly into the investment vehicle. Rather than sourcing bonds or buying into a fund with a daily opening, ETF investors can profit from intraday liquidity on the exchange and full transparency of trading costs through the market bid and ask prices. Importantly, ETFs are also backed by market makers who provide additional liquidity by holding and creating shares of the ETF. One-sided flows may affect the underlying asset classes in direct trading, but as market makers hedge their investment risk through the underlying holdings, the diversification across issues and issuers in ETFs reduces their impact.

As a test case of a market in crisis, we can look back to the high yield market in 2007. The liquidity crisis essentially froze trading in the underlying bonds. Meanwhile, as measured by SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (ticker JNK), ETFs continued to trade, acting as a price discovery vehicle for the asset class.

The ETF did trade at a significant discount of up to 8.7%, and later at a premium of up to 9.9%, which means the market price moved away from the net asset value (NAV). However, since the NAV was not reflecting actual bond trades, the ETF reflected the true value in the marketplace. Importantly, while trading spreads may have widened as a reflection of market uncertainty, investors that needed to buy or sell high yield bonds were able to do so via the ETF, rather than through the underlying portfolio.

The WSJ points out:

The downside: ETF investors can end up with a lower return than they expected if, for instance, they buy at a sizable premium to NAV but end up selling at a smaller one. This year, through June 30, JNK returned 6.1% based on its NAV but 5.8% based on its price, according to Morningstar. The gap is wider, 6.1% vs. 5.1%, for HYG.

… and as I noted on September 4:

So I’ll take solace in the growing recognition that circuit-breakers do not work as intended. Sadly, the response to ‘rules not working’ appears to be ‘more rules’:

When stocks were halted on Aug. 24, the result caused mayhem for many large ETFs because they became unmoored from their underlying share prices. The result was exaggerated swings in ETF prices, in excess of 40 per cent in some cases.

And, more seriously, Barclay’s musings reported on September 10, with the highlight:

The relationship between ETFs, funds and crisis liquidity has been a hot issue. Barclays weighs in with some musings on ‘first-mover’ advantage:

Illiquidity in corporate bonds would in theory spell bad news for bond funds that promise investors the ability to immediately get out of their positions. The concern here is that once investors get a whiff of an impending mass selloff in bonds, they could potentially rush for the exits to try to get ahead of it.

With liquidity already low, that could put massive pressure on debt prices. Those who manage to squeeze through the keyhole first get rewarded for their speed but end up exacerbating this downward spiral. The slowest investors, meanwhile, get left with a portfolio of bonds that’s potentially much reduced in price.

By how much, you ask? Barclays estimates about 2 percent for funds that hold junk-rated corporate debt (boldface ours):

It is disgraceful that BMO’s trained seals have not addressed these serious concerns forthrightly. But hey, this is Canada and the banks have a federally approved hegemony over the entire financial system, so suck it up.

Meanwhile, Silver Bullion Trust has released yet another vituperative letter to unitholders (emphasis from original):

As you may know, Sprott recently announced a fourth extension of their inadequate, hostile offer to acquire your Units. They have made no improvement to the terms of their offer, which is now set to expire on October 9, 2015. The reason for this latest extension is clear: despite bombarding Unitholders with a drawn out smear campaign against Silver Bullion Trust (“SBT”), its Trustees and its administrator, and despite paying brokers to convince their clients to tender, the vast majority of Unitholders have so far rejected Sprott’s offer. Sprott’s offer cannot succeed unless 662/3% of the Units are actually tendered, which has not been achieved.

Over the next few weeks, Sprott will undoubtedly continue to harass you and spread misinformation. Don’t be fooled, the facts haven’t changed: retaining your SBT Units remains a clearly superior alternative to Sprott’s inadequate offer, which is solely driven by their desperate desire to increase their assets under management and reverse the precipitous decline in their fee revenue, which has dropped by almost 40%1 since 2012.

