January 16, 2014

January 16th, 2014

Protecting investors is boring! It’s time for a brave new world of social engineering!

The Ontario Securities Commission has proposed a new rule that would require companies to report annually on their policies to add more women to their boards and executive ranks.

The new rules unveiled Thursday will also require companies to report on their term limits for directors, which would bring Canada in line with many other countries that have also required companies to disclose whether they have term limits for their boards. Proponents argue term limits help ensure there is more board turnover so new directors – including women – can be added to the mix.

Companies are also being asked to report on whether they have voluntarily adopted targets for women on their boards or in executive roles.

It was a mixed day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts off 3bp, FixedResets gaining 9bp and DeemedRetractibles down 21bp. Volatility was minimal. Volume was high.

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 -0.3542 % 2,536.8
FixedFloater 4.43 % 3.67 % 32,734 18.08 1 0.7046 % 3,830.0
Floater 2.95 % 2.96 % 68,981 19.83 3 -0.3542 % 2,739.0
OpRet 4.62 % 0.23 % 77,743 0.08 3 0.0256 % 2,675.3
SplitShare 4.84 % 4.58 % 62,320 4.42 5 0.0480 % 3,030.7
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0256 % 2,446.2
Perpetual-Premium 5.63 % 3.45 % 126,472 0.13 13 0.1043 % 2,323.6
Perpetual-Discount 5.64 % 5.66 % 162,764 14.42 25 -0.0340 % 2,356.5
FixedReset 4.95 % 3.46 % 221,646 3.44 82 0.0894 % 2,487.9
Deemed-Retractible 5.16 % 4.50 % 166,136 2.21 42 -0.2119 % 2,396.6
FloatingReset 2.60 % 2.35 % 221,949 4.32 5 -0.1663 % 2,469.8
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
TRP.PR.C FixedReset -1.10 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-16
Maturity Price : 21.31
Evaluated at bid price : 21.60
Bid-YTW : 3.94 %
MFC.PR.F FixedReset 1.81 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.51
Bid-YTW : 4.65 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
HSB.PR.E FixedReset 154,215 RBC crossed blocks of 100,000 and 50,000, both at 25.53.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-06-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.53
Bid-YTW : 2.53 %
PWF.PR.T FixedReset 150,660 Scotia crossed blocks of 80,000 and 23,700, both at 25.50.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2019-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.60
Bid-YTW : 3.78 %
ENB.PR.J FixedReset 149,157 TD crossed 40,000 at 25.00; Scotia crossed 50,000 and RBC crossed 18,500, all at the same price.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-16
Maturity Price : 23.14
Evaluated at bid price : 24.95
Bid-YTW : 4.29 %
IGM.PR.B Perpetual-Premium 130,743 Deleted from TXPR.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2018-12-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.40
Bid-YTW : 5.51 %
ENB.PR.Y FixedReset 107,737 TD crossed 49,300 at 23.85.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-16
Maturity Price : 22.70
Evaluated at bid price : 23.90
Bid-YTW : 4.27 %
NA.PR.L Deemed-Retractible 74,100 TD bought 29,900 from Canaccord at 25.00; then crossed 24,700; then bought another 10,400 from Canaccord, all at the same price.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-05-15
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.98
Bid-YTW : 3.89 %
There were 44 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
GWO.PR.N FixedReset Quote: 21.82 – 22.22
Spot Rate : 0.4000
Average : 0.2695

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.82
Bid-YTW : 4.71 %

TRP.PR.B FixedReset Quote: 20.15 – 20.48
Spot Rate : 0.3300
Average : 0.2153

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-16
Maturity Price : 20.15
Evaluated at bid price : 20.15
Bid-YTW : 3.89 %

BNS.PR.B FloatingReset Quote: 25.00 – 25.28
Spot Rate : 0.2800
Average : 0.1774

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2018-10-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.00
Bid-YTW : 2.46 %

RY.PR.F Deemed-Retractible Quote: 25.06 – 25.28
Spot Rate : 0.2200
Average : 0.1456

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.06
Bid-YTW : 4.54 %

IAG.PR.F Deemed-Retractible Quote: 25.36 – 25.64
Spot Rate : 0.2800
Average : 0.2098

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.36
Bid-YTW : 5.80 %

TRP.PR.A FixedReset Quote: 23.68 – 23.90
Spot Rate : 0.2200
Average : 0.1543

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-16
Maturity Price : 23.11
Evaluated at bid price : 23.68
Bid-YTW : 3.92 %

PPL.PR.E Firm on Excellent Volume

January 16th, 2014

Pembina Pipeline Corporation has announced:

that it has closed its previously announced public offering of 10,000,000 cumulative redeemable rate reset class A preferred shares, series 5 (the “Series 5 Preferred Shares”) for aggregate gross proceeds of $250 million (the “Offering”).

