I mentioned Google’s proposed sale of Boston Dynamics on March 17. Jack Clark of Bloomberg has some colour commentary on the matter:
Google’s decision to try to shed its Boston Dynamics robotics group highlights a fundamental research problem: software is far easier to develop and test than hardware. That’s especially true when dealing with artificial intelligence and robotics.
Today’s industrial robots tend to be dumb machines, operating on pre-programmed routines, and are housed in metal cages to stop people walking into their zone of movement and potentially getting harmed. With Boston Dynamics, Google was working on machines that could break out of the rigid confines of the factory and perform a broader range of tasks. That requires dealing with a range of unsolved problems, requiring fundamental research.
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Boston Dynamics’s robots need technology that doesn’t exist yet. The software to control them and give them autonomy is still a research problem being worked on by universities around the world. This is likely why Google thought it would take a decade to develop Boston Dynamics’s technology into a commercial product.Possible acquirers include the Toyota Research Institute, a division of Toyota Motor Corp., and Amazon.com Inc., which makes robots for its fulfillment centers, according to a person familiar with Google’s plans. Toyota declined to comment, and Amazon didn’t respond to requests for comment.
It’s rare to see a company to build a product that requires such fundamental research in a number of areas, said John Schulman, a researcher with AI group OpenAI. “Having a humanoid robot that goes around and does interesting things in the real world, like maybe cleans up your house, that’s just way beyond the current state of the science.”
But on the other hand, perhaps my robotic 4am pizza delivery will arrive soon!
Domino’s Australia and Domino’s New Zealand have both released teaser videos featuring a sleek-looking new delivery robot – the Domino’s Robotic Unit (DRU). They designed the robot along with the help of Australian startup Marathon Robotics using GPS tracking and sensors to navigate around to customers’ houses.
The four-wheeled robot has multiple compartments that keeps up to 10 pizzas toastie warm, whilst a refrigerating section keeps drinks and desserts cool. The Guardian reports that customers can open the compartments by entering a security code into their smartphone when the robot arrives at their door.
There’s no word yet on when exactly Domino’s will be making the DRU a reality, though. In a statement they announced: “While he won’t be taking to the streets tomorrow, DRU is a big step forward in the work Domino’s is doing in the future commercialisation of this technology.”
And the delivery companies are lobbying for better infrastructure:
Amazon declined requests to comment for this article. But on a recent earnings call, Amazon’s chief financial officer, Brian Olsavsky, explained why Amazon wanted to move more aggressively into delivery.
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In addition, the company’s shipping costs rose 19 percent, to $5 billion, in 2015. The millions of members of its Prime annual subscription service, Amazon’s most frequent customers, have helped feed the surge. Those customers receive free shipping for many products.
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Already, the company’s drone push in Washington has had some success. Amazon has worked with NASA, for example, to create an air traffic system that would establish lanes in the sky for drones.Amazon has also urged Congress to adopt rules that would allow the retailer to fly drones beyond a pilot’s line of sight, a crucial hurdle to Amazon’s goal of operating drones from its warehouses. This effort is expected to face an important test soon. This month, the Senate Transportation Committee drafted a bill that would ensure rules for delivery drones within two years.
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Amazon is arguing for changes in many other areas, too. Already, Mr. Misener, the lead lobbyist, has called for an overhaul of an arcane system of international delivery rates that he says give foreign e-commerce rivals an unfair advantage to deliver to American homes.He also urged the approval of legislation that aims to improve roads, bridges and railways. The bill was passed by Congress and signed into law in December.
Meanwhile, it seems to me that the homogeneity of Treasury buyers brought about by low yields is showing its downside:
The 22 primary dealers held more Treasuries last month than any time in the last two years, Federal Reserve Bank of New York data show. While at first glance that may suggest a bullish stance, the surge in holdings is more likely the result of investors including central banks dumping the debt on the firms, said JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategist Jay Barry. Foreign official accounts sold a net $105 billion of the securities in December and January, an unprecedented liquidation, Treasury Department data show.
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As the world’s biggest bond dealers — including banks such as Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan — struggled to get rid of the burgeoning pile of debt, the premium for the newest, easiest-to-trade Treasuries soared to the highest since 2011. The firms’ efforts to hedge all the Treasuries collecting on their balance sheets also roiled the futures market and a crucial corner of the financial system where traders lend and borrow securities overnight.
