There were no surprises in Yellen’s testimony to Congress:
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen pledged to maintain her predecessor’s policies by scaling back stimulus in “measured steps” and signaled that the bar is high for a change in that plan.
Only a “notable change in the outlook” for the economy would prompt policy makers to slow the pace of tapering, Yellen said in response to a question today during testimony to the House Financial Services Committee. “It’s important for us to take our time to assess” the significance of recent reports showing payrolls expanded less than projected, she said.
It was a positive day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts up 14bp, FixedResets gaining 1bp and DeemedRetractibles winning 18bp. Floating Rate issues were atop the Performance Highlights table. 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 | 1.5653 % | 2,370.6 |
| FixedFloater | 4.73 % | 4.31 % | 28,639 | 17.78 | 1 | -0.8889 % | 3,585.3 |
| Floater | 3.05 % | 3.16 % | 53,840 | 19.30 | 4 | 1.5653 % | 2,559.6 |
| OpRet | 4.60 % | 0.72 % | 71,951 | 0.30 | 3 | 0.0512 % | 2,683.5 |
| SplitShare | 4.87 % | 4.96 % | 62,330 | 4.34 | 5 | 0.0402 % | 3,012.8 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0512 % | 2,453.8 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.66 % | -1.38 % | 97,858 | 0.08 | 12 | 0.0363 % | 2,336.1 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.54 % | 5.59 % | 152,466 | 14.49 | 26 | 0.1424 % | 2,392.2 |
| FixedReset | 4.90 % | 3.70 % | 211,759 | 4.45 | 82 | 0.0134 % | 2,484.7 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 5.12 % | 3.97 % | 165,060 | 1.94 | 42 | 0.1798 % | 2,421.7 |
| FloatingReset | 2.65 % | 2.61 % | 172,293 | 7.17 | 6 | 0.1340 % | 2,443.2 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| CIU.PR.C | FixedReset | -1.27 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 20.15 Evaluated at bid price : 20.15 Bid-YTW : 3.79 % |
| BAM.PF.C | Perpetual-Discount | -1.21 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 20.35 Evaluated at bid price : 20.35 Bid-YTW : 6.05 % |
| GWO.PR.F | Deemed-Retractible | -1.06 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-03-13 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.23 Bid-YTW : 2.95 % |
| PWF.PR.S | Perpetual-Discount | 1.04 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 22.16 Evaluated at bid price : 22.45 Bid-YTW : 5.37 % |
| CU.PR.E | Perpetual-Discount | 1.28 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 22.55 Evaluated at bid price : 22.93 Bid-YTW : 5.34 % |
| BAM.PR.B | Floater | 1.58 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 16.74 Evaluated at bid price : 16.74 Bid-YTW : 3.16 % |
| BAM.PR.C | Floater | 2.07 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 16.74 Evaluated at bid price : 16.74 Bid-YTW : 3.16 % |
| BAM.PR.K | Floater | 2.58 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 16.70 Evaluated at bid price : 16.70 Bid-YTW : 3.17 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| NA.PR.S | FixedReset | 162,965 | Recent new issue. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 23.14 Evaluated at bid price : 24.97 Bid-YTW : 3.92 % |
| TRP.PR.E | FixedReset | 87,071 | Recent new issue. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 23.10 Evaluated at bid price : 24.93 Bid-YTW : 3.95 % |
| BNS.PR.R | FixedReset | 58,735 | RBC crossed 50,000 at 25.17. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.20 Bid-YTW : 3.62 % |
| TD.PR.I | FixedReset | 52,144 | RBC crossed 50,000 at 25.50. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-07-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.47 Bid-YTW : 2.64 % |
| RY.PR.Z | FixedReset | 50,535 | Recent new issue. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 23.14 Evaluated at bid price : 25.00 Bid-YTW : 3.75 % |
| ENB.PR.B | FixedReset | 43,185 | TD crossed 30,000 at 24.56. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2044-02-11 Maturity Price : 23.15 Evaluated at bid price : 24.51 Bid-YTW : 4.05 % |
| There were 26 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| GWO.PR.F | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 25.23 – 25.54 Spot Rate : 0.3100 Average : 0.1967 YTW SCENARIO |
| CIU.PR.C | FixedReset | Quote: 20.15 – 20.69 Spot Rate : 0.5400 Average : 0.4355 YTW SCENARIO |
| CU.PR.F | Perpetual-Discount | Quote: 21.23 – 21.54 Spot Rate : 0.3100 Average : 0.2120 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PR.B | Floater | Quote: 16.74 – 16.99 Spot Rate : 0.2500 Average : 0.1702 YTW SCENARIO |
| W.PR.H | Perpetual-Discount | Quote: 24.40 – 24.61 Spot Rate : 0.2100 Average : 0.1436 YTW SCENARIO |
| MFC.PR.C | Deemed-Retractible | Quote: 21.13 – 21.34 Spot Rate : 0.2100 Average : 0.1475 YTW SCENARIO |
The title of this post leaves me wondering if it is a negative leap month? I know it isn’t April Fools Day yet.
Oopsy! Fixed.
This happens a lot during audit season, when I spend a lot of time with the remembrance of times past.