I was pleased to see the following:
When European Union head Ursula von der Leyen sat alongside Donald Trump at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last year, she promised Europeans that accepting a blanket 15 per cent U.S. tariff on EU exports would buy the continent “predictability and stability.”
Some critics now see the trade deal as a one-sided capitulation that instead paved the way for an ongoing cycle of American economic coercion.
First came U.S. efforts to reclassify certain European industrial goods to impose higher tariffs. Now, a fresh battle has emerged over European efforts to levy a digital services tax on U.S. tech giants — a dispute that echoes Washington’s recent attempts to dictate tax terms to Ottawa.
No sooner was the Turnberry deal ratified by the European Parliament than Trump was on Truth Social, threatening to override the entire accord by slapping 100 per cent tariffs on any European nation that implements or expands tech taxes.
As European resistance to Trump’s demands stiffens, some lawmakers are looking at Mark Carney’s dramatic exit from the U.S. trade table not as a reckless gamble but as a lesson in how to stand up to a bully.
Former French ambassador to the U.S. Gerard Araud posted that “Canada should show the way to the EU: with Trump, only firmness pays off.”
I thought we gave up on the Digital Sales Tax too easily – lots of US states have one! We should be bringing it back in and coordinating our efforts, rates and definitions with the EU.
Strange goings-on in the preferred share market today, with the index plummetting at the close with TXPR (price) down 41bp on the day – on nothing but little puffs of air:
- BMO.PR.E down 1.47%
- CM.PR.S down 1.22%
- ENB.PR.T down 0.88%, almost all of it on 407 shares traded on the close
- ENB.PR.Y down a mere 0.38%, all of it on 490 shares at the close
- IFC.PR.A down 1.63%, all of it on 401 shares at the close
- NA.PR.C down 1.23%, most of it on 500 shares at the opening
- TD.PF.A down 1.22%, a big chunk of it at 4pm on 601 shares
- TD.PF.I down 1.37%, about a third of it at 4pm on 481 shares at 4pm
There’s not a lot of depth to this market!
| 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 | 1.6870 % | 2,684.8 |
| FixedFloater | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 1.6870 % | 5,055.9 |
| Floater | 5.38 % | 5.50 % | 30,754 | 14.61 | 3 | 1.6870 % | 2,913.7 |
| OpRet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0794 % | 3,629.6 |
| SplitShare | 4.80 % | 4.27 % | 60,557 | 2.59 | 5 | 0.0794 % | 4,334.5 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0794 % | 3,381.9 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.65 % | 5.58 % | 53,151 | 6.85 | 12 | 0.0365 % | 3,072.5 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.56 % | 5.65 % | 37,112 | 14.39 | 21 | -0.2048 % | 3,396.0 |
| FixedReset Disc | 5.53 % | 5.88 % | 93,139 | 14.00 | 17 | -0.1613 % | 3,399.7 |
| Insurance Straight | 5.42 % | 5.54 % | 44,318 | 14.47 | 20 | -0.7357 % | 3,317.6 |
| FloatingReset | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1613 % | 4,151.0 |
| FixedReset Prem | 5.91 % | 4.65 % | 78,088 | 2.09 | 31 | -0.0237 % | 2,663.8 |
| FixedReset Bank Non | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1613 % | 3,475.1 |
| FixedReset Ins Non | 5.21 % | 5.22 % | 55,610 | 3.04 | 14 | -0.4522 % | 3,274.6 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| GWO.PR.G | Insurance Straight | -5.42 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 22.24 Evaluated at bid price : 22.51 Bid-YTW : 5.87 % |
| MFC.PR.Q | FixedReset Ins Non | -3.32 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 23.54 Evaluated at bid price : 24.75 Bid-YTW : 5.96 % |
| MFC.PR.F | FixedReset Ins Non | -3.21 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 21.10 Evaluated at bid price : 21.10 Bid-YTW : 5.55 % |
| IFC.PR.F | Insurance Straight | -2.56 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 23.76 Evaluated at bid price : 24.02 Bid-YTW : 5.60 % |
| ENB.PR.F | FixedReset Disc | -2.04 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 23.13 Evaluated at bid price : 23.51 Bid-YTW : 6.14 % |
| IFC.PR.E | Insurance Straight | -1.37 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 23.52 Evaluated at bid price : 23.79 Bid-YTW : 5.54 % |
| ENB.PR.T | FixedReset Prem | -1.16 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 23.29 Evaluated at bid price : 24.66 Bid-YTW : 5.92 % |
| BN.PF.G | FixedReset Prem | 1.58 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2030-07-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.71 Bid-YTW : 5.12 % |
| ENB.PR.P | FixedReset Disc | 1.87 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 23.26 Evaluated at bid price : 24.46 Bid-YTW : 5.90 % |
| MFC.PR.K | FixedReset Ins Non | 1.95 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2028-09-19 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.10 Bid-YTW : 4.72 % |
| BN.PR.B | Floater | 4.27 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 14.40 Evaluated at bid price : 14.40 Bid-YTW : 5.50 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| FFH.PR.K | FixedReset Prem | 31,791 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2027-03-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.30 Bid-YTW : 4.36 % |
| ENB.PR.Y | FixedReset Disc | 31,790 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 22.66 Evaluated at bid price : 23.39 Bid-YTW : 5.96 % |
| FTS.PR.M | FixedReset Prem | 31,081 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2029-12-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.12 Bid-YTW : 5.34 % |
| ENB.PF.A | FixedReset Disc | 25,345 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 23.25 Evaluated at bid price : 24.74 Bid-YTW : 5.90 % |
| NA.PR.K | FixedReset Prem | 21,579 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2029-05-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 28.15 Bid-YTW : 2.96 % |
| SLF.PR.E | Insurance Straight | 15,511 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2056-08-26 Maturity Price : 21.44 Evaluated at bid price : 21.70 Bid-YTW : 5.17 % |
| There were 4 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| See TMX DataLinx: ‘Last’ != ‘Close’ and the posts linked therein for an idea of why these quotes are so horrible. | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| GWO.PR.G | Insurance Straight | Quote: 22.51 – 24.50 Spot Rate : 1.9900 Average : 1.3564 YTW SCENARIO |
| MIC.PR.A | Perpetual-Discount | Quote: 23.40 – 25.95 Spot Rate : 2.5500 Average : 2.0393 YTW SCENARIO |
| MFC.PR.F | FixedReset Ins Non | Quote: 21.10 – 22.55 Spot Rate : 1.4500 Average : 1.0435 YTW SCENARIO |
| IFC.PR.F | Insurance Straight | Quote: 24.02 – 24.95 Spot Rate : 0.9300 Average : 0.6364 YTW SCENARIO |
| BN.PF.I | FixedReset Prem | Quote: 25.32 – 26.00 Spot Rate : 0.6800 Average : 0.4409 YTW SCENARIO |
| FTS.PR.M | FixedReset Prem | Quote: 25.12 – 25.83 Spot Rate : 0.7100 Average : 0.4926 YTW SCENARIO |