These are great times for American mortgage borrowers, as long as they have jobs and aren’t underwater: Mortgage prepayment rates have soared to the highest in seven years as homeowners take advantage of the lowest …
Search Results for: performance
October 2, 2012
Just when you thought smart-phone malware had reached a limit…: As smartphones become more pervasive, they are increasingly targeted by malware. At the same time, each new generation of smartphone features increasingly powerful onboard sensor …
October 1, 2012
Here’s a good example of why government agencies should not regulate Credit Rating Agencies: Now, incredibly, Egan-Jones is the sole rater that the SEC has decided to attack. The trouble for the firm started on …
MAPF Portfolio Composition: September 2012
Turnover was almost non-existent in September, falling to about 2%. There is extreme segmentation in the marketplace, with OSFI’s NVCC rule changes in February 2011 having had the effect of splitting the formerly relatively homogeneous …
September 28, 2012
There’s renewed grumbling about currency manipulation: The new idea in trade negotiations is an old idea: punish currency manipulation. Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, said Thursday in a new commentary that currency …
Omega Preferred Equity Fund to be Closed to New Investors
National Bank Securities has announced: the Omega Preferred Equity Fund’s closure to new investors as of September 30, 2012. The closure of the Omega Preferred Equity Fund will allow the fund’s portfolio manager (Intact Investment …
September 27, 2012
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission member Daniel Gallagher is favourably disposed towards a floating NAV for money-market funds: Requiring money funds to have a fluctuating share price “is an attractive option that I am likely …
September 26, 2012
I’m all in favour of a cap on leverage at banks … but a leverage cap of 12.5:1 seems quite extreme: Banks should be required to reduce by half the amount they can borrow against …
September 25, 2012
Charles Plosser of the Philiadelphia Fed outlined his opposition to QE3, including one very good point: Continued expansion of the Fed’s balance sheet has other costs as well. By greatly expanding the size of the …
September 24, 2012
US regulators are in disarray regarding the MetLife / GE Capital deal. It’s too complex to summarize, so you’ll have to read the whole article. Financial Repression is alive and well … there may be …