The Offering was announced on January 7, 2014 when Pembina entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by Scotiabank and RBC Capital Markets. Due to strong investor demand, the size of the Offering was increased from an originally proposed offering of 6,000,000 Series 5 Preferred Shares plus an underwriters’ option to purchase up to an additional 2,000,000 Series 5 Preferred Shares (for aggregate gross proceeds of $200 million assuming the underwriters’ option had been exercised in full).

Proceeds from the Offering will be used to partially fund Pembina’s 2014 capital expenditure program, including capital expenditures relating to Pembina’s current expansion and growth projects, to reduce indebtedness under the Company’s credit facilities, and for general corporate purposes of the Company and its affiliates.

The Series 5 Preferred Shares will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange today under the symbol PPL.PR.E.

Pembina’s Board of Directors also declared an initial dividend of $0.1507 per Series 5 Preferred Share for the period from January 16, 2014 to February 28, 2014 which is payable on March 1, 2014 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 1, 2014.

Future dividends on the Series 5 Preferred Shares are expected to be $0.3125 quarterly, or $1.25 per share on an annualized basis, payable on the 1st day of March, June, September and December, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of Pembina, for the initial fixed rate period to but excluding June 1, 2019.

All of Pembina’s dividends are designated “eligible dividends” for Canadian income tax purposes.

PPL.PR.E is a FixedReset, 5.00%+300, announced January 7. It will be tracked by HIMIPref™ but relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

The issue traded 761,612 shares today in a range of 24.90-09 before closing at 25.05-06, 3×20. Vital statistics are:

PPL.PR.E FixedReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-16
Maturity Price : 23.15
Evaluated at bid price : 25.05
Bid-YTW : 4.74 %

January 15, 2014

January 15th, 2014

Looks like there’s some support for my view that public dissent is good policy:

The central bank’s governing council was created to reassure the public that setting interest rates in Canada wasn’t a one-man show. Yet the bank kept on speaking with one man’s voice: the governor’s. The institution likes it this way. Too much loose talk only creates confusion. The best way for the central bank’s junior players to stay on message is to limit their public appearances. Timothy Lane, a former IMF official who has been on the governing council since 2009, gave three speeches last year, according to the Bank of Canada’s website. Agathe Côté, a 30-year veteran of the Bank of Canada, has given seven speeches in three years as the governing council’s only woman. The public has heard from Lawrence Schembri once in the 11 months that he’s been a member of the policy committee.

In Wrong: Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn from Them, economics professor Richard Grossman chronicles the human cost of ideological blindness. There is no cure for the affliction, but Prof. Grossman argues forcefully that the kind of debate that goes on at the Fed is the best way to avoid mistakes that result in stubborn, arrogant and ill-informed thinking. Prof. Grossman actually uses Canada’s central bank as a counterpoint. He shares a conversation he had with a Fed economist, who, after visiting Canada to present new research, complained of a “Bank of Canada view,” rather than a free-flowing exchange of ideas.

It won’t happen. The feds have gotten far too fond of having the BoC as just another department of the Ministry of Finance. It will take another disaster – on the scale (domestically speaking) of Nixon / Burns – before the public pressures the politicians towards the view that Central Bank independence isn’t just a feel-good catchphrase. And right now, the trend is in the other direction; What Debt made public his most recent instructions:

“So look, it’s not a reason to panic; in fact, we’ve actually seen Canadian debt beginning to level off. But we would obviously encourage people to look at their debt levels carefully. Eventually, it may not be for two, three years, but eventually interest rates will start to rise. And Canadians should ask themselves serious questions about if interest rates came up significantly, would I still be able to afford my debt payments?”

In more ways than one! Inflation is not the problem:

Central banks in the U.S., Japan and the euro area face inflation levels under their targets while trying to accelerate growth with policies including benchmark interest rates near zero and bond-buying programs. Lagarde said that while “the deep freeze is behind,” world growth remains “too low, too fragile and too uneven,” with some 200 million people needing employment.

