Archive for January, 2011

January 31, 2011

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Moody’s has downgraded Egypt:

Moody’s Investors Service cut its rating on Egypt’s debt on Monday on concern about its public finances, becoming the second credit agency to turn negative since the country was plunged into political crisis.

Moody’s … said the one-notch downgrade, to Ba2 from Ba1 with a negative outlook, was prompted by a significant rise in political risk and concern that the government’s response to mounting unrest could undermine Egypt’s already weak public finances.

Moody’s joined peer Fitch Ratings, which cut the outlook on its BB+ country ceiling to negative on Friday, in saying the political turmoil would likely undermine Egypt’s economic reform programme.

There was a demonstration at Dumbass Square. I liked this guy’s sign:


Click for Big

You don’t make a currency global by joining the UN and passing resolutions. You make a currency global by using it to settle international transactions:

HSBC Bank Canada said Wednesday it has completed the first Canadian trade using the yuan exclusively, as the Chinese currency continues to gain traction as an international reserve alongside the U.S. dollar. The deal was conducted for B.C.-based industrial auctioneer Maynards Industries.

Fabrice de Dongo, a spokesman for HSBC Canada, said HSBC made a direct payment in the yuan currency on behalf of Maynards to a company in China. Previously, the payment would have first been converted into U.S. dollars, used for the majority of global trade.

China has only recently begun allowing international trade using its currency, beginning with a pilot program in 2009 involving five Chinese cities and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The program was expanded to include all foreign countries, including Canada, in June 2010.

Interest rate modifications don’t work too well with underwater mortgages:

The re-default rate for the Making Home Affordable Program averaged 20.4 percent after 12 months, 15.9 percent after nine months, 10.7 percent after six months and 4.6 percent after three months, according to a report released today by the Treasury Department.

In December, 30,030 homeowners newly qualified for permanent modifications that reduce home payments to 31 percent of gross income, the department said today. A total of 58,020 permanent loan modifications have been canceled since 2009.

The median loan balance was just over $232,196 after a modification and the median mark-to-market loan-to-value was 118 percent, meaning most homeowners had negative equity or were “underwater.” The median monthly payment reduction was more than $520 or about 40 percent.

It was a mixed and volatile day on the Canadian preferred share market as PerpetualDiscounts gained 17bp and FixedResets lost 4bp. Volume ticked up a bit to above average.

PerpetualDiscounts now yield 5.28%, equivalent to 7.39% interest at the standard equivalency factor of 1.4x. Long Corporates now yield about 5.5%, so the pre-tax interest-equivalent spread is now about 190bp, a slight and perhaps spurious increase from the 185bp recorded on January 26.

ZLC, the BMO Long Corporate ETF, was not particularly exciting this month:


