{"id":24300,"date":"2014-01-27T20:12:05","date_gmt":"2014-01-28T01:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=24300"},"modified":"2014-01-27T20:12:05","modified_gmt":"2014-01-28T01:12:05","slug":"january-27-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=24300","title":{"rendered":"January 27, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is interesting … the demand for physical gold is (currently) uncorrelated with demand for gold certificates<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Austria\u2019s Muenze Oesterreich AG mint hired extra employees and added a third eight-hour shift to the day in a bid to keep up with demand. Purchases of bullion coins at Australia\u2019s Perth Mint rose 20 percent this year through Jan. 20 from a year earlier. Sales by the U.S. Mint are set for the best month since April, when the metal plunged into a bear market.<\/p>\n

Global mints are manufacturing as fast as they can after a 28 percent drop in gold prices last year, the biggest slump since 1981, attracted buyers of physical metal. The demand gains helped bullion rally for five straight weeks, the longest streak since September 2012. That won\u2019t be enough to stem the metal\u2019s slump according to Morgan Stanley, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts bullion will \u201cgrind lower\u201d over 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe long-term physical buyers see these price drops as opportunities to accumulate more assets,\u201d said Michael Haynes, the chief executive officer of American Precious Metals Exchange, an online bullion dealer. \u201cWe have witnessed some top selling days in the past few weeks.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gold ETFs have always struck me as being something of an internal contradiction. If the world dissolves in hyperinflation followed by chaos, do you really want to own an electronic record that gives you ownership of part of a company that holds title to some gold three thousand miles away? Although mind you, if I did want to stockpile something as chaos insurance, I’d prefer something of more practical value … books, spices, a smithy, ammunition.<\/p>\n

We have another entry for the ‘Unintended Consequences’ competition<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Ten years ago, Congress passed a law intended to penalize chief executive officers whose companies shift their legal addresses to tax havens.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t worked out as planned. Companies have found ways around the law that create new rewards for executives. When Actavis Inc. (ACT) changed its incorporation to Ireland in October, the New Jersey-based drugmaker helped CEO Paul Bisaro avoid the law\u2019s bite by handing him more than $40 million of stock as much as three years ahead of its schedule, then promising him an additional $5 million to remain with the company.<\/p>\n

The payouts to executives highlight the ineffectiveness of the 2004 law, which contained a series of provisions aimed at reducing the tax benefits of reincorporating overseas. In the past two years, a fresh wave of companies has fled the U.S. system to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.<\/p>\n

The 2004 law has \u201cclearly been a failure\u201d in halting the tax exodus, said Edward Kleinbard, a professor at University of Southern California\u2019s Gould School of Law. \u201cAnd it now has the perverse result of putting money into executives\u2019 pockets sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The law imposes a special tax of 15 percent on restricted stock and options held by the most senior executives when a company reincorporates outside the U.S. Since the measure took effect, at least seven large companies have disclosed in securities filings that they risked triggering the tax. All took steps to shield their executives from having to pay.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The consequences of the regulators’ assault on public markets<\/a> is also becoming more clear:<\/p>\n

Facebook Inc. (FB)\u2019s 2012 stock market debut helped spark a boom in U.S. initial public offerings, sucking the life out of a Wall Street fad that the social network had helped popularize: private share exchanges.
\n…<\/b>
\n[NASDAQ honcho Robert] Greifeld\u2019s proposed Nasdaq Private Market would help companies large and small let employees trade while avoiding the disclosure requirements and compliance standards that publicly traded firms face. A barrier was reduced in 2012 with the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which quadrupled to 2,000 the number of shareholders a company could have before it needed to disclose financials.
\n…<\/b>
\nTo succeed, Nasdaq Private Market must persuade more companies to forgo the rewards of being public, such as the lure of greater riches and the brand recognition that comes with a ticker symbol. And only accredited investors — such as large institutions and wealthy individuals — will be eligible to buy stakes, limiting the pool of potential shareholders.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And, in the latest inflation chatter<\/a>:<\/p>\n