“The world could create more jobs before we would need to worry about the global inflation genie coming out of its bottle,” [International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine] Lagarde said in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington today. “With inflation running below many central banks’ targets, we see rising risks of deflation, which could prove disastrous for the recovery.”

Speaking of ethics, we are now increasing our reliance on paid informants:

The federal Conservatives are following through on a budget promise to set up the snitch hotline.
People who report major international tax evasion over $100,000 can get a share of the money recovered.

Be the first kid on your block to denounce his parents!

And in today’s mixed-up world, nobody knows or cares about the difference between trading as principal or agent:

Front running occurs when someone with advance knowledge of another market participant’s plan to make a sizable transaction puts an order in first, often profiting from a market move that can occur once the big trade has gone through.

Wrong. For it to be front running, you need to have obtained the information while acting as a fiduciary. And guess what? Institutional desks trade as principals. The current fashion for turning them into order-takers will have a severely negative influence on the market. But who cares, as long as it happens after the next election?
It was a poor day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts losing 22bp, FixedResets off 2bp and DeemedRetractibles down 9bp. Volatility was muted. Volume was on the high side of average.

PerpetualDiscounts now yield 5.67%, equivalent to 7.37% interest at the standard 1.3x equivalency factor. Long corporates now yield about 4.7%, so the pre-tax interest-equivalent spread (in this context, the “Seniority Spread”) is now about 265bp, a significant widening from the 255bp reported January 8.

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 -0.3900 % 2,545.8
FixedFloater 4.46 % 3.70 % 32,880 18.03 1 -0.9767 % 3,803.2
Floater 2.94 % 2.95 % 66,943 19.86 3 -0.3900 % 2,748.7
OpRet 4.62 % 0.07 % 77,291 0.08 3 0.0128 % 2,674.6
SplitShare 4.84 % 4.69 % 64,667 4.42 5 0.2969 % 3,029.3
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0128 % 2,445.6
Perpetual-Premium 5.63 % 3.68 % 128,248 0.13 13 -0.0460 % 2,321.2
Perpetual-Discount 5.63 % 5.67 % 165,300 14.42 25 -0.2159 % 2,357.3
FixedReset 4.95 % 3.49 % 219,560 3.44 82 -0.0178 % 2,485.7
Deemed-Retractible 5.15 % 4.37 % 164,309 1.99 42 -0.0931 % 2,401.7
FloatingReset 2.60 % 2.31 % 222,027 4.32 5 -0.0712 % 2,473.9
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
MFC.PR.F FixedReset -1.73 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.11
Bid-YTW : 4.86 %
MFC.PR.B Deemed-Retractible -1.41 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.95
Bid-YTW : 6.85 %
ENB.PR.Y FixedReset 1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-15
Maturity Price : 22.61
Evaluated at bid price : 23.71
Bid-YTW : 4.31 %
GWO.PR.N FixedReset 1.15 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.01
Bid-YTW : 4.61 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
ENB.PR.Y FixedReset 72,557 Added to TXPL.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-15
Maturity Price : 22.61
Evaluated at bid price : 23.71
Bid-YTW : 4.31 %
IAG.PR.G FixedReset 64,670 Nesbitt crossed 49,800 at 25.89.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2017-06-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.82
BNS.PR.O DeemedRetractible 55,350 RBC crossed two blocks of 25,000 each, both at 26.15.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-02-14
Maturity Price : 26.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.05
Bid-YTW : -0.01 %
TD.PR.Z FloatingReset 51,750 Added to TXPR.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2018-10-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.10
Bid-YTW : 2.34 %
PWF.PR.K Perpetual-Discount 41,244 Scotia crossed blocks of 10,300 and 25,000, both at 22.35.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-15
Maturity Price : 21.92
Evaluated at bid price : 22.22
Bid-YTW : 5.57 %
RY.PR.C Deemed-Retractible 39,355 RBC crossed 25,000 at 26.35.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2015-11-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.29
Bid-YTW : 4.35 %
There were 38 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
MFC.PR.F FixedReset Quote: 22.11 – 22.59
Spot Rate : 0.4800
Average : 0.3093

