There may indeed have been some naughtiness at MF Global:
Jon S. Corzine, MF Global Holding Ltd. (MFGLQ)’s chief executive officer, gave “direct instructions” to transfer $200 million from a customer fund account to meet an overdraft in one of the brokerage’s JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) accounts in London, according to an e-mail sent by a firm executive.
Edith O’Brien, a treasurer for the firm, said in an e-mail sent the afternoon of Oct. 28, three days before the company collapsed, that the transfer of the funds was “Per JC’s direct instructions,” according to a copy of a memo drafted by congressional investigators and obtained by Bloomberg News.
There’s some kind of wierd scam going on. Twice in two days, I’ve received a call from somebody (different somebodies!) who asked – right off the bat – whether “you guys accept American Express”. The first time I wanted to know who he was and why he wanted to know – since he claimed to be from California and was only curious, I told him not to call again. The second time I asked who “Leah” worked for; she didn’t work for anybody, she was just curious.
So – a scam. But I can’t figure out how it works!
It was a day of modest gains in the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualPremiums gaining 4bp, FixedResets winning 11bp and DeemedRetractibles up 5bp. Considering the overall averages, the Performance Highlights table is relatively lengthy. Volume was very low.
| 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 | -0.9169 % | 2,377.7 |
| FixedFloater | 4.55 % | 3.94 % | 36,515 | 17.37 | 1 | -0.0478 % | 3,430.6 |
| Floater | 3.04 % | 3.03 % | 45,363 | 19.65 | 3 | -0.9169 % | 2,567.3 |
| OpRet | 4.93 % | 3.16 % | 65,386 | 1.21 | 6 | 0.0000 % | 2,497.2 |
| SplitShare | 5.29 % | -3.84 % | 83,877 | 0.73 | 4 | 0.0299 % | 2,673.8 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0000 % | 2,283.5 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.44 % | 3.32 % | 100,830 | 0.83 | 25 | 0.0408 % | 2,204.4 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.23 % | 5.35 % | 190,337 | 14.93 | 7 | -0.5771 % | 2,368.1 |
| FixedReset | 5.06 % | 3.19 % | 192,944 | 2.24 | 67 | 0.1085 % | 2,377.6 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 4.98 % | 4.07 % | 209,361 | 2.93 | 46 | 0.0515 % | 2,290.3 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| BAM.PR.B | Floater | -1.65 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-03-23 Maturity Price : 17.26 Evaluated at bid price : 17.26 Bid-YTW : 3.04 % |
| ELF.PR.G | Perpetual-Discount | -1.63 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-03-23 Maturity Price : 22.13 Evaluated at bid price : 22.38 Bid-YTW : 5.39 % |
| BAM.PR.M | Perpetual-Discount | -1.42 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-03-23 Maturity Price : 22.01 Evaluated at bid price : 22.26 Bid-YTW : 5.35 % |
| GWO.PR.I | Deemed-Retractible | -1.37 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.76 Bid-YTW : 5.16 % |
| BAM.PR.C | Floater | -1.37 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-03-23 Maturity Price : 17.31 Evaluated at bid price : 17.31 Bid-YTW : 3.03 % |
| BNS.PR.X | FixedReset | 1.05 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-04-25 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.99 Bid-YTW : 2.79 % |
| RY.PR.L | FixedReset | 1.07 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-02-24 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.55 Bid-YTW : 2.53 % |
| CIU.PR.A | Perpetual-Premium | 1.71 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-03-23 Maturity Price : 24.06 Evaluated at bid price : 24.35 Bid-YTW : 4.75 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| BNS.PR.Z | FixedReset | 211,309 | TD crossed 55,000 and two blocks of 25,000 each at 25.25. RBC crossed 50,000 at the same price. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.20 Bid-YTW : 3.28 % |
| CM.PR.J | Deemed-Retractible | 80,618 | Called for redemption. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2012-04-30 Maturity Price : 26.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.23 Bid-YTW : 1.85 % |
| TD.PR.G | FixedReset | 53,628 | TD crossed blocks of 40,000 and 10,000 at 26.94. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-04-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.93 Bid-YTW : 2.89 % |
| BAM.PF.A | FixedReset | 33,746 | Recent new issue. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-03-23 Maturity Price : 23.04 Evaluated at bid price : 24.85 Bid-YTW : 4.48 % |
| PWF.PR.R | Perpetual-Premium | 28,250 | 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 : 5.34 % |
| GWO.PR.P | Deemed-Retractible | 27,354 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.46 Bid-YTW : 5.25 % |
| There were 14 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| BNS.PR.P | FixedReset | Quote: 25.65 – 26.32 Spot Rate : 0.6700 Average : 0.3860 YTW SCENARIO |
| IAG.PR.F | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 25.51 – 26.39 Spot Rate : 0.8800 Average : 0.6663 YTW SCENARIO |
| ELF.PR.G | Perpetual-Discount | Quote: 22.38 – 22.97 Spot Rate : 0.5900 Average : 0.4097 YTW SCENARIO |
| IGM.PR.B | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 26.40 – 26.99 Spot Rate : 0.5900 Average : 0.4445 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PR.J | OpRet | Quote: 27.00 – 27.39 Spot Rate : 0.3900 Average : 0.2680 YTW SCENARIO |
| FTS.PR.E | OpRet | Quote: 26.11 – 27.00 Spot Rate : 0.8900 Average : 0.7712 YTW SCENARIO |