CIT has amended its exchange offer for its debentures due August 17:
As a result of the amendment, holders of all Notes tendered prior to the expiration date at midnight, New York City time, at the end of Friday, August 14, 2009, will receive the amended purchase price of $875 in cash per $1,000 principal amount of Notes, as total consideration in the Offer. Previously, the purchase price, which included an early delivery payment, was $825 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes.
CIT announced that the amendment to the Offer also reduces the minimum tender condition to 58% of the Notes, an amount approximately equal to the number of Notes which pursuant to the Credit Facility the lenders are committed to tender and not withdraw. As of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, July 31, 2009, CIT had received tenders for 64.97% of the Notes.
The withdrawal deadline for the Offer has been extended until midnight, New York City time, at the end of Wednesday, August 5, 2009. All other terms of the Offer remain unchanged.
They have also suspended preferred dividends:
the Company’s Board of Directors has decided to suspend dividend payments on its four series of Preferred Stock in order to improve liquidity and preserve capital while restructuring efforts are ongoing. Payments on the Company’s Equity Units (NYSE: CIT PrZ) are not affected by this decision.
China has claimed that industrial espionage by Rio Tinto has cost the country’s steel mills over $100-billion, in connection with recent arrests. I have no idea whether the charges are well-founded or not; but if true, a vigorous response should provide a hint to Canada and Germany, inter alia, that confident countries don’t just whine about it.
There has been a fascinating hiccup in BAC / SEC lawsuit over the MER bonuses:
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ended the hearing saying that he needs more information on the Aug. 3 accord between the bank and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed the suit. The settlement won’t be final unless Rakoff approves it.
If the SEC is correct that Bank of America lied about whether to pay the bonuses, then the proposed settlement isn’t “remotely reasonable,” Rakoff said.
Not a lot of price action today, but volume continued strong.
| 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 | 2.2069 % | 1,287.0 |
| FixedFloater | 6.59 % | 4.83 % | 46,624 | 17.50 | 1 | 1.4136 % | 2,330.1 |
| Floater | 3.54 % | 3.54 % | 123,936 | 18.39 | 2 | 2.2069 % | 1,607.9 |
| OpRet | 4.89 % | -6.52 % | 138,873 | 0.09 | 15 | -0.0257 % | 2,259.0 |
| SplitShare | 5.72 % | 6.47 % | 94,639 | 4.10 | 3 | 0.6088 % | 2,030.3 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.0257 % | 2,065.6 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.76 % | 5.55 % | 85,410 | 14.20 | 4 | 0.1399 % | 1,859.8 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.86 % | 5.89 % | 173,621 | 14.04 | 67 | 0.1000 % | 1,751.6 |
| FixedReset | 5.50 % | 4.01 % | 518,941 | 4.16 | 40 | 0.0018 % | 2,100.5 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| CL.PR.B | Perpetual-Discount | -1.63 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2011-01-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.28 Bid-YTW : 5.99 % |
| IAG.PR.A | Perpetual-Discount | -1.18 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2039-08-10 Maturity Price : 18.50 Evaluated at bid price : 18.50 Bid-YTW : 6.32 % |
| POW.PR.C | Perpetual-Discount | 1.06 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2039-08-10 Maturity Price : 23.60 Evaluated at bid price : 23.93 Bid-YTW : 6.12 % |
| PWF.PR.E | Perpetual-Discount | 1.11 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2039-08-10 Maturity Price : 22.23 Evaluated at bid price : 22.75 Bid-YTW : 6.07 % |
| BAM.PR.G | FixedFloater | 1.41 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2039-08-10 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 16.50 Bid-YTW : 4.83 % |
| BNA.PR.C | SplitShare | 1.68 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2019-01-10 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 18.81 Bid-YTW : 8.36 % |
| POW.PR.D | Perpetual-Discount | 1.80 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2039-08-10 Maturity Price : 21.95 Evaluated at bid price : 22.07 Bid-YTW : 5.72 % |
| BAM.PR.B | Floater | 3.70 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2039-08-10 Maturity Price : 11.20 Evaluated at bid price : 11.20 Bid-YTW : 3.54 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| TD.PR.R | Perpetual-Discount | 163,025 | RBC bought 10,000 from anonymous at 24.60 and another 10,000 from HSBC at the same price. Nesbitt crossed 100,000 at 24.65. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2039-08-10 Maturity Price : 24.43 Evaluated at bid price : 24.65 Bid-YTW : 5.72 % |
| TD.PR.N | OpRet | 101,890 | Nesbitt crossed 100,000 at 26.30. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2009-09-09 Maturity Price : 26.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.25 Bid-YTW : -5.69 % |
| MFC.PR.B | Perpetual-Discount | 66,350 | RBC crossed 48,600 at 20.30, then another 10,000 at the same price. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2039-08-10 Maturity Price : 20.26 Evaluated at bid price : 20.26 Bid-YTW : 5.84 % |
| MFC.PR.D | FixedReset | 65,762 | RBC crossed 49,200 at 27.75. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-07-19 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 27.74 Bid-YTW : 4.39 % |
| TD.PR.Q | Perpetual-Discount | 49,400 | RBC sold 10,000 to anonymous at 24.80. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2039-08-10 Maturity Price : 24.38 Evaluated at bid price : 24.60 Bid-YTW : 5.73 % |
| RY.PR.P | FixedReset | 38,010 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-03-26 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 27.41 Bid-YTW : 3.95 % |
| There were 42 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||