Click for big
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 0.9479 % 2,399.0
FixedFloater 4.71 % 3.23 % 25,060 19.09 1 1.7621 % 3,615.7
Floater 2.50 % 2.29 % 44,236 21.53 4 0.9479 % 2,590.3
OpRet 4.81 % 3.43 % 69,190 2.26 8 0.0386 % 2,389.4
SplitShare 5.30 % 1.64 % 379,245 0.85 4 -0.3239 % 2,465.8
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0386 % 2,184.9
Perpetual-Premium 5.64 % 5.25 % 137,575 5.30 20 0.0629 % 2,035.7
Perpetual-Discount 5.30 % 5.28 % 261,178 14.96 57 0.1709 % 2,089.4
FixedReset 5.26 % 3.59 % 279,855 3.02 52 -0.0405 % 2,269.1
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
HSB.PR.C Perpetual-Discount -1.56 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 23.74
Evaluated at bid price : 24.01
Bid-YTW : 5.36 %
RY.PR.A Perpetual-Discount 1.06 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 22.75
Evaluated at bid price : 22.94
Bid-YTW : 4.85 %
CM.PR.I Perpetual-Discount 1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 23.44
Evaluated at bid price : 23.66
Bid-YTW : 4.98 %
RY.PR.D Perpetual-Discount 1.15 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 22.73
Evaluated at bid price : 22.91
Bid-YTW : 4.91 %
CM.PR.J Perpetual-Discount 1.17 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 23.07
Evaluated at bid price : 23.27
Bid-YTW : 4.85 %
RY.PR.E Perpetual-Discount 1.24 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 22.75
Evaluated at bid price : 22.93
Bid-YTW : 4.91 %
IAG.PR.E Perpetual-Premium 1.24 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2019-01-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.11
Bid-YTW : 5.43 %
RY.PR.G Perpetual-Discount 1.28 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 22.77
Evaluated at bid price : 22.94
Bid-YTW : 4.90 %
BAM.PR.R FixedReset 1.75 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2016-07-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.15
Bid-YTW : 4.55 %
BAM.PR.G FixedFloater 1.76 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 22.95
Evaluated at bid price : 23.10
Bid-YTW : 3.23 %
BAM.PR.J OpRet 1.87 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Soft Maturity
Maturity Date : 2018-03-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.67
Bid-YTW : 4.41 %
PWF.PR.A Floater 3.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 23.21
Evaluated at bid price : 23.51
Bid-YTW : 2.19 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
BNS.PR.J Perpetual-Discount 211,008 Desjardins crossed blocks of 125,000 and 75,000, both at 25.00.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 23.40
Evaluated at bid price : 24.98
Bid-YTW : 5.20 %
NA.PR.O FixedReset 69,676 Nesbitt sold 18,600 to anonymous at 27.46. National crossed 25,000 at 27.48 and 10,000 at 27.49.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-03-17
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.35
Bid-YTW : 3.38 %
CM.PR.I Perpetual-Discount 53,318 RBC crossed 25,000 at 23.46.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 23.44
Evaluated at bid price : 23.66
Bid-YTW : 4.98 %
BNS.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 44,821 TD crossed 25,000 at 23.10.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 23.03
Evaluated at bid price : 23.22
Bid-YTW : 4.87 %
CM.PR.D Perpetual-Premium 41,164 Desjardins crossed 32,500 at 25.55.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2011-05-30
Maturity Price : 25.25
Evaluated at bid price : 25.52
Bid-YTW : 2.46 %
BNS.PR.X FixedReset 40,682 RBC crossed 29,000 at 27.27.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-05-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.25
Bid-YTW : 3.45 %
There were 37 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data Notes
TRI.PR.B Floater Quote: 22.75 – 24.64
Spot Rate : 1.8900
Average : 1.2570
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 22.49
Evaluated at bid price : 22.75
Bid-YTW : 2.29 %
FTS.PR.H FixedReset Quote: 25.55 – 25.99
Spot Rate : 0.4400
Average : 0.2938
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2015-07-01
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.55
Bid-YTW : 3.89 %
BAM.PR.N Perpetual-Discount Quote: 20.90 – 21.15
Spot Rate : 0.2500
Average : 0.1467
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 20.90
Evaluated at bid price : 20.90
Bid-YTW : 5.76 %
CIU.PR.A Perpetual-Discount Quote: 22.50 – 23.00
Spot Rate : 0.5000
Average : 0.3997
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-31
Maturity Price : 22.35
Evaluated at bid price : 22.50
Bid-YTW : 5.19 %
BAM.PR.I OpRet Quote: 25.55 – 25.98
Spot Rate : 0.4300
Average : 0.3325
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2011-07-30
Maturity Price : 25.25
Evaluated at bid price : 25.55
Bid-YTW : 3.99 %
GWO.PR.J FixedReset Quote: 26.75 – 27.15
Spot Rate : 0.4000
Average : 0.3028
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-01-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.75
Bid-YTW : 3.68 %

January 28, 2011

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Grecian-based multinationals being higher rated than the sovereign is old hat. Japan is another matter:

Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. are among 13 Japanese companies that will have higher ratings than their home country at Standard & Poor’s after the nation was downgraded.

Japan’s credit rating was cut for the first time in nine years as the world’s most indebted nation staggers under 943 trillion yen ($11 trillion) of borrowings, with the grade lowered one step to AA-. Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, and Canon, the largest camera maker, along with companies including mobile phone operator NTT Docomo Inc. and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., are rated a grade higher.

A nation’s rating doesn’t constitute a ceiling for a corporate rating, which instead depends on analysts’ judgment of inherent creditworthiness, according to S&P’s policy. Exporters that have significant overseas earnings and don’t rely on public authorities may be graded higher than the sovereign, the ratings firm said in a 2002 report.

The Bank of Canada has released a working paper by Garima Vasishtha and Philipp Maier titled The Impact of the Global Business Cycle on Small Open Economies: A FAVAR Approach for Canada:

Building on the growing evidence on the importance of large data sets for empirical macroeconomic modeling, we use a factor-augmented VAR (FAVAR) model with more than 260 series for 20 OECD countries to analyze how global developments affect the Canadian economy. We focus on several sources of shocks, including commodity prices, foreign economic activity, and foreign interest rates. We evaluate the impact of each shock on key Canadian macroeconomic variables to provide a comprehensive picture of the effect of international shocks on the Canadian economy. Our findings indicate that Canada is primarily exposed to shocks to foreign activity and to commodity prices. In contrast, the impact of shocks to global interest rates or global inflation is substantially lower. Our findings also expose the different channels through which higher commodity prices impact the Canadian economy: Canada benefits from higher commodity prices through a positive terms of trade shock, but at the same time, higher commodity prices tend to lower global economic activity, hurting demand for Canadian exports.

There were mixed results on the Canadian preferred share market today, as PerpetualDiscounts gained 25bp while FixedResets lost 4bp. Volume returned to average levels.

