{"id":16864,"date":"2011-11-02T23:15:47","date_gmt":"2011-11-03T03:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=16864"},"modified":"2011-11-02T23:15:47","modified_gmt":"2011-11-03T03:15:47","slug":"november-2-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=16864","title":{"rendered":"November 2, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/newsevents\/press\/monetary\/20111102a.htm\">FOMC statement was pretty gloomy<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with the dual mandate, the Committee decided today to continue its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities as announced in September. The Committee is maintaining its existing policies of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities and of rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction. The Committee will regularly review the size and composition of its securities holdings and is prepared to adjust those holdings as appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>The Committee also decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1\/4 percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions&#8211;including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run&#8211;are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through mid-2013<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Of perhaps more interest was the voting:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth A. Duke; Richard W. Fisher; Narayana Kocherlakota; Charles I. Plosser; Sarah Bloom Raskin; Daniel K. Tarullo; and Janet L. Yellen. Voting against the action was Charles L. Evans, who supported additional policy accommodation at this time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I reported on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=16655\">October 13<\/a> that Kocherlakota was decrying Opertation Twist, and extracted a big piece of Fisher&#8217;s dissent on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=16480\">September 27<\/a>. This time, however, the dissenter wants looser policy. Uh-oh.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of Central Banks, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bis.org\/review\/r111102a.pdf\">Lapdog Carney&#8217;s opening statement to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance<\/a> discussed the inflation target:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>At the time of the last renewal, the Bank committed to continue its research into potential improvements that might build on the success of the current framework. A concerted and ambitious research agenda focused on evaluating whether two specific changes \u2013 targeting a lower rate of inflation or a path for the level of prices \u2013 could provide significant net benefits to the Canadian economy and Canadian households. Subsequently, the experience of the global financial and economic crisis prompted the Bank to add a third item to its research agenda \u2013 asking to what extent monetary policy should take account of financial stability considerations.<\/p>\n<p>Allow me to highlight just some of the initiatives and work undertaken by the Bank over the past five years. Since 2008, we have had three major conferences for our staff and other researchers to present work on inflation targeting and the monetary policy framework. The most important of these research papers have been published in three special issues of the Bank of Canada Review \u2013 Winter 2007\u201308, Spring 2009 and Summer 2010. As well, Governing Council members have spoken regularly and publicly about the issues.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The research he mentions is basically with respect to Price Level Targetting, which has been discussed on PrefBlog and which I favour. What makes this interesting, however, is that there was no mention of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/report-on-business\/economy\/flaherty-central-bank-to-add-clarity-to-inflation-mandate\/article2209210\/\">rumoured move to a dual mandate<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In an all-party vote on Thursday, members of the House of Commons finance committee decided they will hold at least one hearing on whether the bank\u2019s mandate should be changed to include targets beyond inflation, such as full employment or nominal gross domestic product.<\/p>\n<p>However such large-scale changes appear to be off the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Governor and I have discussed this [inflation targeting mandate renewal] at some length and I think we are understanding each other. We are &#8230; in line with each other on this,\u201d Mr. Flaherty said. \u201cSo we\u2019re not talking about a new policy or a new mandate for the Bank of Canada. What we are talking about is being more explicit about what the mandate of the Bank of Canada  is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Flaherty\u2019s comments are in line with a report by The Globe and Mail on Monday that the 2-per-cent target is expected to be renewed with a more forceful assertion of what the bank calls \u201cflexible inflation targeting,\u201d or the governor\u2019s right to take longer than usual to bring inflation to the 2-per-cent target.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>BIS <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bis.org\/publ\/bcbs206.htm\">has released<\/a> a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bis.org\/publ\/bcbs206.pdf\">Consultative Document: Capitalisation of bank exposures to central counterparties<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>CCPs can improve the safety and soundness of OTC derivatives markets through the multilateral netting of exposures, the enforcement of robust risk management standards, including mandatory posting of initial margin, and the mutualisation of losses should a clearing member fail.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Gee, mutualisation of losses is really working out well with respect to Greek debt in Europe, isn&#8217;t it? The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-11-02\/eu-bank-recapitalization-plan-has-problems-iif.html\">banks have decided they&#8217;re in the business of making a profit<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The European Union\u2019s plan for recapitalizing banks has \u201cserious problems\u201d that will hurt economic growth and make it harder for some nations to borrow, the Institute of International Finance said.