There’s a new discussion paper out from the Bank of Canada, by Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Miguel Molico and Ben Tomlin titled On the Nexus of Monetary Policy and Financial Stability: Recent Developments and Research:

Because financial and macroeconomic conditions are tightly interconnected, financial stability considerations are an important element of any monetary policy framework. Yet, the circumstances under which it would be appropriate for the Bank to use monetary policy to lean against financial risks need to be more fully specified (Côté 2014). The extent to which financial stability concerns should be taken into account by monetary policy will be a priority topic of research at the Bank for the renewal of the inflation-control target agreement in 2016. This paper reviews four considerations of interest, taking stock of key domestic and international developments and knowledge gained over the past few years: (i) Canada and other countries have made significant progress in the implementation of micro- and macroprudential regulatory reforms, and limited existing research finds that most of these policies were effective in reducing the potential need for leaning by monetary policy; (ii) the effectiveness of the monetary policy transmission mechanism depends on the state of the financial system, implying that financial system conditions need to be taken into account by monetary policy; (iii) although exceptionally low interest rates and other forms of monetary stimulus are sometimes needed to support growth and achieve inflation-target mandates, they may lead to excessive risk-taking activities and therefore contribute to the buildup of financial imbalances; and (iv) coordination of monetary and macroprudential policies for dealing with imbalances may, in some circumstances, be beneficial. The paper concludes by identifying future areas of research to further clarify the role of monetary policy in addressing financial stability risks.

I haven’t had time to review this paper thoroughly yet, but a quick read gives me the impression it’s intended to provide a scrap of respectability for mission creep and central planning by our Wise Masters in Ottawa. Assiduous Readers will remember that “macroprudential” is the Central Planners’ jargon for credit rationing, as discussed in the post Ultra-low or negative interest rates: what they mean for financial stability and growth.

It was a pretty awful day for equities:

Evidence of industrial weakness in China renewed anxiety about a global slowdown, sending Freeport-McMoRan Inc. tumbling 9.1 percent as copper dropped to the lowest in a month. Energy shares lost 3.6 percent as oil prices slid. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index sank 6 percent following its worst week since 2011. Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. fell more than 3.8 percent as investors sold some of the year’s better performers. Alcoa Inc. rose 5.7 percent after saying it will split into two companies.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 2.6 percent to 1,881.77 at 4 p.m. in New York, down for a fifth consecutive session to the lowest since Aug. 25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 312.78 points, or 1.9 percent, to 16,001.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 3 percent, while the Russell 2000 Index slumped 2.9 percent to an 11-month low. About 8.4 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges Monday, 15 percent above the three-month average.

And even worse for commodities:

Investors are reacting to diminished demand from China and an end to the cheap-money era provided by the Federal Reserve. A Bloomberg index of commodity futures has fallen 50 percent since a 2011 high, and eight of the 10 worst performers in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index this year are commodities-related businesses.

Now it all seems to be coming apart at once. Alcoa Inc., the biggest U.S. aluminum producer, said it would break itself into two companies amid a glut stemming from booming production. Royal Dutch Shell Plc announced it would abandon its drilling campaign in U.S. Arctic waters after spending $7 billion. And the carnage culminated Monday with Glencore Plc, the commodities powerhouse that came to symbolize the era with its initial public offering in 2011 and bold acquisition of a rival in 2013, falling by as much as 31 percent in London trading.

And portfolio managers who live by the sword, die by the sword:

Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb, managers of the $7.8 billion Sequoia Fund, suffered a paper loss of about $1.2 billion after shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals plunged.

The drug maker fell as much as 20 percent after Democrats in the U.S. House asked to subpoena the company for documents relating to drug price increases, the latest move by politicians seeking to curb prices on acquired drugs.

Ruane Cunniff, Valeant’s largest owner, held 33.9 million shares of the drug company as of June 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Valeant fell $35.79, or 18 percent, in New York trading at 2:23 pm, which translates to a loss for the money manager of $1.21 billion. The calculation assumes the money manager has not added or sold shares.

Valeant represented 29 percent of the fund’s holdings as of June 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The fund outperformed 99 percent of rivals this year and 97 percent over the past five years.