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Dealers moved to minimize the risk of holding so many tough-to-unload securities by selling, or shorting, benchmark notes, said Barry of JPMorgan. They had the biggest bearish position in the newest 30-year bonds since May in the week ended March 9, according to a Credit Agricole SA analysis of New York Fed data.Part of the fallout was seen in the $1.6 trillion market for repurchase agreements, or repos, where Wall Street goes to exchange securities for overnight cash.
The combination of dealer demand, a global government-debt rally and reduced auction sizes caused a shortage in the repo market for the securities needed to close short positions in 10-year debt. Failures to deliver 10-year notes surged in the week ended March 9 to the most since at least 2013. For all Treasuries, failures reached the highest since the financial crisis, New York Fed data show.
Demand was so great for the benchmark 10-year note that its repo rate traded at about negative 3 percent for more than a week, before an auction of the debt settled March 15 and eased the shortage. At that level, the cost of borrowing the security in the repo market was steeper than the 3 percent penalty for uncompleted trades, leading more traders to opt to let deals fail.
Two Fed governors are talking up the chances for an early hike – but, of course, this could be merely a ploy to keep the markets honest:
“There is sufficient momentum evidenced by the economic data to justify a further step at one of the coming meetings, possibly as early as the meeting scheduled for end of April,” Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said Monday in Savannah, Georgia.
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Lockhart is a policy-centrist and doesn’t vote on the FOMC this year. His moderately upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy was shared by San Francisco Fed chief John Williams.“All else equal, assuming everything else is basically the same and the data flow continues the way I hope and expect, then April or June would definitely be potential times to have an increase in interest rates,” he told Market News International in an interview published earlier on Monday. Williams, a former head of research for Fed Chair Janet Yellen when she ran the San Francisco Fed, also doesn’t vote on policy in 2016.
| 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 | 5.05 % | 6.15 % | 10,905 | 16.47 | 1 | 1.5152 % | 1,551.8 |
| FixedFloater | 7.12 % | 6.26 % | 24,724 | 16.01 | 1 | -1.1843 % | 2,793.8 |
| Floater | 4.75 % | 4.91 % | 65,837 | 15.68 | 4 | -1.4378 % | 1,628.5 |
| OpRet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.5283 % | 2,768.8 |
| SplitShare | 4.81 % | 5.61 % | 71,630 | 1.64 | 7 | 0.5283 % | 3,240.0 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.5283 % | 2,528.0 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.79 % | -3.85 % | 87,352 | 0.08 | 6 | 0.1782 % | 2,549.7 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.65 % | 5.68 % | 99,667 | 14.30 | 33 | 0.1995 % | 2,566.4 |
| FixedReset | 5.48 % | 5.15 % | 187,524 | 14.30 | 87 | 0.3938 % | 1,862.6 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 5.25 % | 5.67 % | 132,263 | 6.92 | 34 | 0.2132 % | 2,592.3 |
| FloatingReset | 3.10 % | 5.08 % | 38,896 | 5.42 | 16 | 0.1490 % | 1,984.9 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| TRP.PR.C | FixedReset | -2.50 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 11.31 Evaluated at bid price : 11.31 Bid-YTW : 5.07 % |
| PWF.PR.A | Floater | -1.78 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 11.05 Evaluated at bid price : 11.05 Bid-YTW : 4.32 % |
| BAM.PR.B | Floater | -1.73 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 9.63 Evaluated at bid price : 9.63 Bid-YTW : 4.91 % |
| BAM.PR.C | Floater | -1.45 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 9.53 Evaluated at bid price : 9.53 Bid-YTW : 4.96 % |
| BAM.PR.G | FixedFloater | -1.18 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 13.35 Bid-YTW : 6.26 % |
| SLF.PR.I | FixedReset | 1.02 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 17.80 Bid-YTW : 8.16 % |
