I could not agree more with Stephen Gordon’s Ode to a High Exchange Rate:
Exports are costs. The goal of international trade is to import goods and services; exports are the price we pay in return. If a higher exchange rate allows Ontario to import more and export less, Ontarians are better off.
I’m perpetually astonished by political attitudes towards exchange rates and dumping. If some foreigner wants to sell me something cheap, I tell ’em “Fine! Back up the truck!”
There’s some interesting colour regarding pain in pension land:
General Electric Co. (GE), Boeing Co. (BA) and 3M Co. (MMM) will join big U.S. employers in making a record $100 billion in 2012 pension contributions, 67 percent more than two years ago, as low interest rates boost companies’ liabilities.
Payments may total $400 billion from 2011 through 2015 to ease underfunding at the 100 largest defined-benefit programs, according to consultant Milliman Inc., which estimated that assets in January were enough to cover less than three-fourths of projected payouts.
There was an excellent result in the latest Vikings vs. Pirates match:
The navy said its ship, the Absalon, had been tracking the pirate vessel for several days near the Somali coast. As the pirate ship tried to leave the coast, the warship called on it to stop, firing warning shots. When the pirate ship didn’t respond, the Danish warship opened fire, according to the statement. The vessel had been used as a base by the pirates for attacks in the region, the navy said.
The only thing I don’t understand is: why did they bother tracking it for several days? I hope this was for intelligence-gathering purposes, because ideally it would have been blown out of the water on sight.
It was another good day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualPremiums winning 17bp, FixedResets flat and DeemedRetractibles gaining 15bp. The good sized Performance Highlights table is highly skewed to the upside. Volume was below average.
| 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 | 0.2134 % | 2,388.6 |
| FixedFloater | 4.52 % | 3.90 % | 38,303 | 17.47 | 1 | -0.4739 % | 3,447.0 |
| Floater | 2.80 % | 3.06 % | 55,420 | 19.51 | 3 | 0.2134 % | 2,579.0 |
| OpRet | 4.89 % | 2.84 % | 56,779 | 1.28 | 6 | 0.1665 % | 2,503.2 |
| SplitShare | 5.31 % | 0.18 % | 85,942 | 0.78 | 4 | -0.4688 % | 2,661.1 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.1665 % | 2,288.9 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.38 % | 2.11 % | 115,902 | 0.17 | 28 | 0.1713 % | 2,209.5 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.08 % | 4.96 % | 197,117 | 15.45 | 4 | 0.3441 % | 2,433.8 |
| FixedReset | 5.05 % | 2.85 % | 205,586 | 2.27 | 66 | -0.0017 % | 2,381.1 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 4.94 % | 3.83 % | 239,222 | 2.94 | 46 | 0.1465 % | 2,303.0 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| FBS.PR.C | SplitShare | -1.32 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2012-12-15 Maturity Price : 10.00 Evaluated at bid price : 10.46 Bid-YTW : 0.18 % |
| SLF.PR.H | FixedReset | 1.05 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.05 Bid-YTW : 4.29 % |
| BAM.PR.K | Floater | 1.05 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-28 Maturity Price : 17.30 Evaluated at bid price : 17.30 Bid-YTW : 3.06 % |
| IAG.PR.E | Deemed-Retractible | 1.10 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-12-31 Maturity Price : 26.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.55 Bid-YTW : 4.80 % |
| ELF.PR.F | Perpetual-Discount | 1.19 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-02-28 Maturity Price : 24.52 Evaluated at bid price : 24.76 Bid-YTW : 5.42 % |
| SLF.PR.G | FixedReset | 1.45 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.76 Bid-YTW : 4.06 % |
| IAG.PR.A | Deemed-Retractible | 1.59 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.67 Bid-YTW : 5.27 % |
| FTS.PR.E | OpRet | 2.14 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-06-01 Maturity Price : 25.75 Evaluated at bid price : 26.75 Bid-YTW : 1.61 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| POW.PR.G | Perpetual-Premium | 594,733 | New issue settled today. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2021-04-15 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.47 Bid-YTW : 5.37 % |
| RY.PR.E | Deemed-Retractible | 90,883 | TD crossed 50,000 at 25.70; Desjardins crossed 30,000 at the same price. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2016-02-24 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.70 Bid-YTW : 3.77 % |
| PWF.PR.I | Perpetual-Premium | 80,252 | Desjardins crossed blocks of 40,000 shares, 10,000 and 15,000, all at 25.55. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2012-03-29 Maturity Price : 25.25 Evaluated at bid price : 25.60 Bid-YTW : -5.45 % |
| PWF.PR.R | Perpetual-Premium | 65,525 | Recent new issue. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2021-04-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.45 Bid-YTW : 5.30 % |
| TD.PR.S | FixedReset | 58,729 | RBC crossed 56,800 at 25.85. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-07-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.83 Bid-YTW : 2.90 % |
| TD.PR.G | FixedReset | 55,690 | RBC crossed 49,000 at 27.05. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-04-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 27.04 Bid-YTW : 2.59 % |
| There were 26 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| IAG.PR.F | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 26.10 – 26.58 Spot Rate : 0.4800 Average : 0.3670 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PR.J | OpRet | Quote: 26.99 – 27.53 Spot Rate : 0.5400 Average : 0.4277 YTW SCENARIO |
| GWO.PR.G | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 25.62 – 25.95 Spot Rate : 0.3300 Average : 0.2555 YTW SCENARIO |
| RY.PR.B | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 25.82 – 25.98 Spot Rate : 0.1600 Average : 0.0926 YTW SCENARIO |
| BNS.PR.Q | FixedReset | Quote: 25.91 – 26.09 Spot Rate : 0.1800 Average : 0.1249 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PR.R | FixedReset | Quote: 26.40 – 26.65 Spot Rate : 0.2500 Average : 0.1954 YTW SCENARIO |