Valeant shares, including reinvested dividends, have climbed almost seven-fold over the past five years.

And Fed officials are still jawboning the market:

The Federal Reserve will probably raise interest rates later this year and tighten policy gradually thereafter, New York Fed President William C. Dudley said, echoing the sentiment of Chair Janet Yellen that an uncertain global outlook won’t postpone liftoff into 2016.

“The economy is doing pretty well,” Dudley said Monday at an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal in New York. “My expectation is that we probably will raise interest rates later this year.” Dudley said he expected growth in the second half will be a little bit weaker than in the first half, when the U.S. grew around 2.25 percent on an annualized basis.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams, speaking later on Monday, made a similar argument. Their remarks line up with Yellen, who said Sept. 24 she felt it likely the Fed would increase rates this year for the first time in almost a decade.

Meanwhile, Canadian preferred share investors were having lunch with their brokers:

It was an incredibly awful day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts down 103bp, FixedResets losing an amazing 245bp and DeemedRetractibles off a mere 86bp. Let’s not even talk about the Performance Highlights table, it’s ridiculous. Volume was high.

PerpetualDiscounts now yield 5.76%, equivalent to 7.49% interest at the standard equivalency factor of 1.3x. Long corporates continue to yield about 4.2%, so the pre-tax interest-equivalent spread is now about 330bp. Let’s put that figure into perspective, shall we? I show only a five week period in the past fifteen years of Seniority Spreads exceeding this figure – from 2008-11-26 to 2018-12-24, inclusive. Spreads approached this figure in May, 2010, but did not breach the 330bp level.

We’ve also got FixedResets yield 4.77% … call it GOC-5 +400bp, give or take. This is ludicrous! In my listing of investment-grade FixedResets in the September PrefLetter, there was nothing with an Issue Reset Spread of as much as that; the highest spread was HSE.PR.E with a spread of +357. This has since been surpassed by the BAM new issue 5.00%+417M500, but still!

The market isn’t doing this on credit problems, or even concerns about credit problems, which would at least make some sense. I don’t know what’s driving this crash any more, although I can mutter nostrums such as ‘fear’ and ‘negative sentiment’ with the best of them. I have to think that this is an amazing buying opportunity … but as a buddy of mine used to like to say ‘One more buying opportunity … and I’ll be broke!’

For as long as the FixedReset market is so violently unsettled, I’ll keep publishing updates of the more interesting and meaningful series of FixedResets’ Implied Volatilities. This doesn’t include Enbridge because although Enbridge has a large number of issues outstanding, all of which are quite liquid, the range of Issue Reset Spreads is too small for decent conclusions. The low is 212bp (ENB.PR.H; second-lowest is ENB.PR.D at 237bp) and the high is a mere 268 for ENB.PF.G.

Remember that all rich /cheap assessments are:
» based on Implied Volatility Theory only
» are relative only to other FixedResets from the same issuer
» assume constant GOC-5 yield
» assume constant Implied Volatility
» assume constant spread

Here’s TRP:

impVol_TRP_150928
Click for Big

Implied Volatility jumped again today.

TRP.PR.E, which resets 2019-10-30 at +235, is bid at 17.50 to be $0.57 rich, while TRP.PR.C, resetting 2016-1-30 at +164, is $0.83 cheap at its bid price of 11.83.

impVol_MFC_150928
Click for Big

Another good fit today for MFC, with Implied Volatility jumping.

Most expensive is MFC.PR.H, resetting at +313bp on 2017-3-19, bid at 23.21 to be 0.71 rich, while MFC.PR.G, resetting at +290bp on 2016-12-19, is bid at 21.16 to be 0.57 cheap.

impVol_BAM_150928
Click for Big

The fit on the BAM issues continues to be horrible. Note that the pending new issue has been added with a price of 25.00; the valuation effects of the rate floor have been ignored.