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 -0.0360 % 2,376.5
FixedFloater 4.79 % 3.49 % 26,070 19.13 1 0.0000 % 3,553.1
Floater 2.52 % 2.29 % 41,709 21.54 4 -0.0360 % 2,566.0
OpRet 4.81 % 3.42 % 66,992 2.27 8 0.3289 % 2,388.4
SplitShare 5.28 % 0.61 % 385,142 0.86 4 -0.0598 % 2,473.8
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.3289 % 2,184.0
Perpetual-Premium 5.64 % 5.20 % 138,435 5.30 20 0.1304 % 2,034.4
Perpetual-Discount 5.31 % 5.27 % 259,148 14.99 57 0.2452 % 2,085.8
FixedReset 5.26 % 3.58 % 282,906 3.02 52 -0.0443 % 2,270.1
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
BMO.PR.P FixedReset -1.91 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2015-03-27
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.73
Bid-YTW : 3.49 %
BAM.PR.R FixedReset -1.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-28
Maturity Price : 23.34
Evaluated at bid price : 25.70
Bid-YTW : 4.81 %
RY.PR.F Perpetual-Discount 1.02 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-28
Maturity Price : 22.59
Evaluated at bid price : 22.75
Bid-YTW : 4.89 %
GWO.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 1.03 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2019-04-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.39
Bid-YTW : 5.67 %
HSB.PR.D Perpetual-Discount 1.06 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-28
Maturity Price : 23.62
Evaluated at bid price : 23.87
Bid-YTW : 5.28 %
BAM.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-28
Maturity Price : 21.01
Evaluated at bid price : 21.01
Bid-YTW : 5.72 %
BAM.PR.N Perpetual-Discount 1.15 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-28
Maturity Price : 21.05
Evaluated at bid price : 21.05
Bid-YTW : 5.71 %
BAM.PR.J OpRet 2.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Soft Maturity
Maturity Date : 2018-03-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.18
Bid-YTW : 4.72 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
CM.PR.I Perpetual-Discount 125,267 Nesbitt crossed 100,000 at 23.40.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-28
Maturity Price : 23.19
Evaluated at bid price : 23.40
Bid-YTW : 5.04 %
TRP.PR.A FixedReset 107,392 Nesbitt crossed two blocks of 50,000 each, both at 26.23.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2015-01-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.15
Bid-YTW : 3.47 %
HSB.PR.E FixedReset 62,360 RBC crossed 50,000 at 27.50.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-07-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.44
Bid-YTW : 3.84 %
BNS.PR.R FixedReset 54,599 Nesbitt crossed 50,000 at 26.08.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-02-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.09
Bid-YTW : 3.47 %
BNS.PR.X FixedReset 53,122 RBC crossed two blocks of 25,000 each, both at 27.27.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-05-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.28
Bid-YTW : 3.41 %
TRP.PR.C FixedReset 53,001 Nesbitt crossed 50,000 at 25.45.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2016-02-29
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.37
Bid-YTW : 4.08 %
There were 32 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data Notes
GWO.PR.G Perpetual-Discount Quote: 23.86 – 24.38
Spot Rate : 0.5200
Average : 0.3092
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-28
Maturity Price : 23.57
Evaluated at bid price : 23.86
Bid-YTW : 5.50 %
BAM.PR.R FixedReset Quote: 25.70 – 26.18
Spot Rate : 0.4800
Average : 0.3317
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-28
Maturity Price : 23.34
Evaluated at bid price : 25.70
Bid-YTW : 4.81 %
BAM.PR.H OpRet Quote: 25.33 – 25.78
Spot Rate : 0.4500
Average : 0.3130
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Soft Maturity
Maturity Date : 2012-03-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.33
Bid-YTW : 4.99 %
NA.PR.N FixedReset Quote: 26.60 – 26.95
Spot Rate : 0.3500
Average : 0.2428
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2013-09-14
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.60
Bid-YTW : 2.69 %
IAG.PR.C FixedReset Quote: 26.81 – 27.24
Spot Rate : 0.4300
Average : 0.3256
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-01-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.81
Bid-YTW : 3.80 %
IAG.PR.A Perpetual-Discount Quote: 22.15 – 22.43
Spot Rate : 0.2800
Average : 0.1868
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-28
Maturity Price : 22.01
Evaluated at bid price : 22.15
Bid-YTW : 5.24 %

HSB: Credit Trend Now Stable, Says DBRS

Friday, January 28th, 2011

DBRS has announced that it:

has today changed the trends on all ratings of HSBC Bank Canada to Stable from Negative, following the trend change on the long-term issuer rating of HSBC Holdings plc (the Parent). (Please see the related DBRS press release for HSBC Holdings plc released today.)

DBRS ratings of HSBC Bank Canada are based on the relationship it has with its ultimate parent, HSBC Holdings plc, which is one of the largest global banking groups. DBRS’s long-term issuer rating of HSBC Holdings plc is now AA (high) with a Stable trend.

Under DBRS’s bank rating methodology, DBRS has assigned HSBC Bank Canada a support assessment of SA1, reflecting a strong expectation of timely support from HSBC Holdings plc. The guaranteed debts are rated at the same level as the Parent.

Given the strategic nature of the relationship between HSBC Bank Canada and HSBC Holdings plc but lack of an explicit guarantee, the non-guaranteed long-term deposits and senior debt rating of HSBC Bank Canada has been assigned a rating one notch lower than HSBC Holdings plc.

HSB issues were last mentioned on PrefBlog when they were downgraded to Pfd-2(high) [Trend Negative] by DBRS as part of a mass downgrade of Canadian banks’ preferreds and IT1C paper.

HSB currently has three preferred share issues outstanding: HSB.PR.C and HSB.PR.D (PerpetualDiscount) and HSB.PR.E (FixedReset). All are tracked by HIMIPref™ and incorporated within the indicated indices.

