European officials jacked up the pressure on the Greek government to deliver budget cuts in exchange for a second bailout as they insisted that default is not an option.
Finance ministers canceled a Brussels meeting slated for tomorrow and will hold a teleconference instead to prod Greece to do more to clinch an aid package worth 130 billion euros ($170 billion) along with roughly 100 billion euros of debt relief from private bondholders.
“I did not yet receive the required political assurances from the leaders of the Greek coalition parties on the implementation of the program,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean- Claude Juncker, chairman of the euro finance panel [and liar – JH], said in a statement today.
Antonis Samaras, leader of Greece’s conservative New Democracy party and early favourite to win the next election in the spring, told party members to approve the budget cuts in a parliamentary vote on the weekend. But he angered the Europeans by signalling his intention to renegotiate the terms after voters replace the current caretaker government.
“I want to avoid jumping over the cliff today, to buy time, and to go to elections tomorrow,” he said.
Mr. Samaras at first refused to commit to the budget cuts in writing, a condition demanded of all the Greek party leaders by Brussels. But he is now expected to sign and deliver the necessary letter on Wednesday, clearing one more obstacle to the rescue.
Maybe he should bring in the Canadian defense minister as a consultant on signing the letter!
There were big losses in the Canadian preferred share market today – perhaps the recent spate of new issues has made the cunning folk nervous! PerpetualPremiums were down 59bp, FixedResets were off 44bp and DeemedRetractibles lost 64bp. The Performance Highlights table was not only very lengthy, but comprised entirely of losers, with insurance issues dominating the list. The volume table was similarly dominated by insurers – only one bank! 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 | 0.4685 % | 2,454.3 |
| FixedFloater | 4.56 % | 3.93 % | 37,842 | 17.44 | 1 | 0.0000 % | 3,417.4 |
| Floater | 2.72 % | 2.98 % | 62,861 | 19.75 | 3 | 0.4685 % | 2,650.0 |
| OpRet | 4.87 % | 0.65 % | 59,578 | 1.26 | 6 | -0.1905 % | 2,510.9 |
| SplitShare | 5.27 % | -0.64 % | 81,242 | 0.82 | 4 | 0.1643 % | 2,655.7 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1905 % | 2,296.0 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.39 % | 3.14 % | 115,974 | 0.21 | 26 | -0.5938 % | 2,197.4 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.07 % | 4.90 % | 197,351 | 15.57 | 4 | -0.8638 % | 2,438.4 |
| FixedReset | 5.05 % | 2.80 % | 219,693 | 2.29 | 65 | -0.4387 % | 2,383.0 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 4.93 % | 3.67 % | 225,073 | 2.62 | 45 | -0.6422 % | 2,297.6 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| MFC.PR.F | FixedReset | -2.98 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.09 Bid-YTW : 4.02 % |
| SLF.PR.D | Deemed-Retractible | -2.70 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 22.69 Bid-YTW : 5.79 % |
| MFC.PR.E | FixedReset | -2.63 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-09-19 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.91 Bid-YTW : 4.49 % |
| SLF.PR.E | Deemed-Retractible | -2.56 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 22.80 Bid-YTW : 5.78 % |
| MFC.PR.D | FixedReset | -2.45 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-06-19 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.65 Bid-YTW : 4.12 % |
| RY.PR.H | Deemed-Retractible | -2.09 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-05-24 Maturity Price : 26.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.69 Bid-YTW : 3.18 % |
| SLF.PR.C | Deemed-Retractible | -2.02 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 22.80 Bid-YTW : 5.72 % |
| PWF.PR.K | Perpetual-Premium | -1.94 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 23.75 Evaluated at bid price : 24.25 Bid-YTW : 5.12 % |
| IAG.PR.A | Deemed-Retractible | -1.94 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.75 Bid-YTW : 5.36 % |
