{"id":9277,"date":"2010-01-05T21:24:50","date_gmt":"2010-01-06T01:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=9277"},"modified":"2010-01-05T21:24:50","modified_gmt":"2010-01-06T01:24:50","slug":"january-5-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=9277","title":{"rendered":"January 5, 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On <a href=\"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=9211\">December 31<\/a> I mentioned the scourge of windmill-promoting enviro-weenies. I now see there is a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/apps\/news?pid=20601109&#038;sid=aG8dqODfKtjs&#038;pos=15\">huge run to the trough in the UK<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The U.K. is targeting 15 percent of energy from renewable sources in 2020, of which 70 percent will have to come from offshore projects, according to the Carbon Trust.<\/p>\n<p>The Crown Estate is seeking to add 25,000 megawatts in the third round, up from a combined 8,000 megawatts in the first rounds, and estimates potential market investment at 100 billion pounds. The U.K. has nine operating offshore farms with capacity of about 690 megawatts, enough for 400,000 homes, according to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bwea.com\/ukwed\/offshore.asp\">British Wind Energy Association<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This disingenuous organization <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bwea.com\/media\/news\/070830.html\">claims<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The BWEA Chief Executive rebutted claims about wind energy as &#8216;bizarre pseudo-science&#8217;, specifically she pointed out that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u2022There is no Government subsidy for building wind farms. As much as \u00a32 billion of private investment has been made in the UK wind industry.\n<li>\u2022The support mechanism \u2013 Renewable Obligations Certificates (ROC) &#8211; is only available for electricity that wind farms have already produced and supplied to utilities\n<li>\u2022In 30 years of monitoring there have been no days when the wind has not blown throughout the UK.\n<li>\u2022Wind farms generate power for approximately 85% of the time.\n<li>\u2022The wind supplies over 2 GW of electricity in the UK, which is 1.5% of UK electricity needs.<\/blockquote>\n<p>Point three is the most entertaining, although point one is most objectionable.<\/p>\n<p>An organization called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nowap.co.uk\/index.html\">No Wind Farm At Parham<\/a> did some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nowap.co.uk\/page7.html\">credible calculations<\/a> to determine the monetary value to the pseudo-industry of the ROC system:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/piechart.gif\"><\/div>\n<p>Seventy percent is even more than the figure I calculated for Ontario, but it should be noted that the Ontario figure is only the headline number; I feel confident that a thorough investigation would reveal less honest subsidies.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, this is one of the (many) areas of modern politics in which the average interested citizen will never, ever hear a rational and informative debate. The vested interests have taken over &#8211; and when the trough is as full as it is, the piggies will defend it to the death.<\/p>\n<p>Sorry for all this windmill news &#8211; just call me Don Quixote &#8211; but there&#8217;s not much of interest to report that is more directly relevant to fixed income! It&#8217;s not like last year at this time when news was, shall we say, somewhat more gripping. Besides, the windmill story was on Bloomberg, so there!<\/p>\n<p>It was a happy day for preferred share owners, as Floaters continued their stunning ascent, PerpetualDiscounts gained 32bp and FixedResets gained 4bp (yields down to 3.52%!) on heavy volume.<\/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>1.7255 %<\/td>\n<td>1,664.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>FixedFloater<\/td>\n<td>5.66 %<\/td>\n<td>3.82 %<\/td>\n<td>35,785<\/td>\n<td>19.00<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>0.0000 %<\/td>\n<td>2,750.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Floater<\/td>\n<td>2.36 %<\/td>\n<td>2.71 %<\/td>\n<td>102,725<\/td>\n<td>20.50<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>1.7255 %<\/td>\n<td>2,079.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>OpRet<\/td>\n<td>4.82 %<\/td>\n<td>-6.28 %<\/td>\n<td>114,965<\/td>\n<td>0.09<\/td>\n<td>13<\/td>\n<td>-0.4208 %<\/td>\n<td>2,324.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>SplitShare<\/td>\n<td>6.39 %<\/td>\n<td>-2.63 %<\/td>\n<td>188,084<\/td>\n<td>0.08<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>0.0220 %<\/td>\n<td>2,102.8<\/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>-0.4208 %<\/td>\n<td>2,125.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perpetual-Premium<\/td>\n<td>5.75 %<\/td>\n<td>5.64 %<\/td>\n<td>148,669<\/td>\n<td>5.94<\/td>\n<td>12<\/td>\n<td>0.0953 %<\/td>\n<td>1,896.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>5.77 %<\/td>\n<td>5.82 %<\/td>\n<td>183,470<\/td>\n<td>14.16<\/td>\n<td>63<\/td>\n<td>0.3224 %<\/td>\n<td>1,816.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>5.38 %<\/td>\n<td>3.52 %<\/td>\n<td>318,140<\/td>\n<td>3.84<\/td>\n<td>41<\/td>\n<td>0.0355 %<\/td>\n<td>2,180.5<\/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>BAM.PR.J<\/td>\n<td>OpRet<\/td>\n<td>-3.60 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Soft Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2018-03-30<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 26.22<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 4.72 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BMO.PR.J<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>-1.75 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-01-05<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 20.75<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 20.75<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.50 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BMO.PR.K<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>1.06 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-01-05<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 23.56<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 23.75<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.60 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>ELF.PR.G<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>1.20 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-01-05<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 17.72<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 17.72<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 6.74 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>IAG.PR.A<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>1.86 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-01-05<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 19.70<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 19.70<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.89 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BAM.PR.B<\/td>\n<td>Floater<\/td>\n<td>2.25 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-01-05<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 14.57<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 14.57<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 2.71 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>BAM.PR.K<\/td>\n<td>Floater<\/td>\n<td>2.59 %<\/td>\n<td>YTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-01-05<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 14.26<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 14.26<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 2.77 %<\/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.P<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>193,631<\/td>\n<td>Nesbitt crossed three blocks at 27.25, of 100,000 shares, 25,000 shares and 20,000 shares.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Call<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2014-10-30<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 27.20<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 4.99 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>RY.PR.A<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>145,994<\/td>\n<td>RBC crossed 42,700 at 20.25.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-01-05<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 20.25<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 20.25<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.57 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>GWO.PR.J<\/td>\n<td>FixedReset<\/td>\n<td>140,959<\/td>\n<td>RBC crossed blocks of 75,000 and 35,000 at 27.29, then one of 30,800 at 27.30.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Call<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2014-01-30<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 25.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 27.32<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 3.56 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>GWO.PR.H<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>126,104<\/td>\n<td>RBC crossed three blocks at 20.70: one of 15,700, one of 83,600 and the last of 16,400 shares.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-01-05<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 20.61<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 20.61<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.93 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>PWF.PR.H<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>111,760<\/td>\n<td>Desjardins crossed two blocks of 50,000 each at 24.65.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-01-05<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 24.14<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 24.52<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.96 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>MFC.PR.B<\/td>\n<td>Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n<td>97,227<\/td>\n<td>Nesbitt crossed 13,000 at 20.00, while RBC crossed 75,000 at 20.15.<br \/>\nYTW SCENARIO<br \/>\nMaturity Type   : Limit Maturity<br \/>\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-01-05<br \/>\nMaturity Price  : 20.00<br \/>\nEvaluated at bid price : 20.00<br \/>\nBid-YTW : 5.88 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan='4'>There were 50 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On December 31 I mentioned the scourge of windmill-promoting enviro-weenies. I now see there is a huge run to the trough in the UK: The U.K. is targeting 15 percent of energy from renewable sources &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-9277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-action"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9277","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=9277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}