One of Janet Yellen\u2019s first challenges as Federal Reserve chairman is generating enough inflation to meet the central bank\u2019s target of 2 percent.<\/p>\n

Policy makers have failed to attain their goal for almost two years and now are paring the pace of their bond buying. Inflation rose at a 0.9 percent rate for the 12 months ending in November, according to the central bank\u2019s preferred measure. The last time prices were climbing at or above 2 percent was in April 2012.
\n…<\/b>
\nEric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said in a Jan. 7 speech that too-low inflation can be \u201ca cause for real concern\u201d because it increases the possibility a \u201cnegative shock\u201d to the economy may lead to deflation. That could cause households to delay purchases in anticipation of even lower prices and companies to postpone investment and hiring as demand for their products dries up. Too-low inflation also means higher inflation-adjusted interest rates, making it harder to achieve a sufficient pace of growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, persistently low inflation can theoretically undermine the credibility of the central bank,\u201d said Rosengren, who dissented against the December decision to cut monthly bond buying by $10 billion. If the Fed announces a goal \u201cbut is unable to achieve that target in a reasonable time frame, some may call into question its ability to do so in the medium- or long-term as well.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was a quiet day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts gaining 4bp, FixedResets flat and DeemedRetractibles up 8bp. Volatility was more than might be expected given these figures, but with no clear pattern. Volume was low; but such as there was was dominated by the RY FixedResets with the February Exchange Date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
HIMIPref\u2122 Preferred Indices
\nThese values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref\u2122 Indices<\/strong>
\nValues are provisional and are finalized monthly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Index<\/td>\nMean
\nCurrent
\nYield
\n(at bid)<\/td>\n		Median
\nYTW<\/td>\n		Median
\nAverage
\nTrading
\nValue<\/td>\n		Median
\nMod Dur
\n(YTW)<\/td>\n		Issues<\/td>\nDay’s Perf.<\/td>\nIndex Value<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ratchet<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0.00<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n-0.7018 %<\/td>\n2,484.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FixedFloater<\/td>\n4.46 %<\/td>\n3.71 %<\/td>\n30,137<\/td>\n17.99<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0.0470 %<\/td>\n3,801.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Floater<\/td>\n3.01 %<\/td>\n3.03 %<\/td>\n70,388<\/td>\n19.65<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n-0.7018 %<\/td>\n2,682.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
OpRet<\/td>\n4.61 %<\/td>\n0.95 %<\/td>\n79,228<\/td>\n0.34<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n0.0128 %<\/td>\n2,678.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SplitShare<\/td>\n4.87 %<\/td>\n5.02 %<\/td>\n60,206<\/td>\n4.39<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n-0.0804 %<\/td>\n3,013.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Interest-Bearing<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0.00<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0.0128 %<\/td>\n2,449.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Perpetual-Premium<\/td>\n5.61 %<\/td>\n1.02 %<\/td>\n118,154<\/td>\n0.09<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n0.0581 %<\/td>\n2,332.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n5.57 %<\/td>\n5.62 %<\/td>\n173,631<\/td>\n14.44<\/td>\n25<\/td>\n0.0354 %<\/td>\n2,382.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FixedReset<\/td>\n4.93 %<\/td>\n3.68 %<\/td>\n221,458<\/td>\n4.49<\/td>\n83<\/td>\n0.0044 %<\/td>\n2,489.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Deemed-Retractible<\/td>\n5.14 %<\/td>\n4.16 %<\/td>\n176,209<\/td>\n1.98<\/td>\n42<\/td>\n0.0793 %<\/td>\n2,412.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FloatingReset<\/td>\n2.66 %<\/td>\n2.48 %<\/td>\n199,185<\/td>\n4.29<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n-0.2389 %<\/td>\n2,454.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Performance Highlights<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Issue<\/td>\nIndex<\/td>\nChange<\/td>\nNotes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CIU.PR.A<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n-1.92 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Limit Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2044-01-27<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 21.43<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 21.43<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 5.46 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

PWF.PR.S<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n-1.29 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Limit Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2044-01-27<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 21.80<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 22.11<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 5.44 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