The cheapest issue relative to its peers is BAM.PR.R, resetting at +230bp on 2016-6-30, bid at 15.70 to be $0.77 cheap. BAM.PF.G, resetting at +284bp on 2020-6-30 is bid at 20.25 and appears to be $1.00 rich.

impVol_FTS_150928
Click for Big

FTS.PR.M, with a spread of +248bp, and bid at 19.80, looks $0.79 expensive and resets 2019-12-1. FTS.PR.K, with a spread of +205bp and resetting 2019-3-1, is bid at 16.01 and is $0.50 cheap.

pairs_FR_150928
Click for Big

Investment-grade pairs predict an average three-month bill yield over the next five-odd years of -1.04%, with two outliers above 0.00%. The distribution’s bimodality has returned, with bank NVCC non-compliant pairs averaging -1.58% and other issues averaging -0.29%. There are two junk outliers above 0.00%.

pairs_FF_150928
Click for Big

Shall we just say that this exhibits a high level of confidence in the continued rapacity of Canadian banks?

Other Canadian preferred share investors were examining their statements:

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 0.3485 % 1,659.6
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.3485 % 2,901.8
Floater 4.48 % 4.47 % 61,062 16.48 3 0.3485 % 1,764.3
OpRet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.2130 % 2,761.0
SplitShare 4.50 % 4.92 % 65,822 3.03 4 -0.2130 % 3,235.7
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.2130 % 2,524.7
Perpetual-Premium 5.81 % 5.82 % 60,640 14.07 8 -0.9740 % 2,465.1
Perpetual-Discount 5.69 % 5.76 % 72,206 14.22 30 -1.0303 % 2,493.6
FixedReset 5.15 % 4.77 % 173,723 15.27 75 -2.4533 % 1,974.2
Deemed-Retractible 5.28 % 5.13 % 95,269 5.46 33 -0.8641 % 2,517.7
FloatingReset 2.63 % 4.46 % 61,997 5.84 9 -1.2200 % 2,067.0
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
TD.PF.D FixedReset -5.70 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 20.50
Evaluated at bid price : 20.50
Bid-YTW : 4.43 %
MFC.PR.L FixedReset -5.48 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.45
Bid-YTW : 7.35 %
TD.PF.E FixedReset -5.43 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.45
Evaluated at bid price : 21.75
Bid-YTW : 4.25 %
RY.PR.M FixedReset -5.32 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 19.74
Evaluated at bid price : 19.74
Bid-YTW : 4.42 %
MFC.PR.I FixedReset -5.31 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.05
Bid-YTW : 6.11 %
MFC.PR.G FixedReset -4.86 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.16
Bid-YTW : 6.00 %
CM.PR.Q FixedReset -4.83 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 20.51
Evaluated at bid price : 20.51
Bid-YTW : 4.36 %
RY.PR.J FixedReset -4.71 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 20.04
Evaluated at bid price : 20.04
Bid-YTW : 4.47 %
TD.PF.A FixedReset -4.62 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.60
Evaluated at bid price : 18.60
Bid-YTW : 4.39 %
BMO.PR.W FixedReset -4.61 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.22
Evaluated at bid price : 18.22
Bid-YTW : 4.41 %
TD.PF.B FixedReset -4.32 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.60
Evaluated at bid price : 18.60
Bid-YTW : 4.37 %
MFC.PR.J FixedReset -4.28 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.78
Bid-YTW : 6.00 %
TRP.PR.E FixedReset -4.28 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 17.50
Evaluated at bid price : 17.50
Bid-YTW : 4.82 %
RY.PR.H FixedReset -4.17 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.62
Evaluated at bid price : 18.62
Bid-YTW : 4.37 %
RY.PR.N Perpetual-Discount -4.06 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.37
Evaluated at bid price : 22.66
Bid-YTW : 5.54 %
BAM.PF.E FixedReset -4.05 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 17.75
Evaluated at bid price : 17.75
Bid-YTW : 5.12 %
CM.PR.O FixedReset -4.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.75
Evaluated at bid price : 18.75
Bid-YTW : 4.36 %
TRP.PR.D FixedReset -3.88 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 17.10
Evaluated at bid price : 17.10
Bid-YTW : 4.86 %
NA.PR.W FixedReset -3.84 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.27
Evaluated at bid price : 18.27
Bid-YTW : 4.48 %
CM.PR.P FixedReset -3.70 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 17.97
Evaluated at bid price : 17.97
Bid-YTW : 4.44 %
IFC.PR.C FixedReset -3.64 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.55
Bid-YTW : 7.44 %
NA.PR.S FixedReset -3.57 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.90
Evaluated at bid price : 18.90
Bid-YTW : 4.50 %
RY.PR.Z FixedReset -3.56 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.71
Evaluated at bid price : 18.71
Bid-YTW : 4.30 %
SLF.PR.H FixedReset -3.54 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 17.17
Bid-YTW : 7.89 %
TRP.PR.F FloatingReset -3.46 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 13.10
