I was flattered and amused to read on the Feldsparia blog:
The February 3, 2010 edition of the Report on Business had this image of James Hymas, actually the image above is cropped from a larger photo that appeared in the physical paper, in a article about preferred shares, An investor with a preference for preferreds. What I found interesting is that everything in the photograph, the man at the desk with flowing beard, the desk, the Persian carpet, the fireplace, the suit look as through they are from 1899. When I asked several people to point out what doesn’t belong it woulkd take them a while to find the laptop.
And I am pleased to report that I did not go insane on September 24, 2007. Readers will recall that I asked:
Does the phrase “Abu Dhabi Honeymoon” ring a bell with anybody besides me? I was convinced it was a movie title, but it’s not listed on IMDB. Maybe it was a fake movie that the Flintstones went to see, or something? Please help!
Well, I have now discovered that it isn’t “Abu Dhabi Honeymoon”, it’s Aba Daba Honeymoon. And it’s not a movie, it’s a song; which has been charmingly covered. So my memory was a little off, sure, but that’s a lot better than being completely nuts.
Greece will offer 7-year debt at 336bp over Bunds:
Greece will price the 5 billion euros ($6.7 billion) of seven-year bonds to yield 310 basis points more than the benchmark mid-swap rate, according to a banker involved in the transaction, who declined to be identified before the sale is completed.
The bonds’ 6 percent yield equates to about 336 basis points more than seven-year German bunds, Europe’s benchmark government securities. That compares with a yield premium, or spread, of 61 basis points for similar-maturity Spanish debt and 114 basis points on Portugal’s government bonds due 2017, according to composite prices on Bloomberg. Italy’s seven-year bonds yield 45 basis points more than bunds, the prices show.
“Greece’s borrowing costs exceed those of Spain and Portugal as it still needs to convince the market that it can roll over existing debt,” said Michiel De Bruin, who will probably buy the securities for the $28 billion of assets he helps manage as head of euro government bonds at F&C Investments in Amsterdam. “Only then is it likely that borrowing costs will fall.”
Union Bank of Singapore had some good results from fixed-income trading:
UBS AG generated about $2.3 billion of revenue at its fixed-income division in the first quarter as Switzerland’s biggest bank rebuilt the unit following record losses, people with knowledge of the situation said.
UBS may have revenue of almost $1 billion from credit alone, said the people, who declined to be identified because the figures haven’t been publicly released. UBS hired about 350 people at its fixed-income unit, which includes emerging markets and foreign exchange, in the past 12 months.
The performance would mark a reversal of fortune for the bank’s debt unit, which was responsible for most of the $57.5 billion in writedowns and losses during the credit crisis. Zurich-based UBS had a loss of 1.97 billion Swiss francs ($1.85 billion) from fixed-income sales and trading in the first quarter of 2009, the company reported.
Let’s hope – for our own well-being, if not theirs – that they remember they’re traders, not investors!
A poor day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts down 23bp and FixedResets down 15bp, but volume continued to be heavy – particularly for FixedResets, which scored a shut-out on the volume highlights table, possibly aided by the announcement of a new BNS FixedReset 3.85%+100 issue.
| 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 | 2.59 % | 2.66 % | 59,676 | 20.93 | 1 | 2.3730 % | 2,139.5 |
| FixedFloater | 4.94 % | 3.06 % | 50,131 | 20.09 | 1 | -0.6321 % | 3,199.9 |
| Floater | 1.91 % | 1.68 % | 46,189 | 23.36 | 4 | 0.3285 % | 2,415.4 |
| OpRet | 4.84 % | 3.21 % | 108,372 | 0.58 | 12 | 0.0744 % | 2,313.9 |
| SplitShare | 6.36 % | 5.08 % | 136,786 | 0.08 | 2 | -0.0219 % | 2,146.0 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0744 % | 2,115.8 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.96 % | 6.03 % | 120,026 | 13.71 | 7 | -0.1891 % | 1,868.3 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 6.02 % | 6.08 % | 180,141 | 13.81 | 71 | -0.2288 % | 1,759.6 |
| FixedReset | 5.34 % | 3.39 % | 363,804 | 3.66 | 43 | -0.1480 % | 2,211.2 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| BAM.PR.H | OpRet | -1.62 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2010-10-30 Maturity Price : 25.25 Evaluated at bid price : 25.43 Bid-YTW : 4.40 % |
| BNS.PR.N | Perpetual-Discount | -1.50 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-03-29 Maturity Price : 22.15 Evaluated at bid price : 22.26 Bid-YTW : 6.01 % |
| GWO.PR.I | Perpetual-Discount | -1.27 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-03-29 Maturity Price : 18.61 Evaluated at bid price : 18.61 Bid-YTW : 6.09 % |
| GWO.PR.F | Perpetual-Discount | -1.22 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-03-29 Maturity Price : 23.98 Evaluated at bid price : 24.30 Bid-YTW : 6.10 % |
| PWF.PR.O | Perpetual-Discount | -1.17 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-03-29 Maturity Price : 23.41 Evaluated at bid price : 23.58 Bid-YTW : 6.26 % |
| CM.PR.E | Perpetual-Discount | -1.16 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-03-29 Maturity Price : 22.77 Evaluated at bid price : 23.01 Bid-YTW : 6.08 % |
| TRP.PR.A | FixedReset | -1.10 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2015-01-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.11 Bid-YTW : 3.60 % |
| MFC.PR.E | FixedReset | -1.10 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-10-19 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 27.02 Bid-YTW : 3.73 % |
| W.PR.H | Perpetual-Discount | 1.60 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-03-29 Maturity Price : 21.84 Evaluated at bid price : 22.11 Bid-YTW : 6.23 % |
| W.PR.J | Perpetual-Discount | 1.92 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-03-29 Maturity Price : 22.24 Evaluated at bid price : 22.51 Bid-YTW : 6.23 % |
| BAM.PR.E | Ratchet | 2.37 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-03-29 Maturity Price : 22.52 Evaluated at bid price : 21.82 Bid-YTW : 2.66 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| BNS.PR.T | FixedReset | 131,637 | RBC crossed 35,000 at 28.32; CIBC bought 13,400 from National at 28.30. Scotia solde 12,100 to RBC at 28.29 and 19,900 to Nesbitt at 28.25. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-05-25 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 28.27 Bid-YTW : 3.19 % |
| RY.PR.T | FixedReset | 94,175 | RBC crossed 43,000 at 28.34 and bought 10,000 from National at the same price. National sold 16,300 to CIBC at 28.34, then RBC crossed 39,700 at the same price again. Finally, RBC bought 12,000 from National at 28.30. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-09-23 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 28.28 Bid-YTW : 3.28 % |
| RY.PR.X | FixedReset | 73,143 | RBC crossed 39,700 at 28.34 and bought 12,000 from National at 28.30. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-09-23 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 28.27 Bid-YTW : 3.30 % |
| MFC.PR.D | FixedReset | 70,064 | RBC crossed 39,000 at 28.10. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-07-19 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 28.11 Bid-YTW : 3.56 % |
| TRP.PR.B | FixedReset | 63,603 | Recent new issue. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-03-29 Maturity Price : 24.96 Evaluated at bid price : 25.01 Bid-YTW : 3.98 % |
| TD.PR.G | FixedReset | 51,316 | Nesbitt bought 25,000 from National at 28.25. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-05-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 28.25 Bid-YTW : 3.22 % |
| There were 56 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||