<\/p>\n<p>There is a \u201cclear need\u201d to restore confidence in Europe\u2019s banks, IIF Managing Director Charles Dallara said today in a letter to the Group of 20 nations on the eve of a summit in Cannes, France. Yet the extra capital requirements at the center of the EU\u2019s strategy will come with \u201cconsiderable cost\u201d because of a flawed scope and approach, he said.<br \/><b>&#8230;<\/b><br \/>Banks are likely to decide that the costs of raising capital are \u201cprohibitive,\u201d Dallara said in his letter to the G-20. Rather than accept forced injections, banks are more likely to sell risky assets and cut back on lending, which will make it harder for countries on Europe\u2019s periphery to access capital markets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe market value of the debt of the countries most under scrutiny is likely to decline further as banks unload sovereign bonds,\u201d Dallara said. \u201cThis is contrary to the goal of stabilizing and underpinning the outlook for sovereign debt in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If banks acted to meet the new requirements relying only on retained earnings and a reduction in credit supply, \u201coverall credit exposure to the euro-area private sector would need to decline by at least 5 percent,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is essential that the higher European capital requirements are a temporary measure as intended, not sustained over time and not seen as a new standard to be imposed more widely.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-11-02\/eu-leaders-press-papandreou-on-greece-s-bailout-vote-as-g-20-leaders-meet.html\">Europeans are furious with Papandreou<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Crisis talks were under way in the French resort of Cannes on the eve of a Group of 20 summit after Papandreou was summoned by European counterparts to explain his call for a referendum that risks delaying aid the country needs to avert default. In Athens, Greek lawmakers debated a confidence motion that could bring down his government.<\/p>\n<p>The stewards of the euro \u201cwon\u2019t accept\u201d a break from last week\u2019s agreement, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters in Cannes. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said \u201cwe have to get to the point where we know exactly what comes next.\u201d<br \/><b>&#8230;<\/b><br \/>European Commission President Jose Barroso said the referendum may hold up Greece receiving 8 billion euros ($11 billion) of already delayed support. \u201cIn the European Union, we have agreed on far-reaching measures to support Greece,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cBut for those measures to be implemented it is critically important to have stability in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Europe\u2019s woes are returning G-20 leaders to the crisis footing they adopted three years ago after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in Cannes that Europe faces questions that \u201cneed to be answered and answered quickly,\u201d while Chinese President Hu Jintao told Lagarde the crisis must be \u201cprevented from spreading further.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-11-02\/euro-declines-as-europe-leaders-withhold-aid-payments-before-greece-s-vote.html\">European royalty is talking tough<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The euro declined, trading 0.7 percent from a three-week low against the dollar, as European leaders said Greece will hold a referendum next month to determine whether it will stay in the 17-nation currency.<\/p>\n<p>The euro dropped against most of its 16 major counterparts as French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Greece won\u2019t receive a \u201csingle cent\u201d in aid without holding to its bailout agreement\u2019s terms.<br \/><b>&#8230;<\/b><br \/>Crisis talks ended in the French resort of Cannes with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Sarkozy withholding 8 billion euros ($11 billion) of assistance to Greece and warning it will surrender all European aid if the nation votes against a bailout package agreed last week.<\/p>\n<p>The hardball tactics open the door for the first time for a country to leave the 12-year-old currency bloc that its founders declared was \u201cirrevocable.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Remember all that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/report-on-business\/international-news\/global-exchange\/globe-correspondents\/rough-market-forces-efsf-to-pull-3-billion-bond-issue\/article2222869\/\">leverage that was going to save the world<\/a>?:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Market turmoil has got the best of Europe\u2019s big bailout fund, forcing it to pull its latest bond issue.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday the European Financial Stability Facility confirmed that its \u20ac3-billion ($4.12-billion U.S.) bond offering, intended to finance the next bailout loan to Ireland, has been postponed because of \u201cmarket conditions,\u201d according to the group\u2019s spokesperson.<\/p>\n<p>The earliest the deal could come back is next week, and the new timeline could cause trouble. Ireland has \u20ac4.4-billion worth of debt coming due on Nov. 11, according to <a href=\"http:\/\/ftalphaville.ft.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/02\/721631\/the-efsfs-funding-funk\/\">FT Alphaville.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>OSFI has released a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca\/app\/DocRepository\/1\/eng\/notices\/osfi\/mtguwr_e.pdf\">letter regarding the Financial Stability Board Principles on Mortgage Lending<\/a>. They note that they expect to see a LOT MORE paperwork and cover-your-ass bullshit in the future. My idea, that OSFI should surcharge risk-weightings for mortgage exposure &#8211; or any other kind of exposure, for that matter &#8211; when this exposure greatly exceeds historical norms (as it does, er, now) has not yet been mentioned. The FSB document is titled <a href=\"http:\/\/www.financialstabilityboard.org\/publications\/r_111026b.pdf\">Consultation Paper: FSB Principles for Sound Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As the global crisis demonstrated, the consequences of weak residential mortgage underwriting practices in one country can be transferred globally through securitisation of mortgages underwritten to weak standards. As such, it is important to have sound underwriting practices at the point at which a mortgage loan is originally made.