Evaluated at bid price : 13.10
Bid-YTW : 4.43 %
RY.PR.O Perpetual-Discount -3.45 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.28
Evaluated at bid price : 22.65
Bid-YTW : 5.49 %
BMO.PR.S FixedReset -3.40 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 19.01
Evaluated at bid price : 19.01
Bid-YTW : 4.36 %
MFC.PR.N FixedReset -3.40 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.03
Bid-YTW : 7.05 %
BNS.PR.D FloatingReset -3.38 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.60
Bid-YTW : 6.38 %
FTS.PR.H FixedReset -3.31 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 13.16
Evaluated at bid price : 13.16
Bid-YTW : 4.41 %
BMO.PR.Y FixedReset -3.30 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 20.82
Evaluated at bid price : 20.82
Bid-YTW : 4.39 %
FTS.PR.G FixedReset -3.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 16.50
Evaluated at bid price : 16.50
Bid-YTW : 4.69 %
PWF.PR.F Perpetual-Discount -3.21 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.34
Evaluated at bid price : 22.61
Bid-YTW : 5.90 %
MFC.PR.M FixedReset -3.19 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.44
Bid-YTW : 6.83 %
TD.PF.C FixedReset -3.13 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.26
Evaluated at bid price : 18.26
Bid-YTW : 4.45 %
BAM.PF.G FixedReset -3.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 20.25
Evaluated at bid price : 20.25
Bid-YTW : 4.77 %
FTS.PR.K FixedReset -2.97 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 16.01
Evaluated at bid price : 16.01
Bid-YTW : 4.82 %
GWO.PR.L Deemed-Retractible -2.83 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.05
Bid-YTW : 6.23 %
BAM.PF.F FixedReset -2.82 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 19.97
Evaluated at bid price : 19.97
Bid-YTW : 4.82 %
GWO.PR.I Deemed-Retractible -2.79 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.59
Bid-YTW : 7.16 %
MFC.PR.K FixedReset -2.76 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.04
Bid-YTW : 6.83 %
GWO.PR.R Deemed-Retractible -2.75 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.25
Bid-YTW : 7.06 %
MFC.PR.F FixedReset -2.72 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 14.30
Bid-YTW : 9.38 %
TRP.PR.B FixedReset -2.59 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 11.65
Evaluated at bid price : 11.65
Bid-YTW : 4.49 %
IAG.PR.G FixedReset -2.59 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.70
Bid-YTW : 6.25 %
BAM.PF.B FixedReset -2.58 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.51
Evaluated at bid price : 18.51
Bid-YTW : 4.85 %
TRP.PR.A FixedReset -2.52 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 14.71
Evaluated at bid price : 14.71
Bid-YTW : 4.85 %
PWF.PR.R Perpetual-Premium -2.51 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 23.64
Evaluated at bid price : 24.10
Bid-YTW : 5.79 %
VNR.PR.A FixedReset -2.49 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.40
Evaluated at bid price : 18.40
Bid-YTW : 5.11 %
GWO.PR.H Deemed-Retractible -2.42 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.37
Bid-YTW : 7.03 %
TRP.PR.G FixedReset -2.39 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 19.57
Evaluated at bid price : 19.57
Bid-YTW : 4.85 %
BMO.PR.Z Perpetual-Discount -2.31 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.48
Evaluated at bid price : 22.80
Bid-YTW : 5.56 %
GWO.PR.G Deemed-Retractible -2.30 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.52
Bid-YTW : 6.68 %
POW.PR.B Perpetual-Discount -2.26 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.69
Evaluated at bid price : 22.93
Bid-YTW : 5.84 %
MFC.PR.B Deemed-Retractible -2.25 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.82
Bid-YTW : 7.20 %
MFC.PR.C Deemed-Retractible -2.15 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.01
Bid-YTW : 7.58 %
RY.PR.F Deemed-Retractible -2.12 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.51
Bid-YTW : 4.92 %
HSE.PR.G FixedReset -2.00 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.68
Evaluated at bid price : 22.05
Bid-YTW : 4.97 %
BMO.PR.T FixedReset -1.99 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.72
Evaluated at bid price : 18.72
Bid-YTW : 4.32 %
FTS.PR.M FixedReset -1.98 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 19.80
Evaluated at bid price : 19.80
Bid-YTW : 4.39 %
BNS.PR.Y FixedReset -1.95 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.56
Bid-YTW : 6.06 %
BMO.PR.Q FixedReset -1.94 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.25
Bid-YTW : 5.94 %
TD.PF.F Perpetual-Discount -1.91 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.74
Evaluated at bid price : 23.10
Bid-YTW : 5.38 %
BNS.PR.Z FixedReset -1.88 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.85
