{"id":9642,"date":"2010-02-05T20:09:02","date_gmt":"2010-02-06T00:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=9642"},"modified":"2010-02-05T20:09:02","modified_gmt":"2010-02-06T00:09:02","slug":"february-5-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=9642","title":{"rendered":"February 5, 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

BofA \/ Merrill Lynch Plot Thickens<\/a>!<\/p>\n

When Bank of America Corp.\u2019s board met to approve the acquisition of an investment bank on Sept. 15, 2008, members thought they were going to buy Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., not Merrill Lynch & Co., according to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, the story has some support for my thesis that large corporations are riskier than smaller ones, on the grounds that you get ahead by telling your boss what he wants to hear:<\/p>\n

[Company eMails and notes] also show Merrill kept [BofA ex-Chief Financial Officer Joe] Price informed of the losses as they grew, yet he resisted pressure from his lawyers to disclose them to shareholders.
…<\/b>
When Price asked for a review of whether the [October 2008] losses — then $5 billion after taxes — should be disclosed to shareholders, his general counsel Timothy Mayopoulos said they should.
…<\/b>
Mayopoulos was later fired by Price and replaced by Brian Moynihan, who later became CEO, Cuomo said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is just a hair off-topic, but I’ve often wondered what the big deal is about atmospheric CO2<\/sub> levels. I mean, assuming they’re causing problems, why not just fix it? Genetically engineer some yeast cells, or other bug, so that they eat CO2<\/sub> and excrete sugar, put them in a tank and Bob’s your uncle! If you want to get fancy, put some other bugs in the tank that eat sugar and excrete polysaccharides; if you want to make some money, sell the kits in one-liter sizes so that Mr. & Mrs. Precious can reduce their carbon footprint. Why can’t this be done? Converting CO2<\/sub> to sugar is no big deal – plants do it all day long and have time left over for sex with bees.<\/p>\n

So it was a great relief to read Neil Reynolds column today, Profit motive is the solution to CO2 emissions<\/a>:<\/p>\n

A Santa Barbara, Calif., company called Carbon Sciences Inc. provides a convenient prototype. The company announced last week that it has developed a “breakthrough technology” that converts atmospheric carbon dioxide into commercial-grade gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel. Founded in 2006, Carbon Sciences had previously converted CO-2 into low-grade methanol using an enzyme-based technology. Now, it said, it has combined chemical and biological engineering in a bio-catalytic process that transforms carbon emissions into “a cost-efficient” energy resource.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is the process really commercially viable, or at least on the way there? Is Carbon Sciences<\/a> (OTCBB: CABN) a decent investment? I don’t know and I’d need to hire some expertise before I ventured an opinion. But I’m just glad I’m not the only person in the world who’s thought of this.<\/p>\n

PerpetualDiscounts continued to slide today, losing 27bp on a day with sharply reduced volume. FixedResets were able to squeak out a gain of 2bp. There were only three entries for the Performance Highlights table!<\/p>\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>\n3.10 %<\/td>\n3.79 %<\/td>\n27,647<\/td>\n20.08<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n-0.7613 %<\/td>\n1,781.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FixedFloater<\/td>\n5.72 %<\/td>\n3.79 %<\/td>\n34,880<\/td>\n19.23<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n0.0000 %<\/td>\n2,762.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Floater<\/td>\n2.09 %<\/td>\n1.76 %<\/td>\n41,381<\/td>\n23.12<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n0.2128 %<\/td>\n2,199.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
OpRet<\/td>\n4.86 %<\/td>\n-3.26 %<\/td>\n109,178<\/td>\n0.09<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n0.0770 %<\/td>\n2,316.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SplitShare<\/td>\n6.33 %<\/td>\n6.30 %<\/td>\n152,629<\/td>\n3.73<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n0.0655 %<\/td>\n2,122.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Interest-Bearing<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0.00 %<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0.00<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0.0770 %<\/td>\n2,118.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Perpetual-Premium<\/td>\n5.76 %<\/td>\n5.45 %<\/td>\n80,742<\/td>\n2.02<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n0.0000 %<\/td>\n1,893.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Perpetual-Discount<\/td>\n5.83 %<\/td>\n5.87 %<\/td>\n171,328<\/td>\n14.08<\/td>\n69<\/td>\n-0.2659 %<\/td>\n1,809.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FixedReset<\/td>\n5.43 %<\/td>\n3.61 %<\/td>\n318,475<\/td>\n3.80<\/td>\n42<\/td>\n0.0157 %<\/td>\n2,179.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\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
IAG.PR.A<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n-2.93 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-02-05
\nMaturity Price : 19.52
\nEvaluated at bid price : 19.52
\nBid-YTW : 5.98 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PWF.PR.L<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n-1.36 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-02-05
\nMaturity Price : 21.02
\nEvaluated at bid price : 21.02
\nBid-YTW : 6.12 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HSB.PR.C<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n-1.10 %<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-02-05
\nMaturity Price : 22.35
\nEvaluated at bid price : 22.51
\nBid-YTW : 5.74 %<\/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
CIU.PR.B<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n100,016<\/td>\nRBC crossed blocks of 40,000 shares, 35,000 and 20,800, all at 28.25.
\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Call
\nMaturity Date\t: 2014-07-01
\nMaturity Price : 25.00
\nEvaluated at bid price : 28.13
\nBid-YTW : 3.54 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HSB.PR.E<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n78,516<\/td>\nRBC crossed blocks of 40,000 and 35,000, both at 28.05.
\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Call
\nMaturity Date\t: 2014-07-30
\nMaturity Price : 25.00
\nEvaluated at bid price : 28.02
\nBid-YTW : 3.86 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
IAG.PR.C<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n61,100<\/td>\nRBC crossed blocks of 40,000 and 21,000, both at 27.00.
\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Call
\nMaturity Date\t: 2014-01-30
\nMaturity Price : 25.00
\nEvaluated at bid price : 27.25
\nBid-YTW : 3.90 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RY.PR.A<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n48,048<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-02-05
\nMaturity Price : 19.94
\nEvaluated at bid price : 19.94
\nBid-YTW : 5.60 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
GWO.PR.J<\/td>\nFixedReset<\/td>\n45,400<\/td>\nRBC crossed 38,100 at 27.45.
\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Call
\nMaturity Date\t: 2014-01-30
\nMaturity Price : 25.00
\nEvaluated at bid price : 27.60
\nBid-YTW : 3.34 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CM.PR.I<\/td>\nPerpetual-Discount<\/td>\n45,010<\/td>\nYTW SCENARIO
\nMaturity Type : Limit Maturity
\nMaturity Date\t: 2040-02-05
\nMaturity Price : 20.25
\nEvaluated at bid price : 20.25
\nBid-YTW : 5.85 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
There were 22 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BofA \/ Merrill Lynch Plot Thickens! When Bank of America Corp.\u2019s board met to approve the acquisition of an investment bank on Sept. 15, 2008, members thought they were going to buy Lehman Brothers Holdings …<\/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-9642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-action"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9642","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=9642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}