Fed Up with Shoddy Market-Making!

Friday, January 28th, 2011

The market-maker for BAM.PR.J did a really shitty job yesterday. According to information supplied by TMX DataLinx the quote at 14:51:59 was 25.66-26.69 and the spread stayed in the range of ninety-seven cents to a dollar six until the close – over an hour. It really is time that the Market Maker system was reformed, if the smiley-boys aren’t going to take it seriously.

In a nutshell, every TMX-listed security has a market maker. The Market Makers service odd-lots, take responsibility for the top-secret Minimum Guaranteed Fill function and agree to maintain a spread on their securities below a certain level. In return, they get a very nice privileges: they can elect to participate in trading on the passive side, taking a cut of up to 30% of the passive side’s fill on every trade [see comments]. This is deemed to be a fair trade-off, and I’m not about to say it isn’t.

But it can only a fair trade-off if the privileges are earned, and it can only be viewed as a fair trade-off if details of the Market-Maker’s execution of his side of the contract are viewable.

There are no details given of any kind of auction system whereby, for instance, a dealer willing to enforce a $0.25 spread can simply take the privileges away from an extant market maker only willing to enforce $0.50. There are no details given of the committments made. There are no details given on actual Market-Maker performance. The TMX claims to monitor Market Maker performance and remove privileges in the event of poor performance, but since no details are given the credibility of this claim is open to question.

I am sick and bloody tired of B-School snots at the TMX telling me not to worry my pretty little head about such complicated matters because the TMX is in charge and on the case. I am outraged that I was told that seven seconds at the close was a inconsequential period for a wide spread on SLF.PR.E at year-end, when it is well known that this is sufficient time to analyze and react to literally thousands of quotation changes. If the TMX is going to grant preferential trading privileges, over-riding the price-time priority they purport to consider holy, they should damn well prove that those preferential trading privileges have been won and earned in a competitive market place.

There’s not much I can do about this, but that’s never an excuse for doing nothing. Accordingly, from this day forward I will be publicizing the daily half-dozen highest excess spreads according to the “Last” quotes (with any luck, they will soon be the “Closing” quotes) available to me. Excess Spread is defined as the spot rate less the average spread as computed by HIMIPref™. Issues considered for inclusion in the list are, and will continue to be, restricted to those incorporated in the HIMIPref™ Preferred Share Indices.

The table for January 27 looks like this:

Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data Notes
BAM.PR.J OpRet Quote: 25.65 – 26.69
Spot Rate : 1.0400
Average : 0.6729
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Soft Maturity
Maturity Date : 2018-03-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.65
Bid-YTW : 5.06 %
HSB.PR.D Perpetual-Discount Quote: 23.62 – 24.05
Spot Rate : 0.4300
Average : 0.2761
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-27
Maturity Price : 23.38
Evaluated at bid price : 23.62
Bid-YTW : 5.34 %
PWF.PR.M FixedReset Quote: 26.54 – 27.00
Spot Rate : 0.4600
Average : 0.3404
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-03-02
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.54
Bid-YTW : 3.85 %
BAM.PR.G FixedFloater Quote: 22.70 – 23.20
Spot Rate : 0.5000
Average : 0.3971
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-27
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.70
Bid-YTW : 3.49 %
HSB.PR.E FixedReset Quote: 27.47 – 27.75
Spot Rate : 0.2800
Average : 0.1836
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-07-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.47
Bid-YTW : 3.80 %
CM.PR.P Perpetual-Discount Quote: 25.18 – 25.56
Spot Rate : 0.3800
Average : 0.2909
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2012-11-28
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.18
Bid-YTW : 5.08 %

January 27, 2011

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Towers Perrin has released its December 2010 Pension Finance Watch:

Strong equity returns dominated pension financial results in December, as the Towers Watson Pension Index moved up 3.5% to 70.7. The index was still down 1.3% for the full year, however, as positive equity returns were more than offset by the growth in liabilities resulting from falling interest rates.

They also released a report on Treasury Infl ation-Protected Securities (TIPS): A primer on infl ation-linked bonds and their relative value as an inflation hedge:

Inflation derivatives are another option when constructing an infl ation hedge. Recent academic research has shown that TIPS have historically been underpriced relative to a synthetic TIPS portfolio of nominal Treasuries and inflation swaps.** Beyond costs, these are also very complex markets with different risks and liquidity features than the cash/physical market. While there are some managers who are capable of handling such a mandate, because of cost, liquidity and counterparty risk, inflation derivatives are likely to be most suitable for clients
who have an explicit infl ation-linked liability they want to immunize in a highly customized manner.

** Why Does The Treasury Issue TIPS? The TIPS–Treasury Bond Puzzle, Matthias Fleckenstein, Francis A. Longstaff, Hanno Lustig September 2010

BIS has released its Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance Systems.

The Federal Crisis Inquiry Commission has released the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report. It’s all the Fed’s fault:

Yet there was pervasive permissiveness; little meaningful action was taken to quell the threats in a timely manner.