| PWF.PR.L | Perpetual-Premium | -1.84 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 24.05 Evaluated at bid price : 24.56 Bid-YTW : 5.21 % |
| SLF.PR.B | Deemed-Retractible | -1.76 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.45 Bid-YTW : 5.74 % |
| SLF.PR.G | FixedReset | -1.66 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.35 Bid-YTW : 3.78 % |
| TRP.PR.C | FixedReset | -1.64 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 23.47 Evaluated at bid price : 25.71 Bid-YTW : 2.96 % |
| MFC.PR.C | Deemed-Retractible | -1.44 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.35 Bid-YTW : 5.49 % |
| SLF.PR.A | Deemed-Retractible | -1.35 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.46 Bid-YTW : 5.68 % |
| TRP.PR.B | FixedReset | -1.31 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 23.52 Evaluated at bid price : 25.60 Bid-YTW : 2.68 % |
| MFC.PR.G | FixedReset | -1.31 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.85 Bid-YTW : 4.57 % |
| FTS.PR.H | FixedReset | -1.24 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 23.50 Evaluated at bid price : 25.51 Bid-YTW : 2.85 % |
| BAM.PR.M | Perpetual-Discount | -1.21 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 24.10 Evaluated at bid price : 24.55 Bid-YTW : 4.88 % |
| POW.PR.D | Perpetual-Premium | -1.19 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 24.33 Evaluated at bid price : 24.85 Bid-YTW : 5.06 % |
| BAM.PR.N | Perpetual-Discount | -1.17 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 23.93 Evaluated at bid price : 24.43 Bid-YTW : 4.90 % |
| MFC.PR.A | OpRet | -1.12 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Soft Maturity Maturity Date : 2015-12-18 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.54 Bid-YTW : 3.69 % |
| BMO.PR.L | Deemed-Retractible | -1.07 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-05-25 Maturity Price : 26.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.93 Bid-YTW : 2.58 % |
| ELF.PR.F | Perpetual-Discount | -1.05 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 24.11 Evaluated at bid price : 24.42 Bid-YTW : 5.47 % |
| BAM.PR.T | FixedReset | -1.05 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 23.32 Evaluated at bid price : 25.53 Bid-YTW : 3.73 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| MFC.PR.G | FixedReset | 235,627 | Nesbitt sold 10,300 to RBC at 25.05 and 14,100 to anonymous at 25.00. RBC crossed blocks of 10,000 and 34,800 at 25.00. Scotia crossed 25,000 at 24.85. TD crossed 26,200 at 24.86. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.85 Bid-YTW : 4.57 % |
| BNS.PR.Z | FixedReset | 205,390 | Desjardins crossed blocks of 20,400 shares, 12,000 and 45,700 at 25.10, and bought blocks of 42,700 and 18,000 from Nesbitt and 24,000 from TD at the same price. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.15 Bid-YTW : 3.12 % |
| GWO.PR.N | FixedReset | 138,466 | TD crossed 120,000 at 24.87. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.75 Bid-YTW : 3.28 % |
| PWF.PR.L | Perpetual-Premium | 102,698 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 24.05 Evaluated at bid price : 24.56 Bid-YTW : 5.21 % |
| SLF.PR.H | FixedReset | 84,366 | RBC crossed 40,000 at 24.35; TD crossed 28,000 at 24.40. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.25 Bid-YTW : 4.20 % |
| PWF.PR.K | Perpetual-Premium | 53,077 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-14 Maturity Price : 23.75 Evaluated at bid price : 24.25 Bid-YTW : 5.12 % |
| There were 46 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| PWF.PR.A | Floater | Quote: 22.70 – 25.00 Spot Rate : 2.3000 Average : 1.2904 YTW SCENARIO |
| TCA.PR.Y | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 52.55 – 52.94 Spot Rate : 0.3900 Average : 0.2525 YTW SCENARIO |
| MFC.PR.D | FixedReset | Quote: 26.65 – 26.99 Spot Rate : 0.3400 Average : 0.2080 YTW SCENARIO |
| FTS.PR.H | FixedReset | Quote: 25.51 – 25.88 Spot Rate : 0.3700 Average : 0.2488 YTW SCENARIO |
| IGM.PR.B | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 26.49 – 26.86 Spot Rate : 0.3700 Average : 0.2615 YTW SCENARIO |
| GWO.PR.F | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 25.60 – 25.85 Spot Rate : 0.2500 Average : 0.1578 YTW SCENARIO |