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.11
Bid-YTW : 4.86 %

MFC.PR.B Deemed-Retractible Quote: 20.95 – 21.27
Spot Rate : 0.3200
Average : 0.2214

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.95
Bid-YTW : 6.85 %

FTS.PR.J Perpetual-Discount Quote: 21.88 – 22.30
Spot Rate : 0.4200
Average : 0.3243

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-15
Maturity Price : 21.57
Evaluated at bid price : 21.88
Bid-YTW : 5.49 %

TD.PR.G FixedReset Quote: 25.22 – 25.44
Spot Rate : 0.2200
Average : 0.1269

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-04-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.22
Bid-YTW : 2.16 %

BAM.PR.T FixedReset Quote: 23.70 – 23.99
Spot Rate : 0.2900
Average : 0.2068

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-15
Maturity Price : 22.80
Evaluated at bid price : 23.70
Bid-YTW : 4.35 %

POW.PR.C Perpetual-Premium Quote: 25.12 – 25.34
Spot Rate : 0.2200
Average : 0.1508

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-02-14
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.12
Bid-YTW : -0.04 %

AIM.PR.C Firm on Excellent Volume

January 15th, 2014

Aimia Inc. has announced:

the closing of its previously announced offering of 6,000,000 Cumulative Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series 3 (the “Series 3 Preferred Shares”), including 1,000,000 Series 3 Preferred Shares that were issued upon the exercise in full of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, at a price of C$25.00 per Series 3 Preferred Share for gross proceeds of C$150 million. The Series 3 Preferred Shares were purchased by a syndicate of underwriters led by CIBC, TD Securities Inc., RBC Capital Markets and BMO Capital Markets.

The net proceeds of the issue will be used by Aimia to supplement its financial resources and for general corporate purposes.

AIM.PR.C is a FixedReset, 6.25%+420, announced January 6. The issue will be tracked by HIMIPref™ but relegated to the Scraps subindex on credit concerns.

The issue traded 537,900 shares today in a range of 25.00-10 before closing at 25.05-07, 6×50. Vital statistics are:

AIM.PR.C FixedReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-15
Maturity Price : 23.17
Evaluated at bid price : 25.07
Bid-YTW : 5.99 %

January 14, 2014

January 15th, 2014

Nothing happened today, either.

It was a mixed day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts up 20bp, FixedResets gaining 2bp and DeemedRetractibles off 4bp. The Performance Highlights table is notable for a fine complement of winning BAM PerpetualDiscounts. Volume was high, with many issues trading over 100,000 shares.