The prime example is the Federal Reserve’s pivotal failure to stem the flow of toxic mortgages, which it could have done by setting prudent mortgage-lending standards. The Federal Reserve was the one entity empowered to do so and it did not. The record of our examination is replete with evidence of other failures: financial institutions made, bought, and sold mortgage securities they never examined, did not care to examine, or knew to be defective; firms depended on tens of billions of dollars of borrowing that had to be renewed each and every night, secured by subprime mortgage securities; and major firms and investors blindly relied on credit rating agencies as their arbiters of risk. What else could one expect on a highway where there were neither speed limits nor neatly painted lines?

Jonathan Ratner of the Financial Post reports an interesting fact in Canadian investment-grade bond market shines:

The total return of 6.92% was primarily a result of an average shift of 55 basis points in the yield curve. That was the biggest curve shift of any broad investment-grade index tracked by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, although the United States (-48 bps), Europe (-48 bps) and U.K. (-43 bps) were close behind.

The Canadian market also had fairly long duration on its side in 2010, BofAML analyst Preston Peacock said in a note to clients. At 6.78 years, the Canadian Broad Market Index is about two years longer than the United States and roughly 1.5 years longer than the Euro market. Only the Sterling market at 8.49 years has a longer duration than Canada and was the only outperformer with a 7.95% return in 2010.

While all sectors of the Canada Corporate Index saw healthy excess returns in 2010, banking (+0.81%) and insurance (+0.88%) had the lowest relative performances. Together, the account for about half the index.

The banking sector, which has a weighting of roughly 40% in the index, didn’t exactly have a bad showing, so its hard to say it dragged down overall index performance. However, the group did lag the 1.31% return of the global bank sector.

Mr. Peacock explained this is due to the 46% allocation to subordinated debt in the Canadian Dollar Bank Index compared to 32% globally. The Canadian group did not sell off as much as its global peers previously and therefore saw less of a bounce-back.

Sub-debt as currently constituted is a bond, since holders can petition into bankruptcy – they will not be bonds under the new regime.

It was a positive day on the Canadian preferred share market amidst continued heavy volume as PerpetualDiscounts gained 9bp and FixedResets were up 7bp.

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 0.1682 % 2,377.4
FixedFloater 4.79 % 3.49 % 27,132 19.14 1 -1.0893 % 3,553.1
Floater 2.52 % 2.29 % 41,104 21.54 4 0.1682 % 2,566.9
OpRet 4.83 % 3.42 % 66,438 2.27 8 -0.4334 % 2,380.6
SplitShare 5.28 % 0.61 % 400,762 0.86 4 0.1396 % 2,475.3
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.4334 % 2,176.9
Perpetual-Premium 5.64 % 5.23 % 141,077 5.29 20 0.0629 % 2,031.8
Perpetual-Discount 5.32 % 5.28 % 257,317 14.94 57 0.0947 % 2,080.7
FixedReset 5.25 % 3.55 % 284,676 3.03 52 0.0736 % 2,271.1
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
BAM.PR.J OpRet -3.93 % Looks like a bogus quote, 25.65-26.69, 1×2, is to blame, with 3,380 shares trading in a range of 26.44-75. The quote given is the “Last”; I attempted to determine the “Close”, but the TMX DataLinx Trades and Quotes functionality was working with its customary efficiency, i.e., not.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Soft Maturity
Maturity Date : 2018-03-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.65
Bid-YTW : 5.06 %
BAM.PR.G FixedFloater -1.09 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-27
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.70
Bid-YTW : 3.49 %
BAM.PR.R FixedReset 1.05 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2016-07-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.97
Bid-YTW : 4.69 %
BMO.PR.P FixedReset 1.54 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2015-03-27
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.25
Bid-YTW : 2.97 %
CM.PR.K FixedReset 2.09 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-08-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.85
Bid-YTW : 3.12 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
TRP.PR.B FixedReset 107,500 Nesbitt crossed 100,000 at 25.05.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-27
Maturity Price : 25.01
Evaluated at bid price : 25.06
Bid-YTW : 3.91 %
SLF.PR.B Perpetual-Discount 64,568 TD crossed 40,000 at 23.00.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-27
Maturity Price : 22.80
Evaluated at bid price : 23.01
Bid-YTW : 5.26 %
RY.PR.L FixedReset 50,110 Nesbitt crossed 23,900 at 26.25.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-03-26
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.27
Bid-YTW : 3.74 %
BAM.PR.P FixedReset 44,612 National crossed 34,000 at 27.20.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-10-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.30
Bid-YTW : 4.50 %
CM.PR.I Perpetual-Discount 40,925 TD crossed 10,000 at 23.31.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-27
Maturity Price : 23.09
Evaluated at bid price : 23.29
Bid-YTW : 5.06 %
BAM.PR.N Perpetual-Discount 39,439 National bought 10,000 from Nesbitt at 20.90.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-27
Maturity Price : 20.81
Evaluated at bid price : 20.81
Bid-YTW : 5.78 %
There were 51 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.

NPI.PR.A: Ticker Change from NPP.PR.A

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Northland Power has announced (some time ago, actually):

that the conversion of Northland Power Income Fund (the “Fund”) from an income trust to a corporation became effective on January 1, 2011.

