{"id":12693,"date":"2010-10-26T22:16:37","date_gmt":"2010-10-27T02:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=12693"},"modified":"2010-10-26T22:16:37","modified_gmt":"2010-10-27T02:16:37","slug":"october-26-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=12693","title":{"rendered":"October 26, 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>UBS is is <a href=\"http:\/\/business.financialpost.com\/2010\/10\/25\/manulife-corp-in-for-steep-losses-on-low-interest-rates-ubs\/\">projecting another massive loss for MFC<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nOngoing low interest rates are making things increasingly difficult for life insurance companies which rely heavily on fixed income investments such as government bonds to cover future policy holder liabilities.<\/p>\n<p>In a note to clients this morning UBS analyst Peter Rozenberg predicted Manulife Financial Corp. will be hardest hit, putting it on track for a loss in the third quarter of $1.48-billion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/idUSTRE69O48C20101025\">demonstrated his complete ignorance of the market<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Bart Chilton, a commissioner with the futures regulator, said &#8220;mini-flash crashes occur all too often&#8221; following a surge in high-frequency trading.<br \/><b>&#8230;<\/b><br \/>&#8220;They don&#8217;t cause as much of a disruption as that of May 6, but more than once this year, runaway algos have disrupted markets. By that I mean, cost people money,&#8221; Chilton said in prepared remarks for an energy conference in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We should explore ways to hold those who set off runaway robotic trades accountable,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>At least one algorithm is know to have disrupted the oil markets this year. Infinium Capital Management said in August it was the company at the center of a six-month probe by CME Group Inc into why a new trading<br \/>\nprogram malfunctioned, racking up a million-dollar loss in about a second on February 3.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Some might think that Infinium Capital Management was fined a million bucks by the markets &#8211; which went directly into the pockets of the not-so-dumb traders &#8211; and that that&#8217;s accountability enough. But then the regulators wouldn&#8217;t have anything to do.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.financialpost.com\/news\/OSFI+staffing+challenges+threaten+mandate\/3729559\/story.html\">OSFI&#8217;s in a little difficulty<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nAuditor General Sheila Fraser said in a report that the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) adequately supervised the banks at present.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;However, the growing volume and complexity of its work is increasing the demands on its human resources,&#8221; she wrote, noting an ever larger number of complex financial products.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This challenge, combined with pressures on training and compensation, could affect the office&#8217;s ability to attract and retain qualified staff to maintain its capacity and competency to carry out its supervisory mandate.&#8221;<br \/><b>&#8230;<\/b><br \/>\nMs. Fraser said that, as of March 10 this year, 10% of positions on large bank supervisory teams and 12% of jobs on the specialist groups that support the teams were vacant. Half the positions have been open for a year.<\/p>\n<p>She cited OSFI as saying there &#8220;was little flexibility to address unexpected events&#8221; and said the time taken to dealing with documents resulted in less time available for detecting and analyzing risks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A good day overall in the Canadian preferred share market on continued strong volume, with PerpetualDiscounts gaining 13bp, while FixedResets lost 2bp.<\/p>\n<table border='1'>\n<tr>\n<td colspan='8'><strong>HIMIPref&trade; Preferred Indices<br \/>These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref&trade; Indices<\/strong><br \/>Values are provisional and are finalized monthly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Index<\/td>\n<td>Mean<br \/>Current<br \/>Yield<br \/>(at bid)<\/td>\n<td>Median<br \/>YTW<\/td>\n<td>Median<br \/>Average<br \/>Trading<br \/>Value<\/td>\n<td>Median<br \/>Mod Dur<br \/>(YTW)<\/td>\n<td>Issues<\/td>\n<td>Day&#8217;s Perf.<\/td>\n<td>Index Value<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ratchet<\/td>\n<td>0.00 %<\/td>\n<td>0.00 %<\/td>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<td>0.00<\/td>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<td>0.1648 %<\/td>\n<td>2,175.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>FixedFloater<\/td>\n<td>0.00 %<\/td>\n<td>0.00 %<\/td>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<td>0.00<\/td>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<td>0.1648 %<\/td>\n<td>3,296.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Floater<\/td>\n<td>2.88 %<\/td>\n<td>3.19 %<\/td>\n<td>87,838<\/td>\n<td>19.24<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>0.1648 %<\/td>\n<td>2,349.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OpRet<\/td>\n<td>4.93 %<\/td>\n<td>3.92 %<\/td>\n<td>99,450<\/td>\n<td>0.74<\/td>\n<td>9<\/td>\n<td>0.0260 %<\/td>\n<td>2,364.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>SplitShare<\/td>\n<td>5.83 %<\/td>\n<td>-27.07 %<\/td>\n<td>65,989<\/td>\n<td>0.09<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>0.8110 %<\/td>\n<td>2,413.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Interest-Bearing<\/td>\n<td>0.00 %<\/td>\n<td>0.00 %<\/td>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<td>0.00<\/td>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<td>0.0260 %<\/td>\n<td>2,161.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perpetual-Premium<\/td>\n<td>5.69 %<\/td>\n<td>5.03 %<\/td>\n<td>142,440<\/td>\n<td>5.34<\/td>\n<td>19<\/td>\n<td>0.0741 %<\/td>\n<td>2,017.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>5.41 %<\/td>\n<td>5.42 %<\/td>\n<td>247,947<\/td>\n<td>14.68<\/td>\n<td>58<\/td>\n<td>0.1341 %<\/td>\n<td>2,019.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>5.27 %<\/td>\n<td>3.07 %<\/td>\n<td>338,774<\/td>\n<td>3.24<\/td>\n<td>47<\/td>\n<td>-0.0196 %<\/td>\n<td>2,275.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<table border='1'>\n<tr>\n<td colspan='4'><strong>Performance Highlights<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Issue<\/td>\n<td>Index<\/td>\n<td>Change<\/td>\n<td>Notes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>POW.PR.B<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>1.27 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-10-26<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 23.71<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 24.00<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.61 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BNA.PR.C<\/td>\n<td>SplitShare<\/td>\n<td>1.57 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Hard Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2019-01-10<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 22.69<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.91 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<table border='1'>\n<tr>\n<td colspan='4'><strong>Volume Highlights<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Issue<\/td>\n<td>Index<\/td>\n<td>Shares<br \/>Traded<\/td>\n<td>Notes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>CM.PR.A<\/td>\n<td>OpRet<\/td>\n<td>181,000<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=12379\">Called for redemption<\/a>. Desjardins bought 180,500 from Nesbitt at 24.98.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Soft Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2011-07-30<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 24.97<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.41 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BNS.PR.P<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>95,415<\/td>\n<td>National crossed 25,000 at 26.51; Nesbitt crossed 50,000 at 26.50.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Call<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2013-05-25<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 26.51<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 2.46 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>CM.PR.K<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>84,247<\/td>\n<td>RBC crossed 75,000 at 27.21.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Call<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2014-08-30<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 27.17<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 2.86 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>POW.PR.D<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>72,425<\/td>\n<td>RBC crossed 46,800 at 23.10.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-10-26<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 22.76<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 22.96<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.48 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>TRP.PR.B<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>68,300<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-10-26<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 24.96<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 25.01<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 3.30 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>RY.PR.C<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>66,500<\/td>\n<td>RBC crossed two blocks of 30,000 each, both at 22.41.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-10-26<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 22.26<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 22.40<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.13 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan='4'>There were 57 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UBS is is projecting another massive loss for MFC: Ongoing low interest rates are making things increasingly difficult for life insurance companies which rely heavily on fixed income investments such as government bonds to cover &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-action"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}