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In other words, <i>caveat vendor<\/i>. Gee, what a wonderful world it will be when we finally have enough rules, eh?<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of whether or not there actually is money missing from segregated accounts at MF Global, their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-11-02\/corzine-s-lack-of-mf-global-controls-exposed-with-missing-customer-money.html\">sloppy bookkeeping cost them a deal<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Corzine, 64, steered MF Global into bankruptcy proceedings on Oct. 31 after increasing risk-taking at the firm, including investments in European sovereign debt that roiled markets. Discrepancies over the missing funds that were used to back futures trades sent Interactive Brokers Group Inc. (IBKR) fleeing from a potential acquisition that may have averted the filing, according to a board member at the Greenwich, Connecticut, firm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe board certainly considered that purchase and stepped away from it at a point where it became clear there were lots of uncertainties about the accounts and segregated funds,\u201d Hans Stoll, an Interactive Brokers director and a professor of finance at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, said yesterday in a telephone interview.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>When your contemplating doing a big deal on 48 hours notice, the last thing you want is uncertainty over the bookkeeping! However, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-11-02\/mf-global-customers-may-wait-years-for-money-back-if-firm-sued-grede-says.html\">everything is highly unclear at the moment<\/a>, at least to the public:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>.MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF) customers may have to wait years to get their money back if the futures broker is sued, according to Frederick Grede, the liquidation trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of Sentinel Management Group Inc.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople should expect that the money on deposit with MF Global will be tied up for some time,\u201d Grede said in a telephone interview today. Grede, a former chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Futures Exchange, has sought to recover about $600 million of customer money from Sentinel, the futures broker that filed for bankruptcy in 2007. \u201cIf litigation is involved it well could be years\u201d for MF Global customers, he said.<\/p>\n<p>The day it filed the eighth-largest U.S. bankruptcy on Oct. 31, New York-based MF Global disclosed a shortfall in customer accounts that people with knowledge of the matter said may be about $700 million. CME Group Inc., which has the authority to audit those accounts, said yesterday it didn\u2019t know how much client money was missing.<\/p>\n<p>Grede said it was likely that the client funds won\u2019t be released until the bankruptcy court approves the decision. \u201cTo move the money out of MF Global, they have to get the trustee to agree, and I believe the trustee will want the court to agree as well,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Experience suggests to me that the actual players know very well what the answer to the segregated account mystery is, but are posturing for political purposes. However, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-11-02\/mf-global-may-have-transferred-customer-money-after-audit-cme-group-says.html\">accusations are getting more specific<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF) may have transferred customer money last week following an audit by CME Group Inc. (CME), which has regulatory authority over the futures broker.<\/p>\n<p>The transfer \u201cmay have been designed to avoid detection in so far as MF Global did not disclose or report such transfers\u201d to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or CME Group, the Chicago-based exchange owner said today an e-mailed statement.<br \/><b>&#8230;<\/b><br \/>All MF Global customer positions held at CME Group, and not third-party custodians such as banks, are accounted for, the company said in the statement. \u201cMF Global\u2019s customer positions on CME Group exchanges were and continue to be substantially over-collateralized,\u201d CME Group said. The \u201capparent shortfall\u201d was in accounts held by MF Global, CME Group said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In other words, if you had an account with MF Global with $100,000 cash, and your contracts actually required $75,000 of exchange collateral, that part would have been posted OK, but &#8211; it is alleged &#8211; they were naughty with the remaining $25,000. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-11-02\/mf-brokerage-has-commodity-customer-shortfall-of-600-million-cftc-says.html\">Even more specific is the claim<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>MF Global Inc.\u2019s commodity customer funds have a shortfall of $633 million, or about 11.6 percent, out of a segregated fund requirement of about $5.4 billion, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said.<\/p>\n<p>At a hearing today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, lawyers for the CFTC said the trustee for the bankrupt broker- dealer may recover the shortfall.<br \/><b>&#8230;<\/b><br \/>\u201cIt now appears that the firm made subsequent transfers of customer segregated funds in a manner that may have been designed to avoid detection,\u201d as the transactions weren\u2019t reported to regulators until Oct. 31, it said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>However, it&#8217;s still unclear to me just what has happened, or is claimed to have happened. The truth will out, but, as is always the case, the nature of that truth will only be reported after a few years have passed. The company is represented in court by the trustee &#8211; not by lawyers appointed by former management &#8211; and the trustee has an interest in painting as black a picture as possible in order to maximize his fee income.