CU.PR.E<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n-1.25 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Limit Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2044-01-27<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 22.51<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 22.88<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 5.43 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

BAM.PR.X<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n-1.21 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Limit Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2044-01-27<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 21.26<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 21.26<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 4.30 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

BAM.PF.D<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n1.16 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Limit Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2044-01-27<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 21.00<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 21.00<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 5.91 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

TRP.PR.C<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n1.20 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Limit Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2044-01-27<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 21.54<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 21.92<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 3.72 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

FTS.PR.J<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n1.21 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Limit Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2044-01-27<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 22.19<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 22.50<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 5.35 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

BNS.PR.Y<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n1.23 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Hard Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2022-01-31<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 25.00<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 23.82<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 3.51 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Volume Highlights<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Issue<\/td>\nIndex<\/td>\nShares
\nTraded<\/td>\n		Notes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RY.PR.N<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n221,370<\/td>\nCalled for redemption<\/a>.
\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Call<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2014-03-26<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 25.00<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 24.96<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 4.28 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

RY.PR.P<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n169,296<\/td>\nCalled for redemption<\/a>.
\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Call<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2014-03-26<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 25.00<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 24.96<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 4.28 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

RY.PR.R<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n138,274<\/td>\nCalled for redemption<\/a>.
\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Call<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2014-03-26<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 25.00<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 24.96<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 4.28 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

RY.PR.I<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n67,748<\/td>\nWill be extended at 3.52%<\/a>. Calculated yield assumes conversion.
\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Hard Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2022-01-31<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 25.00<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 24.77<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 3.68 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

TD.PR.A<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n64,817<\/td>\nCalled for redemption<\/a>.
\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Hard Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2022-01-31<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 25.00<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 24.99<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 3.63 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

BNS.PR.L<\/td>\nDeemed-Retractible<\/td>\n54,640<\/td>\nNesbitt crossed two blocks of 25,000 each, both at 25.43.
\nYTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Call<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2015-04-28<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 25.25<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 25.46<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 3.74 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

There were 23 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Wide Spread Highlights<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Issue<\/td>\nIndex<\/td>\nQuote Data and Yield Notes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CIU.PR.A<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\nQuote: 21.43 – 21.99<\/p>\n

Spot Rate : 0.5600<\/p>\n

Average : 0.3514YTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Limit Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2044-01-27<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 21.43<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 21.43<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 5.46 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

CU.PR.E<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\nQuote: 22.88 – 23.26<\/p>\n

Spot Rate : 0.3800<\/p>\n

Average : 0.2424YTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Limit Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2044-01-27<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 22.51<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 22.88<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 5.43 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

BNS.PR.N<\/td>\nDeemed-Retractible<\/td>\nQuote: 25.85 – 26.14<\/p>\n

Spot Rate : 0.2900<\/p>\n

Average : 0.2031YTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Call<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2014-02-28<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 25.75<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 25.85<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : -0.13 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

TD.PR.Z<\/td>\nFloatingReset<\/td>\nQuote: 24.85 – 25.05<\/p>\n

Spot Rate : 0.2000<\/p>\n

Average : 0.1275YTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Call<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2018-10-31<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 25.00<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 24.85<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 2.59 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

TD.PR.Y<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\nQuote: 25.02 – 25.20<\/p>\n

Spot Rate : 0.1800<\/p>\n

Average : 0.1137YTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Hard Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2022-01-31<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 25.00<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 25.02<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 3.46 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

ELF.PR.G<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\nQuote: 21.05 – 21.32<\/p>\n

Spot Rate : 0.2700<\/p>\n

Average : 0.2050YTW SCENARIO<\/p>\n

Maturity Type : Limit Maturity<\/p>\n

Maturity Date : 2044-01-27<\/p>\n

Maturity Price : 21.05<\/p>\n

Evaluated at bid price : 21.05<\/p>\n

Bid-YTW : 5.69 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is interesting … the demand for physical gold is (currently) uncorrelated with demand for gold certificates: Austria\u2019s Muenze Oesterreich AG mint hired extra employees and added a third eight-hour shift to the day in …<\/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-24300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-action"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24300","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=24300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24300\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}