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 -0.6458 % 2,555.7
FixedFloater 4.42 % 3.65 % 32,591 18.10 1 0.0000 % 3,840.7
Floater 2.92 % 2.94 % 67,263 19.90 3 -0.6458 % 2,759.5
OpRet 4.62 % 0.34 % 75,815 0.08 3 0.0642 % 2,674.2
SplitShare 4.85 % 4.73 % 67,323 4.43 5 -0.0882 % 3,020.3
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0642 % 2,445.3
Perpetual-Premium 5.63 % 3.61 % 128,187 0.14 13 0.0061 % 2,322.3
Perpetual-Discount 5.62 % 5.64 % 166,660 14.48 25 0.1967 % 2,362.4
FixedReset 4.95 % 3.49 % 221,783 3.45 82 0.0242 % 2,486.1
Deemed-Retractible 5.14 % 4.33 % 164,652 1.99 42 -0.0382 % 2,403.9
FloatingReset 2.60 % 2.25 % 225,169 4.33 5 0.1347 % 2,475.7
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
PWF.PR.S Perpetual-Discount -1.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 21.81
Evaluated at bid price : 22.13
Bid-YTW : 5.42 %
FTS.PR.F Perpetual-Discount -1.06 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 22.13
Evaluated at bid price : 22.41
Bid-YTW : 5.53 %
BAM.PF.D Perpetual-Discount 1.14 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 20.40
Evaluated at bid price : 20.40
Bid-YTW : 6.07 %
BAM.PF.C Perpetual-Discount 1.46 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 20.17
Evaluated at bid price : 20.17
Bid-YTW : 6.07 %
BAM.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 1.72 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 19.55
Evaluated at bid price : 19.55
Bid-YTW : 6.14 %
BAM.PR.N Perpetual-Discount 1.82 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 19.58
Evaluated at bid price : 19.58
Bid-YTW : 6.13 %
CIU.PR.C FixedReset 2.19 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 20.96
Evaluated at bid price : 20.96
Bid-YTW : 3.88 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
RY.PR.R FixedReset 300,560 Called for redemption.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-02-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.34
Bid-YTW : 1.89 %
TRP.PR.D FixedReset 263,134 Added to TXPL.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 23.08
Evaluated at bid price : 24.82
Bid-YTW : 4.03 %
BNS.PR.Q FixedReset 173,800 RBC crossed blocks of 98,100 and 63,200, both at 25.10.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.10
Bid-YTW : 3.49 %
MFC.PR.E FixedReset 154,215 RBC crossed blocks of 48,400, 26,600 and 74,800, all at 25.62.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-09-19
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.58
Bid-YTW : 2.76 %
TD.PR.G FixedReset 146,700 Scotia crossed 80,000 at 25.22; Nesbitt crossed 64,300 at the same price.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-04-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.22
Bid-YTW : 2.14 %
BNS.PR.R FixedReset 138,115 Will reset at 3.83%. Yield to Deemed Maturity is 3.58%.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-02-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.17
Bid-YTW : -3.02 %
TD.PR.Y FixedReset 136,000 RBC crossed 124,900 at 25.10.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.03
Bid-YTW : 3.49 %
CM.PR.L FixedReset 127,435 Scotia crossed 70,000 at 25.24; Desjardins crossed 55,800 at the same price.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-04-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.24
Bid-YTW : 2.20 %
BMO.PR.R FloatingReset 101,460 Nesbitt crossed 100,000 at 25.20.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2018-08-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.18
Bid-YTW : 2.33 %
RY.PR.N FixedReset 100,505 Called for redemption.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-02-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.32
Bid-YTW : 2.60 %
There were 43 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
SLF.PR.E Deemed-Retractible Quote: 21.07 – 21.28
Spot Rate : 0.2100
Average : 0.1370

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.07
Bid-YTW : 6.58 %

CIU.PR.A Perpetual-Discount Quote: 21.51 – 21.79
Spot Rate : 0.2800
Average : 0.2102

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 21.51
Evaluated at bid price : 21.51
Bid-YTW : 5.43 %

FTS.PR.F Perpetual-Discount Quote: 22.41 – 22.64
Spot Rate : 0.2300
Average : 0.1621

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 22.13
Evaluated at bid price : 22.41
Bid-YTW : 5.53 %

SLF.PR.A Deemed-Retractible Quote: 22.01 – 22.28
Spot Rate : 0.2700
Average : 0.2041

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.01
Bid-YTW : 6.33 %

CGI.PR.D SplitShare Quote: 24.65 – 25.01
Spot Rate : 0.3600
Average : 0.3042

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Soft Maturity
Maturity Date : 2023-06-14
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.65
Bid-YTW : 3.99 %

FTS.PR.J Perpetual-Discount Quote: 22.00 – 22.27
Spot Rate : 0.2700
Average : 0.2193

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-14
Maturity Price : 21.72
Evaluated at bid price : 22.00
Bid-YTW : 5.46 %

January 13, 2014

January 13th, 2014

Nothing happened today. Bloomberg has a nice piece on Chinese MMFs, but it’s not written in such a way that I can convey the gist by extracting a few paragraphs. It will be most interesting to see what, if any, mechanisms are introduced to forestall disruptive panic after a major default.

It was a negative day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts off 3bp, FixedResets flat and DeemedRetractibles down 16bp. The Performance Highlights table is heavily skewed to the downside and notable for the presence of two TRP issues, hit with fallout from the new issue. Volume was high.