<\/p>\n<p>I have noticed not just one, but two interesting juxtapositions in the press recently. The first is some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/content\/early\/2011\/10\/31\/cmaj.110235.full.pdf+html\">weeping and wailing over smoking in hospitals<\/a>, reflecting the usual arrogant mindset of the medical profession:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As an emerging standard for Canadian hospitals, smoke-free property is intended to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke, communicate denormalization messages about smoking and enhance tobacco cessation.<\/p>\n<p>However, noncompliance and inadequate treatment for tobacco dependence appear to be the norm. Enhancing appropriate health care for patients who use tobacco to include consistent and effective treatment for the symptoms of withdrawal may improve this problem. Reframing tobacco use as an addiction may be an important root strategy to shift practise norms. People who smoke will have symptoms of withdrawal during a stay in a hospital with a smoke-free policy. With the advent of these policies, abstinence support with effective management of withdrawal symptoms for patients in hospital is imperative.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Harm reduction, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/politics\/landmark-insite-decision-threatens-peace-between-judges-and-legislators\/article2196941\/\">as defended by the Supreme Court<\/a>, is given short shrift in the study &#8211; mentioned, but very briefly and not in so many words.<\/p>\n<p>The other juxtapositon involved <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-11-01\/china-says-no-talking-tibet-as-confucius-funds-u-s-universities.html\">great alarm over string attached to Chinese funding of US universities<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The Confucius Institute at North Carolina State University made its feelings known after the Dalai Lama accepted an invitation to speak in 2009 on the Raleigh campus. China\u2019s military took over Tibet in 1959, exiling the spiritual leader considered a traitor in China for advocating Tibetan self-rule.<\/p>\n<p>Confucius Institute director Bailian Li told North Carolina State provost Warwick Arden that a visit by the Lama could disrupt \u201csome of the strong relationships we were developing with China,\u201d Arden said. Besides the institute, joint programs include student exchanges, summer research and faculty collaboration.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And this was published on the same day as a piece about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-11-01\/palestinians-may-lose-from-unesco-vote.html\">US de-funding of UNESCO<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A day after the Palestinians won full membership in the UN group with 107 votes in favor and 14 against, the U.S. cut off its funding, almost a quarter of the agency\u2019s budget. Moreover, swing votes the Palestinians need to bolster their support on the Security Council for full UN membership have evaporated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Today&#8217;s numbers are all provisional (although probably pretty good) as TMX DataLinx continues to experience networking problems.<\/p>\n<p>It was a good day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts up 10bp, FixedResets winning 15bp and DeemedRetractibles gaining 14bp. There were only three issues in the Performance Highlights table, but all three were positive. Volume was a little light.<\/p>\n<p>PerpetualDiscounts now yield 5.44%, equivalent to 7.07% interest at the standard equivalency factor of 1.3x. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.canadianbondindices.com\/ltbi.asp\">Long corporates<\/a> now yield about 4.95%, so the pre-tax interest equivalency spread (also called the Seniority Spread) is now about 210bp, a slight widening from the 205bp reported on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=16784\">October 26<\/a>.<\/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>0.8581 %<\/td>\n<td>2,094.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>FixedFloater<\/td>\n<td>4.88 %<\/td>\n<td>4.60 %<\/td>\n<td>23,864<\/td>\n<td>17.18<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>1.0390 %<\/td>\n<td>3,155.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Floater<\/td>\n<td>3.44 %<\/td>\n<td>3.44 %<\/td>\n<td>155,094<\/td>\n<td>18.65<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>0.8581 %<\/td>\n<td>2,261.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OpRet<\/td>\n<td>4.97 %<\/td>\n<td>1.81 %<\/td>\n<td>50,783<\/td>\n<td>1.51<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>0.2703 %<\/td>\n<td>2,467.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>SplitShare<\/td>\n<td>5.77 %<\/td>\n<td>6.40 %<\/td>\n<td>61,386<\/td>\n<td>5.16<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>0.2391 %<\/td>\n<td>2,507.3<\/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>0.2703 %<\/td>\n<td>2,256.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perpetual-Premium<\/td>\n<td>5.58 %<\/td>\n<td>2.42 %<\/td>\n<td>106,332<\/td>\n<td>0.10<\/td>\n<td>13<\/td>\n<td>0.2394 %<\/td>\n<td>2,144.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>5.36 %<\/td>\n<td>5.44 %<\/td>\n<td>110,078<\/td>\n<td>14.76<\/td>\n<td>17<\/td>\n<td>0.0953 %<\/td>\n<td>2,271.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>5.12 %<\/td>\n<td>3.08 %<\/td>\n<td>210,336<\/td>\n<td>2.45<\/td>\n<td>62<\/td>\n<td>0.1540 %<\/td>\n<td>2,345.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Deemed-Retractible<\/td>\n<td>5.05 %<\/td>\n<td>4.45 %<\/td>\n<td>219,543<\/td>\n<td>3.92<\/td>\n<td>46<\/td>\n<td>0.1364 %<\/td>\n<td>2,213.3<\/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>GWO.PR.N<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>1.02 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Hard Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2022-01-31<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 24.80<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 3.41 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BAM.PR.G<\/td>\n<td>FixedFloater<\/td>\n<td>1.04 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2041-11-02<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 19.45<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 4.60 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BAM.PR.M<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>1.17 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2041-11-02<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 22.20<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 22.56<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.31 %<\/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>BAM.PR.Z<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>506,476<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=16886\">New issue settled today<\/a>.