I mentioned coding schools on August 11, 2016. Here’s a cautionary tale:
It was a calamitous job interview two years ago that prompted Jose Contreras to demand his money back from the coding school he attended. His interviewer, the chief technology officer of a startup, watched as Contreras struggled with basics on JavaScript, a coding language he was supposed to be learning during his courses. “Given you can’t answer this question,” Contreras, now 27, recalls the interviewer saying, “You should ask for a refund.” A few months later, jobless and out $14,400 in tuition and fees, Contreras followed his advice.
He’s one of many students who say they felt duped by Coding House, a Silicon Valley school that advertises an average starting salary of $91,000 for its graduates. On Nov. 7, the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, the regulator that oversees coding schools in California, assessed Nicholas James, the founder of Coding House, a $50,000 fine and ordered the school to shut down. (The BPPE had previously denied Coding School’s application to operate, in November 2015, June 2016, and again on Nov. 4, 2016.) The regulators have told the school to give refunds to all students who have attended since it opened its doors in 2014. Coding House has filed an appeal. In the meantime it has suspended its programs, students said.
…
Coding House’s spectacular fall is an extreme case, but interviews with more than a dozen coding school graduates reveal that when they do land a job, often their engineering education doesn’t cut it. Many admit they lack the big-picture skills that employers say they want. Training them often requires hours of hand-holding by more experienced staff, employers say. The same holds true for graduates holding computer science degrees, but those employees generally have a better grasp of broader concepts and algorithms, recruiters said.
This is the proper way to be in the landlording business!
Jonathan Gray of Blackstone Group LP went on the biggest homebuying spree in history after the U.S. foreclosure crisis, purchasing repossessed properties from the courthouse steps and through online auctions.
Four years, $10 billion and roughly 50,000 homes later, he will find out if his gambit will pay off. Invitation Homes LP, the Dallas-based company Blackstone formed to maintain and rent those homes, has filed confidentially for an initial public offering that could come as soon as January.
Though Blackstone is unlikely to sell much or even any of its stake in an IPO, the stock market debut will test investors’ interest in the idea that the rental-home business can be institutionalized as apartments, shopping centers and office towers were before.
They’re big enough with holdings concentrated enough to get good tradesmen service – perhaps even hire some full-timers.
When you write cheques worth half your electrician’s revenue … he answers your calls same day!
The Bank of Canada stood pat on rates:
The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1/2 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 3/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/4 per cent.
Economic data suggest that global economic conditions have strengthened, as the Bank anticipated in its October Monetary Policy Report (MPR). However, uncertainty, which has been undermining business confidence and dampening investment in Canada’s major trading partners, remains undiminished. Following the election in the United States, there has been a rapid back-up in global bond yields, partly reflecting market anticipation of fiscal expansion in a US economy that is near full capacity. Canadian yields have risen significantly in this context.
In Canada, the dynamics of growth are largely as the Bank anticipated. Following a very weak first half of 2016, growth in the third quarter rebounded strongly, but more moderate growth is anticipated in the fourth quarter. Consumption growth was robust in the third quarter, supported by the new Canada Child Benefit, while the effects of federal infrastructure spending are not yet evident in the GDP data. Meanwhile, business investment and non-energy goods exports continue to disappoint. There have been ongoing gains in employment, but a significant amount of economic slack remains in Canada, in contrast to the United States. While household imbalances continue to rise, these will be mitigated over time by announced changes to housing finance rules.
Total CPI inflation has picked up in recent months but is slightly below expectations, largely because of lower food prices. Core inflation is close to 2 per cent because the effect of persistent economic slack is still being offset by that of past exchange rate depreciation, although the latter effect is dissipating.
Overall, the Bank’s Governing Council judges that the current stance of monetary policy remains appropriate. Therefore, the target for the overnight rate remains at 1/2 per cent.
It looks like the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena bail-out is going to be another brain-dead one, with recoveries based on who you are rather than what you own:
Monte dei Paschi must raise 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion) by the end of this month to avoid being wound down, but private investors are reluctant to provide cash after Renzi lost a referendum on Sunday and announced plans to resign.
The bank is set to raise 1 billion euros from a bond swap with institutional investors and Rome is hoping the 2 billion euros participation from the government could help persuade private investors to fill the 2 billion euros gap.
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Italy’s treasury would buy the bonds held by around 40,000 retail investors at face value, the sources said.That way, the government would ensure retail investors do not suffer any losses in the bank’s bailout, making it politically more palatable and staving off the risk of a run on deposits that could trigger a wider banking crisis.
The retail bail-out has been linked to fears of a run, which makes no sense:
Any state intervention to help Monte dei Paschi would entail losses for the bank’s subordinated bondholders in line with European bank crisis rules – something Renzi’s government had desperately sought to avoid to stave off the risk of a run on deposits and a domino effect engulfing other lenders.