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 0.5379 % 2,572.4
FixedFloater 4.42 % 3.65 % 32,843 18.11 1 0.2190 % 3,840.7
Floater 2.91 % 2.91 % 68,260 19.96 3 0.5379 % 2,777.4
OpRet 4.62 % 0.70 % 78,617 0.08 3 0.0642 % 2,672.5
SplitShare 4.85 % 4.73 % 67,975 4.43 5 -0.0240 % 3,023.0
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0642 % 2,443.7
Perpetual-Premium 5.63 % 2.66 % 128,740 0.14 13 0.0000 % 2,322.2
Perpetual-Discount 5.63 % 5.64 % 169,236 14.46 25 -0.0286 % 2,357.7
FixedReset 4.95 % 3.49 % 215,443 3.45 82 -0.0044 % 2,485.5
Deemed-Retractible 5.14 % 4.40 % 165,760 2.00 42 -0.1594 % 2,404.9
FloatingReset 2.60 % 2.33 % 233,147 4.33 5 -0.0633 % 2,472.3
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
TRP.PR.A FixedReset -1.66 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-13
Maturity Price : 23.19
Evaluated at bid price : 23.76
Bid-YTW : 3.91 %
BAM.PR.T FixedReset -1.51 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-13
Maturity Price : 22.70
Evaluated at bid price : 23.50
Bid-YTW : 4.39 %
TRP.PR.D FixedReset -1.31 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-13
Maturity Price : 23.09
Evaluated at bid price : 24.85
Bid-YTW : 4.02 %
ELF.PR.H Perpetual-Discount -1.24 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-13
Maturity Price : 23.45
Evaluated at bid price : 23.81
Bid-YTW : 5.79 %
GWO.PR.Q Deemed-Retractible -1.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.13
Bid-YTW : 6.16 %
CIU.PR.C FixedReset 1.38 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-13
Maturity Price : 20.51
Evaluated at bid price : 20.51
Bid-YTW : 3.96 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
TRP.PR.D FixedReset 624,178 Added to TXPL.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-13
Maturity Price : 23.09
Evaluated at bid price : 24.85
Bid-YTW : 4.02 %
TD.PR.A FixedReset 224,779 Scotia crossed 73,800 at 24.98 and 98,000 at 24.97. TD crossed 50,000 at 24.98.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.97
Bid-YTW : 3.77 %
BNS.PR.R FixedReset 121,597 Will Reset at 3.83%. Yield to DeemedMaturity is 3.57%.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-02-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.18
Bid-YTW : -3.28 %
PWF.PR.M FixedReset 118,586 Scotia crossed 40,000 at 24.98 and 75,000 at 24.97.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-03-02
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.97
Bid-YTW : 4.58 %
TD.PR.C FixedReset 92,696 Scotia crossed 36,400 at 24.98 and 55,000 at 24.97.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-03-02
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.97
Bid-YTW : 4.33 %
TD.PR.G FixedReset 88,667 Scotia crossed 76,400 at 25.22.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-04-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.21
Bid-YTW : 2.26 %
There were 46 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
ELF.PR.G Perpetual-Discount Quote: 21.35 – 21.79
Spot Rate : 0.4400
Average : 0.3387

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-13
Maturity Price : 21.35
Evaluated at bid price : 21.35
Bid-YTW : 5.60 %

MFC.PR.B Deemed-Retractible Quote: 21.13 – 21.40
Spot Rate : 0.2700
Average : 0.1829

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.13
Bid-YTW : 6.74 %

TD.PR.R Deemed-Retractible Quote: 26.01 – 26.19
Spot Rate : 0.1800
Average : 0.1252

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-04-30
Maturity Price : 25.75
Evaluated at bid price : 26.01
Bid-YTW : 1.02 %

BMO.PR.K Deemed-Retractible Quote: 25.98 – 26.15
Spot Rate : 0.1700
Average : 0.1232

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-02-12
Maturity Price : 25.75
Evaluated at bid price : 25.98
Bid-YTW : 2.54 %

MFC.PR.C Deemed-Retractible Quote: 20.93 – 21.18
Spot Rate : 0.2500
Average : 0.2034

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.93
Bid-YTW : 6.69 %

BAM.PF.D Perpetual-Discount Quote: 20.17 – 20.30
Spot Rate : 0.1300
Average : 0.0853

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2044-01-13
Maturity Price : 20.17
Evaluated at bid price : 20.17
Bid-YTW : 6.14 %

New Issue: TRP FixedReset 4.25%+235

January 13th, 2014

TransCanada Corporation has announced:

that it will issue 10 million cumulative redeemable first preferred shares, series 9 (the “Series 9 Preferred Shares”) at a price of $25.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $250 million on a bought deal basis to a syndicate of underwriters in Canada co-led by Scotiabank, BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets.

