We’ll probably never know just what the rights of the matters are … but it sure is entertaining!
Weber, who was chief investigator in the inspector general’s office, raised allegations in March that H. David Kotz, the agency’s former inspector general, may have had personal relationships that tainted reports on the SEC’s failure to catch the Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford Ponzi schemes.
Weeks later, a number of Weber’s co-workers submitted complaints that he was creating a hostile work environment through his suggestions that he and others should be able to carry guns on the job. The SEC used an external security consultant to review whether Weber was a threat and then placed him on administrative leave in May.
Weber also reported to the SEC that he found evidence of possible espionage by foreign nationals related to a case he was investigating. The matter involved unencrypted computer hard drives that contained sensitive stock exchange information.
Cary Hansel, Weber’s lawyer, said that Weber received a letter from the SEC last week informing him he had been fired.
So up to now, it looks like the Lone Loony-Toon, right? But:
Weber’s original complaints prompted the SEC to bring in David Williams, the inspector general of the U.S. Postal Service, to conduct a review. Williams concluded that Kotz violated ethics rules by overseeing probes that involved people with whom he has “personal relationships.” Kotz resigned in January amid questions about his tactics and conduct.
Williams also said in his report that he didn’t find any evidence that indicated Weber’s conduct was improper or raised security concerns. Based on the report, Weber asked the SEC to reinstate him.
Humans are complex! When will we realize that an insistence on perfection in every area deprives us of talent? There’s Petraeus:
CIA Director David H. Petraeus, the retired four-star general widely commended for his oversight of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, resigned from his position due to an extramarital affair.
“After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair,” Petraeus wrote in a letter today to Central Intelligence Agency employees. “Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”
… and Kubasik:
Christopher E. Kubasik, who was to become the next chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), resigned after the company discovered he had a “close personal relationship” with a subordinate.
The company’s board elected Marillyn A. Hewson president and chief operating officer effective immediately. She is to become CEO on Jan. 1, Lockheed said today in a statement.
Robert Stevens, chairman and CEO of Lockheed, the world’s largest defense contractor, said he asked for Kubasik’s resignation after ascertaining Kubasik had a “lengthy, close and personal relationship with a subordinate who worked for him.”
It would be most interesting to get the inside dirt on these affairs. Not the “affairs”, I mean (as far as I can tell, that’s the business of exactly three people), but the decisions to “resign”. Are Obama and Stevens weeping crocodile tears over the necessity of firing fatally flawed employees? If they had been more cooperative, would they have got one of the special Get Out of Jail Free cards like a certain French politician I remember?
Guess what? An Income Trust is not an equity (according to Octagon Capital):
By letters dated June 27, 2008 and January 23, 2009, Octagon responded saying: … Regarding suitability, it is not unreasonable for a retired person who does not derive much of their income from their investments to split their investments into 50% equities (common shares) and 50% income producing securities (like income trusts).
For all it’s tough talk about “Naming and Shaming”, OBSI doesn’t identify the broker involved: it appears to be Randal William Harding. So nice that all responsibility is corporate, isn’t it? Personal responsibility is so … distasteful. For instance, there aren’t any NAMES of actual PEOPLE making the decisions at Octagon; “Octagon points out …” and “Octagon argues …” The closest is actually gets to actual naming and shaming is:
We discussed the complaint with Octagon’s Chief Compliance Officer, Mr. L.
“Mr. L.”?
Small brokerages are having a tough time:
GMP Capital Inc. has had another rough quarter, and its chief executive can’t pinpoint when things will turn around.
But Harris Fricker hopes a top-to-bottom review of Canada’s second-largest independent brokerage will spur “significant initiatives” that will pay off in 2013.
“Make no mistake, the goal is to increase the torque of our business, the financial benefit of which will become obvious in better market conditions,” Mr. Fricker said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call Friday after GMP reported a net loss of $358,000. “We remain confident we have the right people, platform and global market capabilities to make it happen,” he said.
…
Canada’s largest independent brokerage, Canaccord Financial Inc., also reported earnings this week, and it is finding ways to retool its own business to get through the persistently poor economic conditions. Canaccord posted a net loss of $14.8-million for its second quarter of fiscal 2013, as compared to a loss of $5.3-million in the same quarter in 2012.The company said that the plan to close underperforming branches of its wealth management business (predominantly in smaller markets) is coming along well. “To date, seven branches have already been closed, with the remainder to close before the end of December,” said Canaccord CEO Paul Reynolds. He indicated this would allow the company to invest more heavily in the unit.
