Bureaucrats scored a huge win in Ontario today:
The legislation would also crack down on fraud by giving FSCO the right to oversee health clinics that invoice insurers.
It would also expand FSCO’s right to investigate fraudsters.
Ah, regulation! I’ve been following the chemotherapy drug scandal with keen interest – so keen, in fact, that I have written to the Ministry of Health for more information:
I understand that your response to the chemotherapy drug scandal is to demand an increase in employment of regulators.
I do not understand this. It appears that the supplies were used by the (regulated, hospital-based) pharmacies involved as a stock solution, even though there was no concentration listed on the label, that the contract with the supplier quite clearly indicated that concentration was irrelevant, and that – evidently – concentration of the supplied solutions was not checked irregardless of the label.
Please advise me how many individuals employed by London Health Sciences Centre, Windsor Regional Hospital, Lakeridge Health and Peterborough Regional Health Centre will be losing (or have already lost) their jobs over this gross incompetence.
Themis Trading was quoted today in the wake of the Symantec silliness:
Approximately 504,000 Symantec shares were traded in a three-second period that saw the stock dive from $24.40 to a low of $21.93 before it was halted.
…
Before the prevalence of high-frequency trading, “a series of market makers would have filled this mistake with substantially less carnage,” said Sal Arnuk, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.“Today’s market structure is perfectly set up to take advantage of any and all missteps in the most efficient manner … if you were day-trading this, or had a stop-loss order in, then you got hit not because of your thesis, but because of a market structure issue.”
Shares of Symantec resumed trading five minutes after being halted, and bounced back above $24. They fell 1.3 per cent to $24.26 in midday trading.
I take issue with Mr. Arnuk’s comments. If you were day-trading this, then you were acting as a market-maker; and if you’re not very good at market making, you may well have lost some money. If you had a stop-loss order in, then you got hit because you’re an idiot.
Banking crises continue to nibble away at the margins of the EU:
Slovenia, the first former Communist nation in the euro zone, is facing a typically capitalist dilemma: whether to protect creditors of big banks.
Rising loan losses resulting from a housing bust and a second recession in two years have left a hole of about 7.5 billion euros ($9.9 billion) at Slovenia-based lenders, investment bank Keefe Bruyette & Woods estimates. That’s a lot for a 35 billion-euro economy: A bank bailout would push government debt above 70 percent of economic output.
Even after a successful domestic debt sale two weeks ago, the country may need assistance from the European Union, and holders of bank bonds, including the most senior creditors, could be forced to take losses, according to Raoul Ruparel, head of research at London-based Open Europe. Such a bail-in, which would be the second in the euro zone, after Cyprus, risks deepening divergence in the monetary union by keeping borrowing costs higher in economically weak nations.
Don’t know why they’re worried. Ten billion isn’t even a big bond deal:
Apple Inc. wowed the debt markets on Tuesday with the largest non-bank bond deal in history, offering a whopping $17-billion (U.S.) for sale as the U.S. computer giant switches strategy to placate restless shareholders.
It was a mixed day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualPremiums off 3bp, FixedResets down 7bp and DeemedRetractibles gaining 2bp. Volatility fails to arouse interest. Volume was 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 | 0.2285 % | 2,615.9 |
| FixedFloater | 4.01 % | 3.25 % | 33,983 | 18.65 | 1 | -1.2917 % | 4,097.1 |
| Floater | 2.66 % | 2.86 % | 83,890 | 20.08 | 4 | 0.2285 % | 2,824.5 |
| OpRet | 4.79 % | -2.98 % | 59,255 | 0.14 | 5 | 0.0617 % | 2,616.7 |
| SplitShare | 4.81 % | 4.21 % | 118,254 | 4.10 | 5 | -0.1117 % | 2,956.0 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0617 % | 2,392.7 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.19 % | 2.90 % | 89,264 | 0.50 | 32 | -0.0315 % | 2,379.3 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 4.84 % | 4.86 % | 186,916 | 15.68 | 4 | 0.0710 % | 2,686.7 |
| FixedReset | 4.89 % | 2.77 % | 250,483 | 3.74 | 81 | -0.0669 % | 2,509.7 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 4.88 % | 3.27 % | 133,845 | 0.66 | 44 | 0.0203 % | 2,456.3 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| BAM.PR.G | FixedFloater | -1.29 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-04-30 Maturity Price : 22.83 Evaluated at bid price : 23.69 Bid-YTW : 3.25 % |
| BAM.PF.B | FixedReset | -1.27 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-04-30 Maturity Price : 23.30 Evaluated at bid price : 25.61 Bid-YTW : 3.65 % |
| SLF.PR.G | FixedReset | -1.04 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.86 Bid-YTW : 2.99 % |
| BAM.PR.K | Floater | 1.05 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-04-30 Maturity Price : 18.25 Evaluated at bid price : 18.25 Bid-YTW : 2.89 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| HSE.PR.A | FixedReset | 321,055 | Desjardins crossed 306,200 at 25.50. Nice ticket! YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-04-30 Maturity Price : 23.60 Evaluated at bid price : 25.65 Bid-YTW : 2.84 % |
| PWF.PR.R | Perpetual-Premium | 144,100 | RBC crossed 138,300 at 26.84. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2019-04-30 Maturity Price : 25.50 Evaluated at bid price : 26.80 Bid-YTW : 4.44 % |
| TRP.PR.A | FixedReset | 59,351 | TD crossed 37,900 at 25.45. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2043-04-30 Maturity Price : 23.82 Evaluated at bid price : 25.41 Bid-YTW : 3.00 % |
| TD.PR.Y | FixedReset | 57,307 | RBC crossed 40,000 at 24.95. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.93 Bid-YTW : 3.00 % |
| CU.PR.F | Perpetual-Premium | 51,550 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2022-06-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.20 Bid-YTW : 4.49 % |
| MFC.PR.A | OpRet | 40,365 | RBC sold blocks of 24,800 and 15,100 to anonymous, both at 25.75. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-06-19 Maturity Price : 25.50 Evaluated at bid price : 25.90 Bid-YTW : -3.97 % |
| There were 31 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| BAM.PR.G | FixedFloater | Quote: 23.69 – 24.19 Spot Rate : 0.5000 Average : 0.3564 YTW SCENARIO |
| SLF.PR.G | FixedReset | Quote: 24.86 – 25.18 Spot Rate : 0.3200 Average : 0.2118 YTW SCENARIO |
| IAG.PR.G | FixedReset | Quote: 26.13 – 26.40 Spot Rate : 0.2700 Average : 0.1818 YTW SCENARIO |
| TD.PR.P | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 26.36 – 26.67 Spot Rate : 0.3100 Average : 0.2263 YTW SCENARIO |
| CU.PR.E | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 26.36 – 26.60 Spot Rate : 0.2400 Average : 0.1626 YTW SCENARIO |
| RY.PR.I | FixedReset | Quote: 25.41 – 25.68 Spot Rate : 0.2700 Average : 0.1968 YTW SCENARIO |