The Kansas City Fed has published the Spring 2010 edition of TEN Magazine with articles on:
- A PIVOTAL INDUSTRY: Energy’s ups and downs drive economies
- A COMMUNITY AFFAIR: Kansas City Fed programs take policymakers to the front lines
- CONFERENCE ROOM TO CLASSROOM: Financial education in the workplace benefits employees, employers
- FINANCIAL STABILITY REPORTS: How useful during a financial crisis?
- REGIONAL CONNECTIONS TO NATIONAL POLICY: The directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Corporate bond sales are slow:
There were no corporate bond sales in the U.S. today, compared with $2.2 billion on the corresponding day following the holiday weekend in 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In Europe, 1.35 billion euros ($1.66 billion) was raised from two sales of covered bonds, versus 6.5 billion euros of bond issuance a year earlier, Bloomberg data show.
The global new issue market failed to revive after declining to $70 billion last month, less than half of April’s tally and the least since August 2003, Bloomberg data show. The Frankfurt-based European Central Bank forecast that banks will have to write off 195 billion euros of bad debts by 2011, according to a biannual report published May 31.
I just read John Mortimer’s Rumpole Misbehaves, an entertaining if rather lightweight romp, in which the UK’s Anti-Social Behaviour Orders figure in the plot. I’m surprised they haven’t been discussed much here, as they unite many elements of current fashion: the ability to denounce your neighbors to the police and the ability of bureaucrats to invent new crimes and punish transgressors. Anyway, in the course of poking around to see what ASBOs are all about, I found this story which may – but probably won’t – give pause to those who self-righteously exercise their right to draw pictures of Mohammed, since apparently 1,000 years of trespassing precedents aren’t enough to protect property right:
Harry Taylor, 59, of Salford, left images of religious figures in sexual poses on three occasions in 2008.
Jurors found him guilty of causing religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress in March.
He was also given a five-year Anti-social Behaviour Order (Asbo) at Liverpool Crown Court.
Among the posters, one image showed a smiling crucified Christ next to an advert for a brand of “no nails” glue.
In another, Islamic suicide bombers at the gates of paradise were told: “Stop, stop, we’ve run out of virgins.”
…
The chaplain at the airport was “severely distressed” by the discoveries, the court heard.
Well, well! We can’t have chaplains being “severely distressed”, now, can we? Let’s put somebody in jail instead.
The first day of the Dreaded Rise in Interest Rates didn’t interupt the recent rally in the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts up 47bp on the day and FixedResets up 14 bp. Volume returned to average-to-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 | 2.65 % | 2.71 % | 43,704 | 20.74 | 1 | 0.7109 % | 2,092.7 |
| FixedFloater | 5.22 % | 3.28 % | 31,479 | 19.97 | 1 | -0.4773 % | 3,068.7 |
| Floater | 2.17 % | 2.52 % | 96,459 | 20.95 | 3 | -0.3473 % | 2,241.3 |
| OpRet | 4.90 % | 3.91 % | 99,001 | 1.71 | 11 | 0.0284 % | 2,302.0 |
| SplitShare | 6.44 % | 5.64 % | 110,459 | 0.08 | 2 | 0.1779 % | 2,153.9 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0284 % | 2,105.0 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.4687 % | 1,825.5 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 6.20 % | 6.25 % | 209,589 | 13.55 | 77 | 0.4687 % | 1,729.8 |
| FixedReset | 5.47 % | 4.25 % | 436,981 | 3.53 | 45 | 0.1406 % | 2,156.6 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| CU.PR.B | Perpetual-Discount | -1.06 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 23.93 Evaluated at bid price : 24.30 Bid-YTW : 6.20 % |
| BAM.PR.K | Floater | -1.01 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 15.74 Evaluated at bid price : 15.74 Bid-YTW : 2.52 % |
| NA.PR.K | Perpetual-Discount | 1.07 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 23.40 Evaluated at bid price : 23.70 Bid-YTW : 6.22 % |
| POW.PR.A | Perpetual-Discount | 1.07 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 22.30 Evaluated at bid price : 22.57 Bid-YTW : 6.30 % |
| BNS.PR.Y | FixedReset | 1.15 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 24.56 Evaluated at bid price : 24.61 Bid-YTW : 3.80 % |
| NA.PR.L | Perpetual-Discount | 1.18 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 19.72 Evaluated at bid price : 19.72 Bid-YTW : 6.22 % |
| IAG.PR.A | Perpetual-Discount | 1.25 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 17.88 Evaluated at bid price : 17.88 Bid-YTW : 6.44 % |
| SLF.PR.E | Perpetual-Discount | 1.25 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 17.75 Evaluated at bid price : 17.75 Bid-YTW : 6.35 % |
| PWF.PR.L | Perpetual-Discount | 1.26 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 20.16 Evaluated at bid price : 20.16 Bid-YTW : 6.42 % |
| GWO.PR.M | Perpetual-Discount | 1.27 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 22.96 Evaluated at bid price : 23.10 Bid-YTW : 6.28 % |
| SLF.PR.B | Perpetual-Discount | 1.29 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 18.89 Evaluated at bid price : 18.89 Bid-YTW : 6.36 % |
| ELF.PR.G | Perpetual-Discount | 1.31 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 17.02 Evaluated at bid price : 17.02 Bid-YTW : 7.11 % |
| PWF.PR.K | Perpetual-Discount | 1.44 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 19.71 Evaluated at bid price : 19.71 Bid-YTW : 6.37 % |
| PWF.PR.F | Perpetual-Discount | 1.46 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 20.80 Evaluated at bid price : 20.80 Bid-YTW : 6.40 % |
| GWO.PR.I | Perpetual-Discount | 1.47 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 17.90 Evaluated at bid price : 17.90 Bid-YTW : 6.30 % |
| PWF.PR.J | OpRet | 1.49 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2010-07-01 Maturity Price : 25.50 Evaluated at bid price : 25.90 Bid-YTW : -9.24 % |
| POW.PR.D | Perpetual-Discount | 1.57 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 20.08 Evaluated at bid price : 20.08 Bid-YTW : 6.33 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| CM.PR.J | Perpetual-Discount | 165,785 | Nesbitt crossed blocks of 40,000 and 60,000, both at 18.25. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 18.27 Evaluated at bid price : 18.27 Bid-YTW : 6.25 % |
| PWF.PR.D | OpRet | 91,900 | RBC crossed 50,000 at 25.70 and bought 28,000 from Nesbitt at the same price. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2010-11-30 Maturity Price : 25.40 Evaluated at bid price : 25.70 Bid-YTW : 3.63 % |
| TD.PR.E | FixedReset | 63,430 | Nesbitt crossed 50,000 at 26.95. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-05-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.95 Bid-YTW : 4.33 % |
| SLF.PR.G | FixedReset | 52,855 | Recent new issue. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 24.31 Evaluated at bid price : 24.36 Bid-YTW : 4.27 % |
| TD.PR.O | Perpetual-Discount | 40,947 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 20.42 Evaluated at bid price : 20.42 Bid-YTW : 6.02 % |
| TRP.PR.B | FixedReset | 37,200 | RBC crossed 25,000 at 24.20. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-06-01 Maturity Price : 24.14 Evaluated at bid price : 24.18 Bid-YTW : 4.15 % |
| There were 31 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||