It was another mixed day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualPremiums off 1bp, FixedResets gaining 12bp and DeemedRetractibles up 20bp. Lots of volatility, with insurance issues notable on the upside. Volume returned to well below average 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 | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.3621 % | 2,461.8 |
| FixedFloater | 4.13 % | 3.47 % | 33,067 | 18.38 | 1 | 0.8330 % | 3,895.7 |
| Floater | 2.81 % | 3.00 % | 57,841 | 19.69 | 4 | 0.3621 % | 2,658.1 |
| OpRet | 4.60 % | 0.31 % | 40,234 | 0.63 | 4 | 0.2090 % | 2,583.5 |
| SplitShare | 5.36 % | 4.59 % | 57,022 | 4.45 | 3 | 0.0130 % | 2,861.5 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.2090 % | 2,362.3 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.27 % | 1.32 % | 75,226 | 0.29 | 29 | -0.0080 % | 2,316.2 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 4.89 % | 4.92 % | 100,479 | 15.56 | 3 | 0.0412 % | 2,601.4 |
| FixedReset | 4.98 % | 2.98 % | 207,585 | 3.92 | 75 | 0.1202 % | 2,448.8 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 4.90 % | 3.44 % | 127,280 | 1.01 | 46 | 0.2049 % | 2,400.2 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| IAG.PR.E | Deemed-Retractible | -1.35 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.36 Bid-YTW : 5.38 % |
| FTS.PR.G | FixedReset | -1.18 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-11-09 Maturity Price : 24.66 Evaluated at bid price : 25.03 Bid-YTW : 3.50 % |
| SLF.PR.H | FixedReset | 1.21 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.05 Bid-YTW : 3.69 % |
| GWO.PR.P | Deemed-Retractible | 1.32 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.80 Bid-YTW : 4.55 % |
| GWO.PR.M | Deemed-Retractible | 1.39 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2015-03-31 Maturity Price : 26.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.94 Bid-YTW : 4.28 % |
| BAM.PR.C | Floater | 2.28 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2042-11-09 Maturity Price : 17.49 Evaluated at bid price : 17.49 Bid-YTW : 3.02 % |
| TD.PR.E | FixedReset | 3.79 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-04-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.58 Bid-YTW : 1.97 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| MFC.PR.F | FixedReset | 113,406 | RBC crossed 88,200 at 24.00. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.12 Bid-YTW : 3.86 % |
| CU.PR.C | FixedReset | 46,106 | Desjardins crossed 25,000 at 25.92. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2017-06-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.85 Bid-YTW : 3.16 % |
| BNS.PR.Q | FixedReset | 42,434 | RBC crossed 20,000 at 25.25 and bought 12,200 from Scotia 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 : 3.13 % |
| NA.PR.Q | FixedReset | 38,625 | Recent new issue. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2017-11-15 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.41 Bid-YTW : 3.47 % |
| CM.PR.M | FixedReset | 36,045 | TD crossed 35,000 at 26.82. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-07-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.83 Bid-YTW : 2.28 % |
| TD.PR.S | FixedReset | 34,715 | RBC crossed 20,000 at 25.05. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.03 Bid-YTW : 3.06 % |
| There were 20 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| ENB.PR.D | FixedReset | Quote: 25.57 – 25.98 Spot Rate : 0.4100 Average : 0.2398 YTW SCENARIO |
| TD.PR.G | FixedReset | Quote: 26.41 – 26.70 Spot Rate : 0.2900 Average : 0.1698 YTW SCENARIO |
| W.PR.H | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 25.61 – 26.00 Spot Rate : 0.3900 Average : 0.2751 YTW SCENARIO |
| GWO.PR.F | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 25.90 – 26.30 Spot Rate : 0.4000 Average : 0.2950 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PF.A | FixedReset | Quote: 25.86 – 26.24 Spot Rate : 0.3800 Average : 0.2838 YTW SCENARIO |
| TCA.PR.X | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 51.50 – 51.84 Spot Rate : 0.3400 Average : 0.2574 YTW SCENARIO |