{"id":50030,"date":"2025-09-10T20:29:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T00:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=50030"},"modified":"2025-09-11T10:40:59","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T14:40:59","slug":"september-10-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=50030","title":{"rendered":"September 10, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wholesale inflation in the States is basically flat, but this came at the apparent expense of domestic profit margins<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Producer prices unexpectedly fell 0.1% in August, cooling annual inflation to 2.6% from a downwardly revised 3.1% in July, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.<\/p>\n

Helping to drive prices lower was a 1.7% drop in trade services, a category reflective of producers, wholesalers and retailers\u2019 profit margins. If margins are shrinking, it could be an indication that businesses are using those to eat higher costs, economists have said.<\/p>\n

The trade services category can be highly volatile; however, August\u2019s drop is the biggest monthly decline there in more than a year.<\/p>\n

When excluding highly volatile components like trade services, as well as food and energy, the underlying inflation trend appears less rosy: Prices rose 0.3% from July and ticked up to 2.8% for the 12 months ended in August.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, Miran made it through committee<\/a> en route to the Fed governor nomination:<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Stephen Miran\u2019s nomination to become a Fed governor got the green light in a procedural Senate committee vote Wednesday. Soon, all 50 senators will vote on whether to confirm him \u2014 a hurdle Miran is expected to clear in time to join the Fed for its rate-setting meeting next week.
…<\/b>
In written responses to the banking committee, released Tuesday, Miran said that, if confirmed, he won\u2019t commit to resigning when the governor term ends in January if a permanent successor hasn\u2019t been named. When Trump nominated Miran last month, he said it would be a temporary appointment to finish out Kugler\u2019s unexpired term. Miran, currently the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, reiterated that plan last week during his confirmation hearing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Lisa Cook remains in office<\/a>:<\/p>\n

A federal judge late Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump\u2019s unprecedented effort to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump has not identified anything related to Cook\u2019s conduct or job performance as a Board member that would indicate that she is harming the Board or the public interest by executing her duties unfaithfully or ineffectively,\u201d Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, wrote, as she granted Cook\u2019s request to stop the attempted firing.<\/p>\n

The decision comes just weeks after Trump said he fired Cook \u2014 the first Fed governor ever to be fired by the president. The administration is expected to appeal Cobb\u2019s preliminary injunction, which ensures the Federal Reserve must keep Cook on as a governor while the legal challenge plays out.<\/p>\n

Cobb said on first look Cook\u2019s claim that she was improperly fired is a valid one and that it violated her rights under the Fifth Amendment. At the same time, the judge, who sits on the federal bench in DC, said she believed the issue brings up new legal questions that need to be addressed over the long term.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s actions and Cook\u2019s resulting legal challenge raise many serious questions of first impression that the Court believes will benefit from further briefing on a non-emergency timeline,\u201d Cobb wrote. \u201cHowever, at this preliminary stage, the Court finds that Cook has made a strong showing that her purported removal was done in violation of the Federal Reserve Act\u2019s \u2018for cause\u2019 provision.\u201d
…<\/b>
\u201cThe Court finds that permissible cause for removal of a Federal Reserve Governor extends only to concerns about the Board member\u2019s ability to effectively and faithfully execute their statutory duties, in light of events that have occurred while they are in office,\u201d the judge wrote.
…<\/b>
\u201cWhile admitting that the President cannot remove an official for policy disagreements, the Government claims \u2026 a removal on the grounds of a policy disagreement would nevertheless be unreviewable,\u201d Cobb wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis cannot be the case,\u201d she added. \u201cSuch a rule would provide no practical insulation for the members of the Board of Governors. It would mean that the President could, in practice, \u2018remove a member \u2026 merely because he wanted his own appointees on the\u2019 Board of Governors.\u201d
…<\/b>
If Cook, a Biden appointee, is successfully removed, it would leave only two Fed governors appointed by a Democratic president on the seven-member board.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have a majority very shortly,\u201d Trump said during a recent Cabinet meeting. \u201cSo, that\u2019ll be great. Once we have a majority, housing is going to swing, and it\u2019s going to be great.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wow. Trump is going to be surprised when he finds out that American residential mortgages are priced off the 10-year bond, not policy rates.<\/p>\n

And the jobs number statistics operation is being checked<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Department of Labor is initiating an investigation into how the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects and reports \u201cclosely watched economic data,\u201d according to a letter the department\u2019s Assistant Inspector General for Audit, Laura Nicolosi, sent to Acting BLS Commissioner William Wiatrowski on Wednesday.
…<\/b>
While members of the Trump administration said on Tuesday that the annual revisions are a sign that the president inherited a worse economy<\/a> from former President Joe Biden, they\u2019ve also said that it\u2019s proof that changes need to be made at the BLS to improve the accuracy of data.
…<\/b>
At the same time, BLS officials have, for more than a decade, sounded alarm bells<\/a> about being too underfunded and too understaffed to implement the necessary practices to modernize data collection, analysis and reporting. In recent months, the agency has cited staffing challenges as the reason for reduced collections on critical inflation data.<\/p>\n