As a result, Northland is now the Canadian public corporation which will continue to carry on the business of the Fund. The Fund’s trust units have been converted into common shares of Northland on a one-for-one basis and will trade under the TSX symbol NPI. The Series 1 Preferred Shares of Northland Power Preferred Equity Inc. have been converted into Series 1 Preferred Shares of Northland on a one-for-one basis and will trade under the TSX symbol NPI.PR. The two series of convertible debentures of the Fund have become convertible debentures of Northland and will continue to trade under the TSX symbols of NPI.DB and NPI.DB.A.

As an income trust, Northland and its Unit holders benefited under Canadian income tax law from advantages available to income trusts. Canadian legislation phased out those advantages at December 31, 2010.

In 2009, the Fund merged with its manager, Northland Power Inc. In addition to internalized management, this merger brought the manager’s development expertise and a robust pipeline of thermal, solar, wind and hydro development projects.

NPP.PR.A was last mentioned on PrefBlog when it settled in July, 2010. NPI.PR.A is tracked by HIMIPref™, but is relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

January 26, 2011

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Brookfield has announced:

that it has agreed to issue approximately 15,300,000 Class A Common Shares (“Class A Shares”), on a bought deal basis, to a syndicate of underwriters led by RBC Capital Markets, CIBC World Markets, TD Securities Inc. and Scotia Capital Inc. (the “Underwriters”) at a price of C$32.85 per Class A Share (the “Offering Price”) for aggregate gross proceeds of C$502.6 million (the “Offering”).

In addition, the Company has granted the Underwriters an over-allotment option, exercisable in whole or in part for a period of 30 days following closing, to purchase up to an additional 2,295,000 Class A Shares at the Offering Price, which, if exercised, would increase the gross offering size to C$578.0 million.

The Class A Shares will be offered by way of a short form prospectus to be filed in all of the provinces of Canada and on a private placement basis in the United States pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

As previously announced, the Company has acquired 113.3 million common shares of General Growth Properties, Inc. (“GGP”) from The Fairholme Fund for aggregate consideration of approximately US$1.7 billion. The proceeds of the Offering, together with the proceeds of the Company’s previously announced offering of preferred shares, means that the Company’s purchase of the common shares of GGP is financed almost entirely with permanent equity, thoroughly enhancing the Company’s ability to pursue additional investment opportunities. The Offering is expected to close on or about February 15, 2011 and is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.

The SEC has released Study and Recommendations on Improved Investor Access to Registration Information About Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers:

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act” or “Act”) was signed into law on July 21, 2010. Section 919B of the Act directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission” or “SEC”) to complete a study, including recommendations, of ways to improve the access of investors to registration information about registered and previously registered investment advisers, associated persons of investment advisers, brokers and dealers and their associated persons and to identify additional information that should be made publicly available. The Act specifies that the study include an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of further centralizing access to registration information, and identify data pertinent to investors and the method and format for displaying and publishing the data to enhance the information’s accessibility and utility to investors. The Act requires the Commission to complete the study within six months after the date of enactment of the Act (i.e., by January 21, 2011), and to implement any recommendations within eighteen months after completion of the study.

If recommendations must be implemented, can they still be called “recommendations”?

Section VII proposes several recommendations. For the near-term, i.e., within the eighteen-month implementation period, the Staff makes the following recommendations: (1) unify search returns for BrokerCheck and IAPD to help investors more easily obtain the data they need to make informed decisions regarding financial services providers; (2) add a search by ZIP code or other indicator of location to BrokerCheck and IAPD to increase the utility of the existing databases; and (3) enhance BrokerCheck and IAPD by adding educational content to make the data currently available more useful to investors.
The Staff also recommends that, subsequent to the eighteen-month implementation period, Commission staff and FINRA continue to analyze, including through investor testing, the feasibility and advisability of expanding BrokerCheck to include information currently available in CRD, as well as the method and format of publishing that information; and that Commission staff continue to evaluate expanding IAPD content and the method and format of publishing that content, including through investor testing. Section VIII concludes the study.

The FOMC Release was ‘steady as she goes’. No dissent from Hoenig this time – he’s no longer a member!

Volume ticked up to “very heavy” levels in the Canadian preferred share market today with mixed returns, as PerpetualDiscounts lost 11bp while FixedResets gained 3bp.

PerpetualDiscounts now yield 5.28%, equivalent to 7.38% interest at the standard equivalency factor of 1.4x. Long corporates now yield about 5.55%, so the pre-tax interest equivalent spread (also called the Seniority Spread) is now about 185bp, a slight and perhaps spurious decline from the 190bp reported on January 19.