| PVS.PR.E | SplitShare | 1.06 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-10-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.75 Bid-YTW : 6.53 % |
| MFC.PR.N | FixedReset | 1.15 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 17.60 Bid-YTW : 8.23 % |
| MFC.PR.C | Deemed-Retractible | 1.17 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 20.72 Bid-YTW : 7.19 % |
| HSB.PR.D | Deemed-Retractible | 1.24 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.50 Bid-YTW : 5.40 % |
| FTS.PR.G | FixedReset | 1.24 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 15.50 Evaluated at bid price : 15.50 Bid-YTW : 4.87 % |
| TD.PF.D | FixedReset | 1.28 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 19.00 Evaluated at bid price : 19.00 Bid-YTW : 4.71 % |
| BNS.PR.Z | FixedReset | 1.39 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2022-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 18.97 Bid-YTW : 7.27 % |
| PVS.PR.D | SplitShare | 1.41 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2021-10-08 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 22.97 Bid-YTW : 6.33 % |
| VNR.PR.A | FixedReset | 1.42 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 17.20 Evaluated at bid price : 17.20 Bid-YTW : 5.35 % |
| BAM.PR.E | Ratchet | 1.52 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 13.40 Bid-YTW : 6.15 % |
| MFC.PR.M | FixedReset | 1.67 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 17.70 Bid-YTW : 8.22 % |
| HSE.PR.E | FixedReset | 1.69 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 18.10 Evaluated at bid price : 18.10 Bid-YTW : 6.03 % |
| TD.PF.E | FixedReset | 1.73 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 19.42 Evaluated at bid price : 19.42 Bid-YTW : 4.72 % |
| BMO.PR.Y | FixedReset | 1.89 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 18.85 Evaluated at bid price : 18.85 Bid-YTW : 4.71 % |
| BMO.PR.T | FixedReset | 1.95 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 17.75 Evaluated at bid price : 17.75 Bid-YTW : 4.45 % |
| MFC.PR.G | FixedReset | 2.21 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 18.06 Bid-YTW : 8.19 % |
| HSE.PR.G | FixedReset | 2.25 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 18.20 Evaluated at bid price : 18.20 Bid-YTW : 5.98 % |
| MFC.PR.K | FixedReset | 2.93 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 16.50 Bid-YTW : 8.89 % |
| MFC.PR.L | FixedReset | 3.17 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 16.90 Bid-YTW : 8.67 % |
| HSE.PR.A | FixedReset | 3.20 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 10.01 Evaluated at bid price : 10.01 Bid-YTW : 6.17 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| RY.PR.H | FixedReset | 128,018 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 17.75 Evaluated at bid price : 17.75 Bid-YTW : 4.48 % |
| CM.PR.P | FixedReset | 111,400 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 17.82 Evaluated at bid price : 17.82 Bid-YTW : 4.46 % |
| BNS.PR.O | Deemed-Retractible | 99,700 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2016-04-27 Maturity Price : 25.25 Evaluated at bid price : 25.60 Bid-YTW : -0.78 % |
| TD.PF.G | FixedReset | 91,857 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2021-04-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.66 Bid-YTW : 5.16 % |
| RY.PR.R | FixedReset | 77,555 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2021-08-24 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.42 Bid-YTW : 5.22 % |
| BNS.PR.E | FixedReset | 68,909 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-03-21 Maturity Price : 23.37 Evaluated at bid price : 25.71 Bid-YTW : 5.15 % |
| There were 22 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| MFC.PR.O | FixedReset | Quote: 25.60 – 26.72 Spot Rate : 1.1200 Average : 0.6164 YTW SCENARIO |
| GWO.PR.O | FloatingReset | Quote: 11.55 – 12.95 Spot Rate : 1.4000 Average : 0.9052 YTW SCENARIO |
| SLF.PR.H | FixedReset | Quote: 15.30 – 15.85 Spot Rate : 0.5500 Average : 0.3909 YTW SCENARIO |
| BNS.PR.R | FixedReset | Quote: 23.51 – 23.99 Spot Rate : 0.4800 Average : 0.3508 YTW SCENARIO |
| CU.PR.C | FixedReset | Quote: 16.30 – 16.71 Spot Rate : 0.4100 Average : 0.2877 YTW SCENARIO |
| FTS.PR.K | FixedReset | Quote: 15.40 – 15.83 Spot Rate : 0.4300 Average : 0.3097 YTW SCENARIO |