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2041-11-02<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 23.10<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 25.00<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 4.57 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>HSE.PR.A<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>93,687<\/td>\n<td>Anonymous sold 16,700 to TD and blocks of 10,000 and 15,100 to RBC, all at 25.40. RBC crossed 35,000 at the same price.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2041-11-02<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 23.34<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 25.43<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 3.42 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>IFC.PR.A<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>58,435<\/td>\n<td>Nesbitt crossed 44,000 at 25.15.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Hard Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2022-01-31<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 25.12<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 3.92 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>CM.PR.E<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>55,532<\/td>\n<td>Desjardins crossed 25,000 at 25.00.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2041-11-02<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 24.69<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 25.00<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.62 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BNS.PR.Z<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>38,483<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=16692\">Recent secondary offering<\/a>.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Hard Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2022-01-31<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 24.95<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 3.34 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>MFC.PR.E<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>37,341<\/td>\n<td>Scotia crossed 16,000 at 26.20.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Call<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2014-09-19<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 26.06<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 4.30 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan='4'>There were 27 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<table border='1'>\n<tr>\n<td colspan='3'><strong>Wide Spread Highlights<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Issue<\/td>\n<td>Index<\/td>\n<td>Quote Data and Yield Notes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BNA.PR.E<\/td>\n<td>SplitShare<\/td>\n<td>Quote: 23.30 &#8211; 23.80<br \/>\nSpot Rate  :  0.5000<br \/>\nAverage  :  0.4035<\/p>\n<p>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Hard Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2017-12-10<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 23.30<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 6.40 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>GWO.PR.L<\/td>\n<td>Deemed-Retractible<\/td>\n<td>Quote: 25.20 &#8211; 25.59<br \/>\nSpot Rate  :  0.3900<br \/>\nAverage  :  0.2983<\/p>\n<p>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Hard Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2022-01-31<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 25.20<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.65 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>TD.PR.I<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>Quote: 27.33 &#8211; 27.56<br \/>\nSpot Rate  :  0.2300<br \/>\nAverage  :  0.1497<\/p>\n<p>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Call<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2014-07-31<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 27.33<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 2.74 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>ELF.PR.F<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>Quote: 22.35 &#8211; 22.73<br \/>\nSpot Rate  :  0.3800<br \/>\nAverage  :  0.3006<\/p>\n<p>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2041-11-02<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 22.06<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 22.35<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.97 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>MFC.PR.B<\/td>\n<td>Deemed-Retractible<\/td>\n<td>Quote: 21.95 &#8211; 22.29<br \/>\nSpot Rate  :  0.3400<br \/>\nAverage  :  0.2616<\/p>\n<p>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Hard Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2022-01-31<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 21.95<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 6.40 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>MFC.PR.E<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>Quote: 26.06 &#8211; 26.29<br \/>\nSpot Rate  :  0.2300<br \/>\nAverage  :  0.1554<\/p>\n<p>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Call<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2014-09-19<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 26.06<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 4.30 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The FOMC statement was pretty gloomy: To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with the dual mandate, the Committee decided today to continue its &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-16864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-action"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16864","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=16864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}