September 28, 2010

John Hempton of Bronte Capital is keeping the Universal Travel Group pot boiling:

The only communication I have had from Universal Travel Group was a kind email from the acting Chief Financial Officer saying that I needed to provide proof that I was a shareholder to participate in the conference call that they are having on Wednesday, September 29, 2010, to discuss and answer any questions investors may have regarding the Company’s business and financial statements.

I have some questions and I forwarded them in advance to the company as requested.

The purpose of this post is to put the questions on the record in the hope that they are answered and not to entertain my regular readers.

The Fed’s Shared National Credit Review was positive:

Reasons for improvement included improved borrower operating performance, debt restructurings and bankruptcy resolutions, and improved borrower access to bond and equity markets. Industries contributing to improvement in credit quality included automotive, materials and commodities, and finance and insurance. The volume of poorly underwritten credits originated in 2006 and 2007 continued to adversely affect the overall credit quality of the portfolio. Refinancing risk within the portfolio is significant, with nearly 67 percent of criticized assets maturing between 2012 and 2014

I see that the prostitution laws have been struck down, which is a very good thing (unless, of course, you believe that morality can be legistlated). In an amazingly intelligent remark, the judge said:

Judge Himel also said that pimps who threaten or commit violence against prostitutes can still be prosecuted using other sections of the Criminal Code.

When defenders of the faith law wring their hands about human trafficking (it used to be called white slavery), they never explain why such actions don’t fall under the heading of extortion.

However, Judge Himel gave the Crown a 30-day window in which to make arguments against legalizing bawdy houses on account of a concern that “unlicenced brothels may be operated in a way that may not be in the public interest.”

You want to see a bawdy house? Go peek at any of the downtown hotels.

“Any time you are alone with a john, it is dangerous,” federal Crown Michael Morris told Judge Himel. “There is no safe haven when you are involved in prostitution. There is overwhelming evidence that johns can become violent at any moment.”

However, Mr. Young countered that prohibiting communication renders prostitutes unable to “screen” potential clients, hire security or move behind the relative safety of closed doors.

I supposed that somewhere in Canada there is someone who thought Morris’ argument was the killer line, and whose faith in justice would have been shaken if the lawyers had not dutifully plodded through it and its obvious refutation … but it horrifies me to learn I’m paying for the Crown to spout such nonsense, and for the court reporter to write it down, and for courtroom rental while the argument is made, and for the judge to listen to it and note it in her ruling… That’s what’s wrong with the justice system: its being smothered in trivia. Used to be that a murder trial took two days – now it might take two years and I’m not convinced the justice dispensed is commensuraly more just.

The Canadian preferred share market slid again today, with PerpetualDiscounts losing 17bp and FixedResets down 31bp – the median wieghted average yield to worst on the latter index is back up to 3.09%.

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 0.1275 % 2,126.3
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.1275 % 3,221.0
Floater 2.87 % 3.30 % 77,354 18.99 3 0.1275 % 2,295.8
OpRet 4.88 % -2.32 % 75,765 0.17 9 -0.0771 % 2,376.3
SplitShare 5.94 % -31.40 % 63,847 0.09 2 -0.4284 % 2,369.5
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.0771 % 2,172.9
Perpetual-Premium 5.65 % 5.03 % 141,885 5.33 14 0.0389 % 2,003.8
Perpetual-Discount 5.51 % 5.55 % 205,648 14.54 63 -0.1667 % 1,980.9
FixedReset 5.25 % 3.09 % 324,943 3.28 47 -0.3142 % 2,266.5
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
TRP.PR.C FixedReset -2.29 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 25.55
Evaluated at bid price : 25.60
Bid-YTW : 3.79 %
BAM.PR.J OpRet -1.94 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Soft Maturity
Maturity Date : 2018-03-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.28
Bid-YTW : 4.61 %
RY.PR.F Perpetual-Discount -1.88 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.37
Evaluated at bid price : 21.37
Bid-YTW : 5.27 %
GWO.PR.I Perpetual-Discount -1.70 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 20.20
Evaluated at bid price : 20.20
Bid-YTW : 5.61 %
GWO.PR.J FixedReset -1.65 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-01-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.81
Bid-YTW : 3.69 %
BNS.PR.L Perpetual-Discount -1.59 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.41
Evaluated at bid price : 21.71
Bid-YTW : 5.25 %
BNS.PR.M Perpetual-Discount -1.50 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.40
Evaluated at bid price : 21.71
Bid-YTW : 5.25 %
BNS.PR.K Perpetual-Discount -1.34 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.60
Evaluated at bid price : 22.80
Bid-YTW : 5.35 %
SLF.PR.E Perpetual-Discount -1.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 20.00
Evaluated at bid price : 20.00
Bid-YTW : 5.66 %
ELF.PR.G Perpetual-Discount -1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 20.47
Evaluated at bid price : 20.47
Bid-YTW : 5.93 %
CM.PR.H Perpetual-Discount -1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.89
Evaluated at bid price : 22.26
Bid-YTW : 5.37 %
BMO.PR.M FixedReset -1.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2013-09-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.56
Bid-YTW : 2.88 %
SLF.PR.G FixedReset 1.37 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 23.43
Evaluated at bid price : 25.85
Bid-YTW : 3.38 %
W.PR.J Perpetual-Discount 1.38 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 24.34
Evaluated at bid price : 24.65
Bid-YTW : 5.68 %
BAM.PR.I OpRet 1.74 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2010-10-28
Maturity Price : 25.50
Evaluated at bid price : 26.25
Bid-YTW : -28.09 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
HSB.PR.E FixedReset 61,151 Desjardins bought 25,000 from anonymous at 28.12, then crossed 25,000 at the same price.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-07-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 28.06
Bid-YTW : 3.22 %
BMO.PR.J Perpetual-Discount 58,691 RBC crossed 25,000 at 22.00.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.54
Evaluated at bid price : 21.88
Bid-YTW : 5.18 %
TD.PR.K FixedReset 48,350 RBC crossed 15,000 at 28.20.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-08-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 28.16
Bid-YTW : 3.10 %
BNS.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 47,030 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.40
Evaluated at bid price : 21.71
Bid-YTW : 5.25 %
CM.PR.H Perpetual-Discount 31,198 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 21.89
Evaluated at bid price : 22.26
Bid-YTW : 5.37 %
BNS.PR.K Perpetual-Discount 29,195 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2040-09-28
Maturity Price : 22.60
Evaluated at bid price : 22.80
Bid-YTW : 5.35 %
There were 60 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.

One Response to “September 28, 2010”

  1. […] auditors rather quickly … Issues with Universal Travel Group were last reported here on September 28. The Motley Fool published a blanket recommendation of the company on September […]

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.