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 0.3618 % 2,373.4
FixedFloater 4.74 % 3.43 % 27,495 19.21 1 0.8791 % 3,592.3
Floater 2.52 % 2.29 % 40,316 21.54 4 0.3618 % 2,562.6
OpRet 4.81 % 3.41 % 67,186 2.27 8 0.0626 % 2,391.0
SplitShare 5.29 % 0.83 % 416,562 0.87 4 0.0699 % 2,471.8
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0626 % 2,186.3
Perpetual-Premium 5.65 % 5.22 % 142,162 5.29 20 -0.1883 % 2,030.5
Perpetual-Discount 5.33 % 5.28 % 260,239 14.96 57 -0.1134 % 2,078.7
FixedReset 5.25 % 3.57 % 279,676 3.03 52 0.0297 % 2,269.4
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
PWF.PR.F Perpetual-Discount -1.42 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-26
Maturity Price : 23.37
Evaluated at bid price : 23.66
Bid-YTW : 5.57 %
GWO.PR.F Perpetual-Premium -1.32 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2012-10-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.36
Bid-YTW : 5.32 %
GWO.PR.I Perpetual-Discount -1.14 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-26
Maturity Price : 21.66
Evaluated at bid price : 21.66
Bid-YTW : 5.25 %
PWF.PR.O Perpetual-Premium -1.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2018-11-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.03
Bid-YTW : 5.81 %
TD.PR.K FixedReset -1.02 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-08-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.10
Bid-YTW : 3.78 %
PWF.PR.A Floater 1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-26
Maturity Price : 22.55
Evaluated at bid price : 22.80
Bid-YTW : 2.27 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
CM.PR.J Perpetual-Discount 189,760 RBC crossed three blocks: 18,200 shares, 41,400 and 97,100, all at 23.05.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-26
Maturity Price : 22.73
Evaluated at bid price : 22.90
Bid-YTW : 4.93 %
ELF.PR.F Perpetual-Discount 66,700 Nesbitt crossed three blocks: 26,700 shares, 23,400 and 10,000, all at 22.00.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-26
Maturity Price : 21.99
Evaluated at bid price : 21.99
Bid-YTW : 6.08 %
NA.PR.O FixedReset 62,235 Nesbitt crossed 30,000 at 27.45. National crossed blocks of 25,000 at 27.40 and 28,500 at 27.34.
and YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-03-17
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.40
Bid-YTW : 3.31 %
TD.PR.R Perpetual-Premium 52,177 Scotia crossed 35,000 at 25.63; RBC crossed 14,900 at 25.57.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2017-05-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.58
Bid-YTW : 5.19 %
TD.PR.O Perpetual-Discount 47,779 Scotia crossed 35,000 at 24.23.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-26
Maturity Price : 23.76
Evaluated at bid price : 24.02
Bid-YTW : 5.06 %
CM.PR.L FixedReset 39,834 National crossed 14,500 at 27.50.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-05-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.60
Bid-YTW : 3.23 %
There were 52 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.

REI.PR.A Settles: Good Gain, Good Volume

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust has announced:

that it has successfully completed the issuance of 4 million Cumulative Rate Reset Preferred Trust Units, Series A (the “Series A Units”) at a price of $25 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $100 million. The underwriters have also been granted an over-allotment option, exercisable in whole or in part within 30 days following closing which, if fully exercised, would result in the issuance of an additional 1 million Series A Units issued at a price of $25 per unit for additional gross proceeds of $25 million. The underwriting syndicate for the offering was co-led by RBC Capital Markets, Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd. and Scotia Capital.

The offering was made under RioCan’s amended and restated base shelf prospectus dated December 21, 2010. The terms of the offering are described in a prospectus supplement dated January 19, 2011, which was filed with Canadian securities regulators.

“The completion of this offering adds a new form of capital for RioCan that, used judiciously, enhances our ability to remain competitive in Canada and the United States for acquisitions,” said Edward Sonshine, Q.C. President and CEO of RioCan. “We view the use of Preferred Units as a complementary addition to RioCan’s capital structure. One that provides investors with a competitive yield and one that enhances RioCan’s financial flexibility and improves RioCan’s already strong balance sheet.”

This is a FixedReset, 5.25%+262 announced January 17 but the taxes are peculiar.

Taxation of Preferred Unitholders

A Preferred Unitholder is required to include in computing his or her income for tax purposes in each year the amount of income and net taxable capital gains, if any, paid or payable, or deemed to be paid or payable, to the Preferred Unitholder in the year by the Trust to the extent that the Trust deducts such amount in computing its income for tax purposes. The Trust’s income and net taxable gains for the purposes of the Tax Act will be allocated to the holders of Units and Preferred Units in the same proportion as the distributions received by such holders.

The amount of the non-taxable portion of any net realized capital gains of the Trust that is paid or payable to a Preferred Unitholder in a taxation year will not be included in computing the Preferred Unitholder’s income for the year. The Preferred Unitholder will not be required to reduce the adjusted cost base of the Preferred Unitholder’s Series A or Series B Units by such an amount.

Any other amount in excess of the income for tax purposes of the Trust that is paid or payable to a Preferred Unitholder in that year generally will not be included in the Preferred Unitholder’s income for the year. However, where such an amount is paid or payable to a Preferred Unitholder, the Preferred Unitholder will be required to reduce the adjusted cost base of the Preferred Unitholder’s Series A or Series B Units, as the case may be, by that amount. To the extent that the adjusted cost base of a Series A or Series B Unit would otherwise be a negative amount, the negative amount will be deemed to be a capital gain and the adjusted cost base of the Series A or Series B Unit to the Preferred Unitholder will then be nil. The taxation of capital gains is described below (see ‘‘Capital Gains and Capital Losses’’).

