September 27, 2013

I found some excellent commentary on teachers’ salaries:

While we might all agree that the middle class is partly a state-of-mind, I define the middle class as the middle 50 percent of individual earnings. With this definition, at age 20-24, 50 percent of individuals with a university degree working fill-time at a single job outside the Toronto CMA earn above $27,300 and below $60,008. Thus our 23-year old teacher who earns $49,400 does actually start in the middle class of the universityeducated group. However the stay of that teacher in the middle class of even the university-educated within society is very brief!

By the time our teacher is aged 25-29, after 5 years of teaching, the teacher has decisively exited the middle class within the university-educated group. The salary of $66,893 after 5 years of teaching falls well above the 75th percentile of salaries although it is remains below the 90th percentile. But after 10 years of teaching, at age 33, our teacher is quite close to the 90th percentile of salaries within the university-educated group. The teacher’s salary is $88,759 and the 90th percentile is $91,000. The last step in the salary grid would push the salary over the 90th percentile salary for a person aged 30-34.

Finally I would note that all these comparisons of the salaries of teachers to other wage-earners ignore the very large benefit and vacation packages that are part of the compensation of teachers. Even using just salary data, it is clear teachers are very well compensated throughout their entire careers relative to similar persons in Ontario. The benefits and vacation are the whipped cream, toppings and chocolate sauce on the Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

Grave consequences are predicted if the US government shuts down:

A shutdown of the U.S. government would reduce fourth-quarter economic growth by as much as 1.4 percentage points depending on its length, economists say, as government workers from park rangers to telephone receptionists are furloughed.

Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics Inc. estimates a three-to-four week shutdown would cut growth by 1.4 points. Zandi projects a 2.5 percent annualized pace of fourth-quarter growth without a shutdown. A two-week shutdown starting Oct. 1 could cut growth by 0.3 percentage point to a 2.3 percent rate, according to St. Louis-based Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.

It was a mixed day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts gaining 5bp, FixedResets up 7bp and DeemedRetractibles off 4bp. Volatility was muted, judging by recent standards. Volume was slightly below average.

HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices

Values are provisional and are finalized monthly
Index Mean
Current
Yield
(at bid)
Median
YTW
Median
Average
Trading
Value
Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)
Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.0508 % 2,531.7
FixedFloater 4.28 % 3.59 % 31,209 18.11 1 0.2256 % 3,882.1
Floater 2.67 % 2.87 % 66,737 20.04 5 -0.0508 % 2,733.5
OpRet 4.62 % 1.78 % 65,342 0.50 3 0.0257 % 2,641.2
SplitShare 4.76 % 4.72 % 60,874 4.05 6 -0.1954 % 2,947.5
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0257 % 2,415.1
Perpetual-Premium 5.89 % 2.97 % 108,032 0.08 2 0.0990 % 2,270.8
Perpetual-Discount 5.56 % 5.51 % 144,447 14.30 36 0.0549 % 2,353.1
FixedReset 4.93 % 3.69 % 242,820 3.66 85 0.0727 % 2,457.8
Deemed-Retractible 5.12 % 4.50 % 197,719 6.90 43 -0.0429 % 2,380.7
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
MFC.PR.F FixedReset -2.08 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.62
Bid-YTW : 4.74 %
CIU.PR.A Perpetual-Discount -1.49 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2043-09-27
Maturity Price : 21.20
Evaluated at bid price : 21.20
Bid-YTW : 5.49 %
GWO.PR.I Deemed-Retractible -1.02 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.28
Bid-YTW : 6.40 %
ENB.PR.N FixedReset 1.03 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2043-09-27
Maturity Price : 22.97
Evaluated at bid price : 24.51
Bid-YTW : 4.49 %
POW.PR.G Perpetual-Discount 1.10 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2043-09-27
Maturity Price : 24.41
Evaluated at bid price : 24.82
Bid-YTW : 5.64 %
FTS.PR.J Perpetual-Discount 2.17 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2043-09-27
Maturity Price : 23.19
Evaluated at bid price : 23.50
Bid-YTW : 5.09 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
CM.PR.E Perpetual-Discount 148,487 RBC crossed 132,300 at 25.00.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2013-10-27
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.03
Bid-YTW : -2.01 %
BMO.PR.J Deemed-Retractible 132,524 Nesbitt crossed 50,000 at 25.20. RBC crossed blocks of 50,000 and 20,000, both at the same price.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2016-02-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.15
Bid-YTW : 4.44 %
FTS.PR.E OpRet 125,800 RBC crossed 125,000 at 25.95.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2013-10-27
Maturity Price : 25.75
Evaluated at bid price : 25.90
Bid-YTW : 1.78 %
BMO.PR.R FixedReset 59,905 RBC crossed 50,000 at 25.25.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2018-08-25
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.20
Bid-YTW : 2.44 %
SLF.PR.C Deemed-Retractible 49,540 Nesbitt crossed 40,000 at 21.80.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.63
Bid-YTW : 6.15 %
BAM.PR.X FixedReset 44,934 RBC crossed 37,800 at 22.80.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2043-09-27
Maturity Price : 22.22
Evaluated at bid price : 22.76
Bid-YTW : 4.31 %
There were 27 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
TRI.PR.B Floater Quote: 20.77 – 21.65
Spot Rate : 0.8800
Average : 0.5897

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2043-09-27
Maturity Price : 20.77
Evaluated at bid price : 20.77
Bid-YTW : 2.52 %

FTS.PR.F Perpetual-Discount Quote: 23.45 – 23.94
Spot Rate : 0.4900
Average : 0.3184

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2043-09-27
Maturity Price : 23.15
Evaluated at bid price : 23.45
Bid-YTW : 5.27 %

MFC.PR.F FixedReset Quote: 22.62 – 23.17
Spot Rate : 0.5500
Average : 0.3959

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.62
Bid-YTW : 4.74 %

BAM.PR.G FixedFloater Quote: 22.21 – 23.08
Spot Rate : 0.8700
Average : 0.7420

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2043-09-27
Maturity Price : 22.57
Evaluated at bid price : 22.21
Bid-YTW : 3.59 %

GWO.PR.I Deemed-Retractible Quote: 21.28 – 21.67
Spot Rate : 0.3900
Average : 0.2718

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2025-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.28
Bid-YTW : 6.40 %

GCS.PR.A SplitShare Quote: 24.63 – 24.90
Spot Rate : 0.2700
Average : 0.1764

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2019-07-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.63
Bid-YTW : 4.27 %

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