Bid-YTW : 6.41 %
POW.PR.D Perpetual-Discount -1.85 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.48
Evaluated at bid price : 21.74
Bid-YTW : 5.76 %
SLF.PR.G FixedReset -1.84 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 14.92
Bid-YTW : 8.64 %
CU.PR.G Perpetual-Discount -1.83 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 19.80
Evaluated at bid price : 19.80
Bid-YTW : 5.75 %
BAM.PF.A FixedReset -1.80 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 19.05
Evaluated at bid price : 19.05
Bid-YTW : 5.04 %
W.PR.J Perpetual-Discount -1.79 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 23.32
Evaluated at bid price : 23.60
Bid-YTW : 6.05 %
SLF.PR.E Deemed-Retractible -1.71 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.15
Bid-YTW : 7.46 %
TD.PR.T FloatingReset -1.68 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.63
Bid-YTW : 4.46 %
POW.PR.A Perpetual-Premium -1.67 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 23.95
Evaluated at bid price : 24.20
Bid-YTW : 5.79 %
HSE.PR.C FixedReset -1.55 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 20.33
Evaluated at bid price : 20.33
Bid-YTW : 5.02 %
IGM.PR.B Perpetual-Premium -1.52 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 24.55
Evaluated at bid price : 24.84
Bid-YTW : 5.93 %
TD.PR.Y FixedReset -1.50 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.23
Bid-YTW : 3.68 %
CU.PR.E Perpetual-Discount -1.43 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.34
Evaluated at bid price : 21.34
Bid-YTW : 5.81 %
SLF.PR.A Deemed-Retractible -1.41 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.02
Bid-YTW : 7.15 %
MFC.PR.H FixedReset -1.40 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.21
Bid-YTW : 5.04 %
PWF.PR.P FixedReset -1.36 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 14.52
Evaluated at bid price : 14.52
Bid-YTW : 4.22 %
PWF.PR.K Perpetual-Discount -1.36 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.57
Evaluated at bid price : 21.83
Bid-YTW : 5.76 %
SLF.PR.I FixedReset -1.34 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.90
Bid-YTW : 6.63 %
BMO.PR.M FixedReset -1.32 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.89
Bid-YTW : 3.75 %
GWO.PR.S Deemed-Retractible -1.30 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.80
Bid-YTW : 6.56 %
RY.PR.W Perpetual-Discount -1.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 23.12
Evaluated at bid price : 23.38
Bid-YTW : 5.29 %
W.PR.H Perpetual-Discount -1.18 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 23.22
Evaluated at bid price : 23.52
Bid-YTW : 5.96 %
CU.PR.F Perpetual-Discount -1.14 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 20.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.00
Bid-YTW : 5.69 %
BNS.PR.A FloatingReset -1.10 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.45
Bid-YTW : 4.30 %
BNS.PR.B FloatingReset -1.10 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.56
Bid-YTW : 4.63 %
TD.PR.S FixedReset -1.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.00
Bid-YTW : 3.67 %
CU.PR.C FixedReset -1.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 19.40
Evaluated at bid price : 19.40
Bid-YTW : 4.23 %
CU.PR.D Perpetual-Discount -1.06 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.45
Evaluated at bid price : 21.45
Bid-YTW : 5.78 %
HSE.PR.A FixedReset -1.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 13.36
Evaluated at bid price : 13.36
Bid-YTW : 4.85 %
IFC.PR.A FixedReset 1.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 15.50
Bid-YTW : 9.26 %
PWF.PR.L Perpetual-Discount 3.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.44
Evaluated at bid price : 22.70
Bid-YTW : 5.70 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
NA.PR.M Deemed-Retractible 320,275 Called for redemption.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2015-10-28
Maturity Price : 25.50
Evaluated at bid price : 25.81
Bid-YTW : -0.29 %
BNS.PR.M Deemed-Retractible 112,933 RBC crossed 100,000 at 25.16.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.00
Bid-YTW : 4.66 %
CU.PR.I FixedReset 74,489 TD crossed 30,000 at 25.15.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 23.19
Evaluated at bid price : 25.12
Bid-YTW : 4.38 %
MFC.PR.J FixedReset 44,170 Scotia crossed 36,600 at 21.70.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.78
Bid-YTW : 6.00 %
SLF.PR.I FixedReset 24,950 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 19.90
Bid-YTW : 6.63 %
TD.PF.C FixedReset 24,300 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.26
Evaluated at bid price : 18.26
Bid-YTW : 4.45 %
There were 44 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
RY.PR.M FixedReset Quote: 19.74 – 20.79
Spot Rate : 1.0500
Average : 0.7348