The company cannot be bothered to give a breakdown of their prior distributions by taxation status on their “Distribution Info” page, or in their 2009 Annual Report but, as previously reported there is a credible estimate:

BMO analyst Karine MacIndoe ran the numbers and found that RioCan has a historical five-year tax-deferral average of about 50 per cent. Applying that figure over a five-year horizon in the future, the pref units’ 5.25 per cent yield equates to a 4.82 per cent dividend yield on an after-tax return basis.

If we assume marginal rates for an Ontario investor with $150,000 income of 46.41% income, 23.20% capital gains and 26.57% eligible dividends, then, when holding $100 pv of this issue:

$5.25 distribution received.
$2.625 income, keep 53.59% = $1.407
$2.625 CG on disposition, assume immediate disposition, keep 76.80% = $2.016
Total kept after tax = $3.423

Equivalent to pre-tax eligible dividends of $4.662, or 4.66% of the $100 notional par value. Note that the dividend-equivalent yield will increase according to your estimate of the period of tax deferral until the units have sold, and increase according to your estimate of the time value of money in the interim.

REI.PR.A traded 389,944 shares today in a range of 25.05-65 before closing at 25.52-55, 4×8.

Vital statistics are:

REI.PR.A FixedReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2016-04-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.52
Bid-YTW : 4.82 %

REI.PR.A will be tracked by HIMIPref™ and valued with the assumption that all distributions are taxable as interest. It will be relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.

January 25, 2011

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

European politicians have a problem when talking about the potential for sovereign default – nobody believes them:

Most global investors predict at least one nation will leave the euro-area within five years and that Greece and Ireland will default, sentiment that is intensifying pressure on policy makers to strengthen their response to the debt crisis.

As the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting gets underway, 59 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg Global Poll said one or more of the 17 euro nations will quit by 2016, including 11 percent who see an exit within 12 months. Respondents were divided over whether Portugal would default, while a majority expressed confidence in Spain.

It was a mixed, downish day on the Canadian preferred share market, as PerpetualDiscounts gained 3bp while FixedResets lost 14bp … that brings the Bozo Spread (Current Yield PerpetualDiscounts less Current Yield FixedResets) down to 6bp! Volume continued at elevated levels.

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 0.2660 % 2,364.8
FixedFloater 4.78 % 3.47 % 28,605 19.16 1 0.0000 % 3,561.0
Floater 2.53 % 2.30 % 41,847 21.53 4 0.2660 % 2,553.4
OpRet 4.81 % 3.38 % 66,596 2.28 8 0.0000 % 2,389.5
SplitShare 5.29 % 0.82 % 433,803 0.87 4 0.1199 % 2,470.1
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0000 % 2,185.0
Perpetual-Premium 5.64 % 5.12 % 140,893 5.01 20 -0.0314 % 2,034.3
Perpetual-Discount 5.32 % 5.27 % 256,999 14.93 57 0.0252 % 2,081.1
FixedReset 5.26 % 3.52 % 280,392 3.03 52 -0.1380 % 2,268.7
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
RY.PR.L FixedReset -1.46 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-03-26
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.28
Bid-YTW : 3.72 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
RY.PR.A Perpetual-Discount 66,459 RBC crossed 53,800 at 22.50.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-25
Maturity Price : 22.37
Evaluated at bid price : 22.53
Bid-YTW : 4.93 %
TRP.PR.C FixedReset 38,455 National crossed 10,000 at 25.47; RBC crossed 15,000 at 25.45.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2016-02-29
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.37
Bid-YTW : 4.07 %
CM.PR.G Perpetual-Discount 34,888 Desjardins crossed 23,100 at 24.90.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-25
Maturity Price : 24.53
Evaluated at bid price : 24.81
Bid-YTW : 5.46 %
BNS.PR.Y FixedReset 34,357 RBC crossed 10,000 at 25.01.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-25
Maturity Price : 24.91
Evaluated at bid price : 24.96
Bid-YTW : 3.65 %
TD.PR.I FixedReset 28,192 RBC crossed 11,000 at 27.24.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-08-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 27.20
Bid-YTW : 3.65 %
NA.PR.L Perpetual-Discount 28,134 TD crossed 14,500 at 24.05.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-25
Maturity Price : 23.72
Evaluated at bid price : 24.00
Bid-YTW : 5.05 %
There were 37 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.

FN.PR.A Plummets on Derisory Volume

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

First National has announced:

the closing of its previously announced offering of 4,000,000 Class A Preference Shares, Series 1 (the “Series 1 Shares”) for gross proceeds of $100,000,000 (the “Offering”).

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to repay current indebtedness as well as for general corporate purposes.

The Series 1 Shares will commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on January 25, 2011 under the symbol FN.PR.A.

The Offering was completed through a syndicate of underwriters led by RBC Capital Markets and Scotia Capital Inc.

This is a FixedReset 4.65%+207 announced on January 17.

The issue traded 4,030 shares today in a range of 24.45-50 before closing at 24.35-50, 9×125.

Vital Statistics are:

FN.PR.A FixedReset YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2041-01-25
Maturity Price : 24.30
Evaluated at bid price : 24.35
Bid-YTW : 4.80 %

FN.PR.A will be tracked by HIMIPref™, but relegated to the Scraps index on credit concerns.