Berlusconi is hardly considered an elder statesman, but he’s indicative of the mood:
Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Italy should say “ciao, euro” if the European Central Bank doesn’t start printing money to tackle the debt crisis and Germany should quit the single currency if it won’t back a bolder role for ECB.
“The economic crisis can’t be solved” in Italy, Berlusconi said in comments posted on his party’s website today. He called on Prime Minister Mario Monti to “change his political line” and lobby European leaders to back a money- printing campaign by the Frankfurt-based ECB. If the central bank doesn’t become a “lender of last resort,” Italy should say “ciao, euro,” the former premier said.
The malaise may spread to America:
U.S. stocks tumbled, erasing the 2012 advance in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as employers added the fewest workers in a year, the unemployment rate rose while manufacturing output shrank in Europe and slowed in China.
…
Equities slumped as American employers in May added the fewest workers in a year and the unemployment rate unexpectedly increased as job-seekers re-entered the workforce. Payrolls climbed by 69,000 last month, less than the most-pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, after a revised 77,000 gain in April that was smaller than initially estimated. The median estimate called for a 150,000 May advance. The jobless rate rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent, while hours worked declined.
The Treasury market was pleased:
The benchmark 10-year yield fell nine basis points, or 0.09 percentage point, to 1.47 percent in New York time, according to Bloomberg Bond Traders prices. Thirty-year bond yields declined nine basis points to 2.55 percent, reaching 2.5089 percent, below the record 2.5090 percent on Dec. 18, 2008, according to Federal Reserve figures beginning in 1953.
Things are going the other way in Spain:
Spain’s campaign to cajole the European Central Bank into buying its bonds is backfiring.
The nation’s 10-year borrowing cost has jumped more than half a point to 6.62 percent since Jaime Garcia-Legaz, the deputy minister for trade, became the country’s first official to urge the ECB to support its bonds on April 13. Yield increases accelerated after May 24 when Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy signalled that Spain’s debt sustainability may be in danger, and peaked at 6.70 percent on May 30, moving closer to the 7 percent level that forced Greece, Portugal and Ireland to seek outside aid.
The morons at the Toronto Water department have given the city another black eye:
Subway service around Toronto’s Union Station remains suspended Friday evening after an apparent sewer back-up or break sent water gushing into Canada’s busiest rail hub.
…
The flooding has spread to the PATH system, closing the portion of the underground retail concourse south of Wellington Street, Mr. Ross added.The scene around Union Station Friday was chaotic. Toronto police cars with lights flashing shut down the section of Front Street from York to Yonge streets.
Will wonders never cease? There’s a prominent Republican speaking halfway reasonably:
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, in a break with his party, said he could support tax increases to help reduce the federal government’s budget deficit.
The brother of former President George W. Bush told a congressional panel in Washington today that he could back a theoretical deficit-reduction package that would include $1 in tax increases for every $10 in spending cuts.
Fortunately, there are other Republicans maintaining the party’s reputation by supporting Al-Qaeda’s thesis that there’s some kind of religious war going on:
The opponents of the Tennessee mosque have fought for two years to stop construction. During lengthy hearings in 2010, they presented testimony that in effect put Islam on trial. A string of witnesses questioned whether Islam is a legitimate religion and promoted a theory that American Muslims want to replace the Constitution with extremist Islamic law and the mosque was a part of that plot.
…
The mosque also became an issue in a local congressional race, with Republican candidate Lou Ann Zelenik calling it a threat to the state’s moral and political foundation.Later, a dump truck on the site was burned in what federal officials determined was arson.
It was a mixed day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualPremiums gaining 10bp, FixedResets up 3bp and DeemedRetractibles down 14bp. Volatility was good. Volume was light.
| 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 | -1.4095 % | 2,436.9 |
| FixedFloater | 4.50 % | 3.85 % | 30,692 | 17.56 | 1 | -0.5647 % | 3,506.4 |
| Floater | 2.96 % | 2.97 % | 74,275 | 19.74 | 3 | -1.4095 % | 2,631.2 |
| OpRet | 4.81 % | 3.04 % | 40,525 | 1.04 | 5 | -0.2623 % | 2,498.5 |
| SplitShare | 5.31 % | -1.44 % | 49,629 | 0.54 | 4 | -0.1700 % | 2,697.0 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.2623 % | 2,284.6 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.46 % | 2.95 % | 75,295 | 0.61 | 25 | 0.0972 % | 2,226.9 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.07 % | 5.09 % | 78,300 | 15.26 | 8 | 0.3507 % | 2,447.1 |
| FixedReset | 5.07 % | 3.31 % | 192,932 | 7.83 | 70 | 0.0320 % | 2,384.3 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 5.02 % | 3.87 % | 158,304 | 2.99 | 45 | -0.1418 % | 2,303.5 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| BAM.PR.C | Floater | -2.35 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-06-01 Maturity Price : 17.48 Evaluated at bid price : 17.48 Bid-YTW : 3.03 % |
| SLF.PR.E | Deemed-Retractible | -1.39 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 22.05 Bid-YTW : 6.12 % |
| SLF.PR.D | Deemed-Retractible | -1.17 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 22.04 Bid-YTW : 6.07 % |
| FTS.PR.E | OpRet | -1.05 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-06-01 Maturity Price : 25.75 Evaluated at bid price : 26.32 Bid-YTW : 2.53 % |
| BAM.PR.R | FixedReset | 1.07 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-06-01 Maturity Price : 23.65 Evaluated at bid price : 26.48 Bid-YTW : 3.61 % |
| BAM.PR.M | Perpetual-Discount | 1.32 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-06-01 Maturity Price : 23.37 Evaluated at bid price : 23.77 Bid-YTW : 5.06 % |
| IAG.PR.A | Deemed-Retractible | 1.38 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.57 Bid-YTW : 5.35 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| IAG.PR.G | FixedReset | 353,936 | New issue settled today. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.05 Bid-YTW : 4.24 % |
| RY.PR.F | Deemed-Retractible | 54,400 | RBC crossed 49,700 at 25.65. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2016-05-24 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.61 Bid-YTW : 3.83 % |
| BMO.PR.N | FixedReset | 52,700 | National crossed 50,000 at 26.45. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-02-25 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.46 Bid-YTW : 3.11 % |
| IFC.PR.A | FixedReset | 50,000 | TD crossed 49,400 at 25.40. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.41 Bid-YTW : 3.63 % |
| RY.PR.B | Deemed-Retractible | 42,615 | Desjardins crossed 34,700 at 25.76. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2015-08-24 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.80 Bid-YTW : 3.70 % |
| CM.PR.L | FixedReset | 41,935 | Nesbitt crossed 40,000 at 26.68. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-04-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.62 Bid-YTW : 3.30 % |
| There were 18 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| ENB.PR.A | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 25.52 – 25.85 Spot Rate : 0.3300 Average : 0.2195 YTW SCENARIO |
| TCA.PR.X | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 52.03 – 52.49 Spot Rate : 0.4600 Average : 0.3619 YTW SCENARIO |
| FTS.PR.E | OpRet | Quote: 26.32 – 26.60 Spot Rate : 0.2800 Average : 0.1878 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PR.O | OpRet | Quote: 25.73 – 26.00 Spot Rate : 0.2700 Average : 0.1844 YTW SCENARIO |
| BNA.PR.E | SplitShare | Quote: 24.52 – 24.90 Spot Rate : 0.3800 Average : 0.2959 YTW SCENARIO |
| HSB.PR.C | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 25.65 – 25.90 Spot Rate : 0.2500 Average : 0.1701 YTW SCENARIO |