It was not immediately clear to what extent retail investors, who hold 2.1 billion euros of Monte dei Paschi junior debt, could be spared in the event of a state rescue.
PerpetualDiscounts now yield 5.50%, equivalent to 7.15% interest at the standard equivalency factor of 1.3x. Long corporates now yield about 4.05%, so the pre-tax interest-equivalent spread (in this context, the “Seniority Spread”) is now about 310bp, a significant widening from the 300bp reported November 16.
| 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 | 0.1800 % | 1,765.8 |
| FixedFloater | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.1800 % | 3,225.8 |
| Floater | 4.25 % | 4.39 % | 52,432 | 16.54 | 4 | 0.1800 % | 1,859.1 |
| OpRet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.0265 % | 2,924.7 |
| SplitShare | 4.83 % | 4.55 % | 52,470 | 4.32 | 6 | -0.0265 % | 3,492.8 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.0265 % | 2,725.2 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.45 % | 5.26 % | 83,834 | 14.43 | 23 | -0.0017 % | 2,652.1 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.48 % | 5.50 % | 93,661 | 14.63 | 15 | -0.3104 % | 2,734.9 |
| FixedReset | 4.87 % | 4.68 % | 213,687 | 6.79 | 96 | -0.2126 % | 2,099.4 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 5.20 % | 5.25 % | 135,925 | 4.57 | 32 | -0.0540 % | 2,733.6 |
| FloatingReset | 2.82 % | 3.80 % | 44,472 | 4.83 | 12 | -0.0762 % | 2,313.4 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| PWF.PR.T | FixedReset | -1.95 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-12-07 Maturity Price : 19.61 Evaluated at bid price : 19.61 Bid-YTW : 4.52 % |
| HSE.PR.A | FixedReset | -1.67 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-12-07 Maturity Price : 12.37 Evaluated at bid price : 12.37 Bid-YTW : 5.43 % |
| IFC.PR.D | FloatingReset | -1.52 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 19.50 Bid-YTW : 6.79 % |
| MFC.PR.G | FixedReset | -1.45 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 20.37 Bid-YTW : 6.98 % |
| IFC.PR.C | FixedReset | -1.30 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 19.80 Bid-YTW : 6.99 % |
| MFC.PR.I | FixedReset | -1.12 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 20.33 Bid-YTW : 7.01 % |
| TRP.PR.C | FixedReset | -1.06 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-12-07 Maturity Price : 13.06 Evaluated at bid price : 13.06 Bid-YTW : 4.86 % |
| CU.PR.C | FixedReset | -1.03 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-12-07 Maturity Price : 19.30 Evaluated at bid price : 19.30 Bid-YTW : 4.50 % |
| SLF.PR.J | FloatingReset | 1.02 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 13.85 Bid-YTW : 10.00 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| BNS.PR.O | Deemed-Retractible | 353,500 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2017-01-06 Maturity Price : 25.25 Evaluated at bid price : 25.47 Bid-YTW : 1.77 % |
| BAM.PF.I | FixedReset | 119,095 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-12-07 Maturity Price : 23.14 Evaluated at bid price : 25.00 Bid-YTW : 4.80 % |
| TRP.PR.K | FixedReset | 102,891 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-12-07 Maturity Price : 23.09 Evaluated at bid price : 24.88 Bid-YTW : 4.86 % |
| RY.PR.J | FixedReset | 88,315 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-12-07 Maturity Price : 20.50 Evaluated at bid price : 20.50 Bid-YTW : 4.60 % |
| MFC.PR.R | FixedReset | 87,074 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-01-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 24.91 Bid-YTW : 4.97 % |
| BAM.PR.C | Floater | 73,936 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2046-12-07 Maturity Price : 10.82 Evaluated at bid price : 10.82 Bid-YTW : 4.43 % |
| There were 61 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| IFC.PR.C | FixedReset | Quote: 19.80 – 20.24 Spot Rate : 0.4400 Average : 0.3313 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PF.E | FixedReset | Quote: 19.97 – 20.24 Spot Rate : 0.2700 Average : 0.1785 YTW SCENARIO |
| MFC.PR.I | FixedReset | Quote: 20.33 – 20.50 Spot Rate : 0.1700 Average : 0.1081 YTW SCENARIO |
| W.PR.K | FixedReset | Quote: 25.45 – 25.73 Spot Rate : 0.2800 Average : 0.2193 YTW SCENARIO |
| IGM.PR.B | Perpetual-Premium | Quote: 25.36 – 25.60 Spot Rate : 0.2400 Average : 0.1812 YTW SCENARIO |
| ELF.PR.F | Perpetual-Discount | Quote: 24.06 – 24.28 Spot Rate : 0.2200 Average : 0.1713 YTW SCENARIO |
Coding House School, a division of Trump University?