The holders of Series 9 Preferred Shares will be entitled to receive fixed cumulative dividends at an annual rate of $1.0625 per share, payable quarterly on the 30th day of January, April, July and October, as and when declared by the board of directors of TransCanada. The Series 9 Preferred Shares will yield 4.25 per cent per annum for the initial fixed rate period ending October 30, 2019 with the first dividend payment date scheduled for April 30, 2014. The dividend rate will reset on October 30, 2019 and every five years thereafter at a rate equal to the sum of the then five-year Government of Canada bond yield plus 2.35 per cent. The Series 9 Preferred Shares are redeemable by TransCanada, at its option, on October 30, 2019 and on October 30 of every fifth year thereafter at a price of $25.00 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends.

The holders of Series 9 Preferred Shares will have the right to convert their shares into cumulative redeemable first preferred shares, series 10 (the “Series 10 Preferred Shares”), subject to certain conditions, on October 30, 2019 and on October 30 of every fifth year thereafter. The holders of Series 10 Preferred Shares will be entitled to receive quarterly floating rate cumulative dividends, as and when declared by the board of directors of TransCanada, at an annualized rate equal to the sum of the then 90-day Government of Canada treasury bill rate plus 2.35 per cent.

TransCanada has granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable at any time up to 48 hours prior to the closing of the offering, to purchase up to an additional two million Series 9 Preferred Shares at a price of $25.00 per share.

The anticipated closing date is January 20, 2014. The net proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate purposes and to reduce short term indebtedness of TransCanada and its affiliates, which short term indebtedness was used to fund TransCanada’s capital program and for general corporate purposes.

The Series 9 Preferred Shares will be offered to the public in Canada pursuant to a prospectus supplement that will be filed with securities regulatory authorities in Canada under TransCanada’s short form base shelf prospectus dated December 2, 2013. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

Sales must have gone well! They later announced:

that as a result of strong investor demand for its previously announced offering of cumulative redeemable first preferred shares, series 9 (the “Series 9 Preferred Shares”), the size of the offering has been increased to 18 million shares. The offering no longer includes the previously granted underwriters’ option. The aggregate gross proceeds of the offering will now be $450 million. The syndicate of underwriters is co-led by Scotiabank, BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets.

The anticipated closing date is January 20, 2014. The net proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate purposes and to reduce short term indebtedness of TransCanada and its affiliates, which short term indebtedness was used to fund TransCanada’s capital program and for general corporate purposes.

Update, 2014-1-14: Rated Pfd-2(low) by DBRS

PrefLetter Bedevilled by Server Problems

January 13th, 2014

As many of you will know, the various websites I operate, including PrefLetter.com, are all hosted on a dedicated server rented by Hymas Investment Management.

When the old server, running Linux, got old and slow – and, indeed, was perilously close to failure – in November, a new server was rented and the functionality transferred.

There have been problems with this, most notably with PrefLetter Download links sent en masse. For some reason the script used to send the eMails to subscribers has crashed prior to completion in both December and January.

Subscribers who have not received links to the January edition are urged to use the “Subscriber Download” feature at PrefLetter.com to obtain their download links; if all else fails, please eMail me.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

January PrefLetter Released!

January 13th, 2014

The January, 2014, edition of PrefLetter has been released and is now available for purchase as the “Previous edition”. Those who subscribe for a full year receive the “Previous edition” as a bonus.

The regular appendices reporting on DeemedRetractibles and FixedResets are included.

PrefLetter may now be purchased by all Canadian residents.

Until further notice, the “Previous Edition” will refer to the January, 2014, issue, while the “Next Edition” will be the February, 2014, issue, scheduled to be prepared as of the close Februuary 14 and eMailed to subscribers prior to market-opening on February 17.

PrefLetter is intended for long term investors seeking issues to buy-and-hold. At least one recommendation from each of the major preferred share sectors is included and discussed.

Note: My verbosity has grown by such leaps and bounds that it is no longer possible to deliver PrefLetter as an eMail attachment – it’s just too big for my software! Instead, I have sent passwords – click on the link in your eMail and your copy will download.

Note: The PrefLetter website has a Subscriber Download Feature. If you have not received your copy, try it!

Note: PrefLetter eMails sometimes runs afoul of spam filters. If you have not received your copy within fifteen minutes of a release notice such as this one, please double check your (company’s) spam filtering policy and your spam repository – there are some hints in the post Sympatico Spam Filters out of Control. If it’s not there, contact me and I’ll get you your copy … somehow!

