{"id":22420,"date":"2013-07-04T22:54:09","date_gmt":"2013-07-05T02:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=22420"},"modified":"2013-07-04T22:54:09","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T02:54:09","slug":"july-4-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=22420","title":{"rendered":"July 4, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are rumours that European rates will continue low<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The European Central Bank will keep interest rates at record lows for an extended period and could yet cut them further, the bank\u2019s chief, Mario Draghi, said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Less than two hours after the Bank of England gave a steer about future interest rate moves at Mark Carney\u2019s debut policy meeting as governor, the ECB president adopted the same tactic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Governing Council expects the key ECB rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time,\u201d Draghi told a news conference after the ECB left interest rates at 0.5 per cent, emphasizing that this was the first time that the ECB had done so.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mind you, European leadership demonstrated during the crisis that they were willing to compromise their personal integrity when this was considered expedient; as for the BoE, Lapdog Carney will do what he’s told and read whatever speech he’s handed. That’s why he was hired. And, I’m afraid, with Parakeet Poloz now in charge of the Bank of Canada, we’re left only with Bernanke as a trustworthy central banker.<\/p>\n

There are more jolly bond fund statistics<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Investors have pulled about $60 billion from U.S. bond funds since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke rattled markets by outlining his plan to end the central bank\u2019s unprecedented asset purchases.
\nThe redemptions foreshadow what\u2019s in store for asset managers when the central bank eventually scales back the $85 billion in monthly purchases of bonds and mortgage securities that investors have come to rely on. Bond funds had $28.1 billion in net redemptions in the week ended June 26, the Washington-based Investment Company Institute said yesterday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But to put that in perspective<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Overall bond redemptions were less than 2 per cent of total assets.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here’s another object lesson in regulatory competence and honesty<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[Vincent] Tchenguiz has launched an unprecedented legal assault on the Serious Fraud Office, one of the top agencies for prosecuting white-collar crime in the U.K. After the SFO\u2019s investigation of Tchenguiz\u2019s dealings with an Icelandic bank fell apart last year, he accused the office of malicious prosecution and false imprisonment in a lawsuit filed in the High Court in London in December.<\/p>\n

Tchenguiz, who was arrested on suspicion of fraud in 2011, is seeking damages of 200 million pounds ($313 million). And his younger brother, Robert, 52, who was also arrested, filed a similar suit, asking for 100 million pounds.<\/p>\n

n July 2012, the High Court ruled that the SFO, under former director Richard Alderman, had misrepresented key facts in the case and directed the SFO to pay Vincent\u2019s 3 million pound legal bill. The agency isn\u2019t appealing the decision.
…<\/b>
The SFO also erred when it alleged Vincent had failed to inform Kaupthing that other banks had prior claims on his real estate; the loan agreement stated that fact more than 100 times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The SFO’s key mistake was in taking on somebody with the resources to pay a £3-million legal bill. But the rest isn’t surprising.<\/p>\n

DBRS confirmed RON.PR.A at Pfd-4(high) [Trend Negative]<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Same-store sales were flat in 2012, yet net sales increased approximately 1.7% to nearly $4.9 billion versus the previous year based on higher sales in the Commercial and Professional Market segment, new store openings, new dealer-owners and improved same-store distribution sales to affiliate dealers. EBITDA margins were negatively affected by weaker gross margins due to promotional activity in a highly competitive environment and higher selling, general and administrative costs. As such, EBITDA declined by approximately 40% to $171 million, marking the third consecutive year of declining EBITDA.<\/p>\n

Balance-sheet debt increased notably in F2012 to approximately $328 million, which combined with weakness in operating income to result in further deterioration of credit metrics. Lease-adjusted debt-to-EBITDAR increased to approximately 3.77 times (x) in 2012 versus 2.54x in 2011 and 2.80x in 2010 (improvement in 2011 was primarily attributable to the early voluntary repurchase of debentures) and lease-adjusted EBIT coverage declined to 1.51x in 2012 versus 2.26x in 2011 and nearly 3.7x in 2010.<\/p>\n

Going forward, DBRS believes meaningful recovery in Rona\u2019s earnings profile will remain challenging as the Company is expected to continue to face intense competition and a highly promotional environment while Canadian consumers may remain prudent in the uncertain housing and interest rate environment. On June 27, 2013, the Company announced the next phase of its Transformational Plan, which includes the closure of 11 non-profitable stores in Ontario and British Columbia, as well as additional administrative headcount reduction and other cost-cutting initiatives. DBRS expects that a significant improvement in operating performance will be difficult to realize over the near term but EBITDA could benefit from the successful implementation of the Company\u2019s Transformational Plan over the medium term.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Capstone Infrastructure, proud issuer of CSE.PR.A, is making an acquisition by share exchange<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Capstone Infrastructure Corporation (TSX: CSE; CSE.PR.A; CSE.DB.A \u2013 \u201cCapstone\u201d) and Renewable Energy Developers Inc. (formerly Sprott Power Corp.) (TSX: RDZ; RDZ.DB \u2013 \u201cReD\u201d) have entered into a definitive agreement (the \u201cAgreement\u201d) whereby Capstone will acquire all the outstanding shares of ReD (the \u201cTransaction\u201d) by way of a share exchange, which will result in a larger infrastructure company with power generation facilities across Canada totalling approximately net 465 megawatts (\u201cMW\u201d) of installed capacity, an attractive pipeline of contracted development opportunities in Canada representing net 79 MW of capacity, and international investments in regulated water and district heating businesses. The Board of Directors of each company has unanimously approved the Transaction.<\/p>\n

Under the terms of the Transaction, shareholders of ReD will receive 0.26 of a Capstone common share and $0.001 in cash, which, combined, is currently the equivalent of $1.01, for each common share of ReD. The consideration payable to ReD\u2019s shareholders represents a premium of 10.8% based on the 20-day volume weighted average price (\u201cVWAP\u201d) of ReD\u2019s common shares and Capstone\u2019s common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (\u201cTSX\u201d) as at July 2, 2013 of $0.91 and $3.88, respectively. Upon completion of the Transaction, which is valued at approximately $70 million, existing Capstone shareholders and ReD shareholders will own approximately 80% and approximately 20% of the common shares of the combined company, respectively.
…<\/b><\/p>\n