In addition to employment data, Nicolosi\u2019s letter specified that her team\u2019s investigation would also focus on \u201cchallenges and related mitigating strategies\u201d for two of the BLS\u2019 most closely tracked monthly inflation reports: the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wait until the Trump administration learns that quality costs money! That’ll be fun.<\/p>\n

PerpetualDiscounts now yield 5.63%, equivalent to 7.32% interest at the standard conversion factor of 1.3x. Long corporates<\/a> yielded 4.87% on 2025-9-9 and the price of the fund increased from 15.22 (2025-9-9) to 15.29 (2025-9-10), or 46bp, with a duration of 12.27 (BMO does not specify what kind of duration; I will assume Modified) implying a yield decrease of 4bp, implying in turn a 2025-9-10 yield of 4.83%, so the pre-tax interest-equivalent spread (in this context, the “Seniority Spread”) is now 250bp, a sharp widening from the 230bp reported September 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices<\/strong>
Values are provisional and are finalized monthly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Index<\/td>\nMean
Current
Yield
(at bid)<\/td>\n		Median
YTW<\/td>\n		Median
Average
Trading
Value<\/td>\n		Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)<\/td>\n		Issues<\/td>\nDay’s Perf.<\/td>\nIndex Value<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ratchet<\/td>\n6.71 %<\/td>\n7.15 %<\/td>\n41,547<\/td>\n13.30<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n-0.3645 %<\/td>\n2,450.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FixedFloater<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0.00<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n-0.6261 %<\/td>\n4,639.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Floater<\/td>\n6.55 %<\/td>\n6.95 %<\/td>\n58,739<\/td>\n12.50<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n-0.6261 %<\/td>\n2,673.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
OpRet<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0.00<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n-0.1123 %<\/td>\n3,642.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SplitShare<\/td>\n4.81 %<\/td>\n4.60 %<\/td>\n58,271<\/td>\n3.41<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n-0.1123 %<\/td>\n4,349.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Interest-Bearing<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0.00<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n-0.1123 %<\/td>\n3,393.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Perpetual-Premium<\/td>\n5.48 %<\/td>\n1.71 %<\/td>\n70,212<\/td>\n0.08<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n0.0396 %<\/td>\n3,081.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n5.52 %<\/td>\n5.63 %<\/td>\n44,974<\/td>\n14.34<\/td>\n28<\/td>\n0.7165 %<\/td>\n3,401.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FixedReset Disc<\/td>\n5.91 %<\/td>\n6.02 %<\/td>\n120,486<\/td>\n13.55<\/td>\n32<\/td>\n-0.2061 %<\/td>\n3,033.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Insurance Straight<\/td>\n5.44 %<\/td>\n5.45 %<\/td>\n55,344<\/td>\n14.76<\/td>\n18<\/td>\n0.6300 %<\/td>\n3,328.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FloatingReset<\/td>\n5.06 %<\/td>\n4.36 %<\/td>\n40,713<\/td>\n0.13<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0.0000 %<\/td>\n3,812.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FixedReset Prem<\/td>\n5.65 %<\/td>\n4.98 %<\/td>\n121,062<\/td>\n2.42<\/td>\n21<\/td>\n0.0426 %<\/td>\n2,633.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FixedReset Bank Non<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0.00<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n-0.2061 %<\/td>\n3,100.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FixedReset Ins Non<\/td>\n5.27 %<\/td>\n5.42 %<\/td>\n67,857<\/td>\n14.51<\/td>\n15<\/td>\n-0.2567 %<\/td>\n3,043.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n\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
SLF.PR.G<\/td>\nFixedReset Ins Non<\/td>\n-9.04 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 17.01
\nEvaluated at bid price : 17.01
\nBid-YTW : 6.19 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ENB.PR.B<\/td>\nFixedReset Disc<\/td>\n-4.61 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 19.25
\nEvaluated at bid price : 19.25
\nBid-YTW : 6.79 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BN.PF.E<\/td>\nFixedReset Disc<\/td>\n-2.27 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 21.55
\nEvaluated at bid price : 21.55
\nBid-YTW : 6.26 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FTS.PR.M<\/td>\nFixedReset Disc<\/td>\n-1.32 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 22.46
\nEvaluated at bid price : 23.25
\nBid-YTW : 5.72 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BN.PR.K<\/td>\nFloater<\/td>\n-1.25 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 12.67
\nEvaluated at bid price : 12.67
\nBid-YTW : 7.00 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BN.PR.M<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n1.10 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 21.15
\nEvaluated at bid price : 21.15
\nBid-YTW : 5.73 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MFC.PR.C<\/td>\nInsurance Straight<\/td>\n1.64 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 21.45
\nEvaluated at bid price : 21.71
\nBid-YTW : 5.19 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CU.PR.E<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n2.57 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 22.49
\nEvaluated at bid price : 22.75
\nBid-YTW : 5.41 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MFC.PR.Q<\/td>\nFixedReset Ins Non<\/td>\n3.38 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 23.35
\nEvaluated at bid price : 24.81
\nBid-YTW : 5.42 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
IFC.PR.I<\/td>\nInsurance Straight<\/td>\n6.52 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 24.17
\nEvaluated at bid price : 24.50
\nBid-YTW : 5.61 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CU.PR.D<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n13.47 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 22.49
\nEvaluated at bid price : 22.75
\nBid-YTW : 5.41 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Volume Highlights<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Issue<\/td>\nIndex<\/td>\nShares
Traded<\/td>\n		Notes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FFH.PR.G<\/td>\nFixedReset Prem<\/td>\n140,800<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Call
\nMaturity Date\t: 2025-10-30
\nMaturity Price : 25.00
\nEvaluated at bid price : 25.14
\nBid-YTW : 4.55 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
TD.PF.E<\/td>\nFixedReset Prem<\/td>\n112,900<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Call
\nMaturity Date\t: 2025-10-31
\nMaturity Price : 25.00
\nEvaluated at bid price : 25.05
\nBid-YTW : 4.40 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BN.PF.I<\/td>\nFixedReset Prem<\/td>\n79,443<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Call
\nMaturity Date\t: 2027-03-31
\nMaturity Price : 25.00
\nEvaluated at bid price : 25.35
\nBid-YTW : 5.19 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FTS.PR.M<\/td>\nFixedReset Disc<\/td>\n77,800<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 22.46
\nEvaluated at bid price : 23.25
\nBid-YTW : 5.72 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BN.PF.E<\/td>\nFixedReset Disc<\/td>\n62,600<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 21.55
\nEvaluated at bid price : 21.55
\nBid-YTW : 6.26 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ENB.PF.C<\/td>\nFixedReset Disc<\/td>\n61,000<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 21.41
\nEvaluated at bid price : 21.41
\nBid-YTW : 6.40 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
There were 18 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Wide Spread Highlights<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
See TMX DataLinx: ‘Last’ != ‘Close’<\/a> and the posts linked therein for an idea of why these quotes are so horrible.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Issue<\/td>\nIndex<\/td>\nQuote Data and Yield Notes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SLF.PR.G<\/td>\nFixedReset Ins Non<\/td>\nQuote: 17.01 – 18.78
\nSpot Rate : 1.7700
\nAverage : 1.0059<\/p>\n

YTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 17.01
\nEvaluated at bid price : 17.01
\nBid-YTW : 6.19 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

CIU.PR.A<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\nQuote: 20.80 – 22.25
\nSpot Rate : 1.4500
\nAverage : 0.8761<\/p>\n

YTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 20.80
\nEvaluated at bid price : 20.80
\nBid-YTW : 5.58 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

ENB.PR.B<\/td>\nFixedReset Disc<\/td>\nQuote: 19.25 – 20.30
\nSpot Rate : 1.0500
\nAverage : 0.5965<\/p>\n

YTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 19.25
\nEvaluated at bid price : 19.25
\nBid-YTW : 6.79 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

GWO.PR.G<\/td>\nInsurance Straight<\/td>\nQuote: 23.85 – 24.90
\nSpot Rate : 1.0500
\nAverage : 0.6243<\/p>\n

YTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 23.58
\nEvaluated at bid price : 23.85
\nBid-YTW : 5.45 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

BN.PF.A<\/td>\nFixedReset Disc<\/td>\nQuote: 25.45 – 26.45
\nSpot Rate : 1.0000
\nAverage : 0.6003<\/p>\n

YTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 23.52
\nEvaluated at bid price : 25.45
\nBid-YTW : 5.81 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

GWO.PR.H<\/td>\nInsurance Straight<\/td>\nQuote: 22.20 – 22.88
\nSpot Rate : 0.6800
\nAverage : 0.4224<\/p>\n

YTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2055-09-10
\nMaturity Price : 21.97
\nEvaluated at bid price : 22.20
\nBid-YTW : 5.46 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wholesale inflation in the States is basically flat, but this came at the apparent expense of domestic profit margins: Producer prices unexpectedly fell 0.1% in August, cooling annual inflation to 2.6% from a downwardly revised …<\/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-50030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-action"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50030","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=50030"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50034,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50030\/revisions\/50034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}