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 19.74
Evaluated at bid price : 19.74
Bid-YTW : 4.42 %

CM.PR.O FixedReset Quote: 18.75 – 19.49
Spot Rate : 0.7400
Average : 0.4815

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 18.75
Evaluated at bid price : 18.75
Bid-YTW : 4.36 %

MFC.PR.I FixedReset Quote: 21.05 – 21.79
Spot Rate : 0.7400
Average : 0.4926

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.05
Bid-YTW : 6.11 %

PWF.PR.F Perpetual-Discount Quote: 22.61 – 23.45
Spot Rate : 0.8400
Average : 0.5973

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.34
Evaluated at bid price : 22.61
Bid-YTW : 5.90 %

RY.PR.O Perpetual-Discount Quote: 22.65 – 23.28
Spot Rate : 0.6300
Average : 0.3890

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2045-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.28
Evaluated at bid price : 22.65
Bid-YTW : 5.49 %

RY.PR.F Deemed-Retractible Quote: 24.51 – 25.09
Spot Rate : 0.5800
Average : 0.3629

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.51
Bid-YTW : 4.92 %

Data Changes

EFN.PR.A, EFN.PR.C, EFN.PR.E and EFN.PR.G Added To HIMIPref™

As announced in the post EFN Receives Pfd-3 Rating From DBRS; Issues Will Be Added To HIMIPref™, the captioned issues have been added to HIMIPref™

Element Financial FixedResets
Ticker Dividend Terms Reset Date
EFN.PR.A 6.60%+471 2018-12-31
EFN.PR.C 6.50%+481 2019-6-30
EFN.PR.E 6.40%+472 2019-9-30
EFN.PR.G 6.50%+534 2020-9-30