Note: There have been scattered complaints regarding inability to open PrefLetter in Acrobat Reader, despite my practice of including myself on the subscription list and immediately checking the copy received. I have had the occasional difficulty reading US Government documents, which I was able to resolve by downloading and installing the latest version of Adobe Reader. Also, note that so far, all complaints have been from users of Yahoo Mail. Try saving it to disk first, before attempting to open it.

Note: There have been other scattered complaints that double-clicking on the links in the “PrefLetter Download” email results in a message that the password has already been used. I have been able to reproduce this problem in my own eMail software … the problem is double-clicking. What happens is the first click opens the link and the second click finds that the password has already been used and refuses to work properly. So the moral of the story is: Don’t be a dick! Single Click!

FTN.PR.A Gets Bigger

January 10th, 2014

Quadravest announced on January 9:

Financial 15 Split Corp. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce it has filed a short form prospectus in each of the provinces of Canada with respect to an additional offering of Preferred Shares and Class A Shares of the Company. The offering will be co-led by National Bank Financial Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc. and RBC Capital Markets.

The Preferred Shares will be offered at a price of $10.00 per Preferred Share to yield 5.25% and the Class A Shares will be offered at a price of $9.60 per Class A Share to yield 15.71%. The closing price of each of the Preferred Shares and the Class A Shares on January 8, 2014 on the TSX was $10.06 and $10.20, respectively.

The proceeds of the secondary offering, net of expenses and the underwriters’ fee, will be used by the Company to invest in a high quality portfolio consisting of 15 financial services companies made up of Canadian and U.S. issuers as follows:

Bank of Montreal National Bank of Canada Bank of America Corp.
The Bank of Nova Scotia Manulife Financial Corporation Citigroup Inc.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Royal Bank of Canada Great-West Lifeco Inc. JP Morgan Chase & Co.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank CI Financial Corp. Wells Fargo & Co.

The Company’s investment objectives are:

Preferred Shares:
i. to provide holders of the Preferred Shares with fixed, cumulative preferential monthly cash dividends in the amount of $0.04375 per Preferred Share to yield 5.25% per annum on the original issue price; and
ii. on or about the termination date, currently December 1, 2015 (the “Termination Date”), to pay the holders of the Preferred Shares $10.00 per Preferred Share, which was the original issue price of the Preferred Shares.

Class A Shares:
i. to provide holders of the Class A Shares with regular monthly cash dividends initially targeted to be $0.10 per Class A Share to yield 8.0% per annum on the original issue price of the Class A Shares, and currently targeted to be $0.1257 per Class A Share;
ii. on or about Termination Date, to pay the holders of Class A Shares $15.00 per Class A Share, which was the original issue price of the Class A Shares.

The Company is currently scheduled to terminate on December 1, 2015. The Company intends to seek shareholder approval to extend the Termination Date initially to December 1, 2020, and thereafter for additional terms of five years each at the discretion of Quadravest Capital Management Inc., as the manager of the Company. In conjunction with such extension, if approved, shareholders would be offered a special retraction right which would allow them to exit their investment in the Company on the same basis as if the Company were to terminate on its otherwise scheduled Termination Date. Further information regarding the term extension will be provided at the time meetings of shareholders are called to consider and, if deemed acceptable, approve the extension.

The sales period of this overnight offering will end at 9:00 a.m. EST on January 10, 2014.

A copy of the preliminary short form prospectus is available from the syndicate of underwriters.

This has been followed by an announcement January 10:

Financial 15 Split Corp. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce it has completed the overnight marketing of up to 1,531,000 Preferred Shares and up to 1,531,000 Class A Shares. Total proceeds of the offering are expected to be approximately $30 million. The Company has granted the dealers an overallotment of 229,650 units if exercised, bringing the total proceeds to $34.5 million. The offering was co-led by National Bank Financial Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc. and RBC Capital Markets and also included BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., GMP Securities L.P. and Canaccord Genuity Corp. The sales period of this overnight offering has now ended.

The Preferred Shares were offered at a price of $10.00 per Preferred Share to yield 5.25% and the Class A Shares were offered at a price of $9.60 per Class A Share to yield 15.71%. The closing price of each of the Preferred Shares and the Class A Shares on January 9, 2014 on the TSX was $10.08 and $10.23, respectively.