April 12, 2012

Nothing happened today, although I was recently gratified to learn I’m not the only one in the world who is worried about central clearing houses:

IF THEY failed, there would be “mayhem”, says Paul Tucker of the Bank of England. Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, quotes a Mark Twain character, Pudd’nhead Wilson, to get the same point across: “If you put all your eggs in one basket, you better watch that basket.” Another regulator privately describes them as “too big to fail, on steroids”.

Central Clearing Houses are probably the single dumbest idea to come out of post-Credit Crunch reregulation. Who – other than a politician or a regulator – really thinks that a system susceptible to single-point failure is more stable than a network?

The Canadian preferred share market enjoyed a good uptick today, with PerpetualPremiums up 2bp, FixedResets gaining 14bp and DeemedRetractibles winning 21bp. Volatility was dominated by BAM, evenly split between winners and losers. Volume was light.

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 -0.8762 % 2,333.7
FixedFloater 4.35 % 3.70 % 36,324 17.97 1 1.1574 % 3,625.9
Floater 3.09 % 3.10 % 47,156 19.49 3 -0.8762 % 2,519.8
OpRet 4.75 % 3.05 % 46,618 1.15 5 0.0919 % 2,508.6
SplitShare 5.26 % -4.97 % 81,284 0.68 4 0.0993 % 2,689.5
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0919 % 2,293.9
Perpetual-Premium 5.48 % -2.35 % 87,239 0.13 23 0.0238 % 2,219.3
Perpetual-Discount 5.15 % 5.09 % 131,595 15.35 10 0.2848 % 2,422.8
FixedReset 5.01 % 2.97 % 182,716 2.19 67 0.1416 % 2,396.0
Deemed-Retractible 4.96 % 3.83 % 208,918 2.88 46 0.2101 % 2,307.0
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
BAM.PR.C Floater -1.97 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2042-04-12
Maturity Price : 16.91
Evaluated at bid price : 16.91
Bid-YTW : 3.12 %
BAM.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 1.08 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2042-04-12
Maturity Price : 23.24
Evaluated at bid price : 23.50
Bid-YTW : 5.08 %
BAM.PR.G FixedFloater 1.16 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2042-04-12
Maturity Price : 22.55
Evaluated at bid price : 21.85
Bid-YTW : 3.70 %
BAM.PR.N Perpetual-Discount 1.38 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2042-04-12
Maturity Price : 23.07
Evaluated at bid price : 23.51
Bid-YTW : 5.07 %
MFC.PR.C Deemed-Retractible 1.75 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.26
Bid-YTW : 5.50 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
TRP.PR.A FixedReset 203,376 Nesbitt crossed 200,000 at 26.00.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-12-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.03
Bid-YTW : 3.08 %
SLF.PR.F FixedReset 102,310 Nesbitt crossed 100,000 at 26.40.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-06-30
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.39
Bid-YTW : 3.48 %
GWO.PR.G Deemed-Retractible 76,373 RBC crossed blocks of 11,600 shares, 12,300 and 39,900, all at 25.00.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.01
Bid-YTW : 5.25 %
BNS.PR.Z FixedReset 63,240 Desjardins crossed 46,000 at 25.13.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2022-01-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.12
Bid-YTW : 3.19 %
ENB.PR.H FixedReset 62,670 Recent new issue.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2042-04-12
Maturity Price : 23.16
Evaluated at bid price : 25.20
Bid-YTW : 3.64 %
NA.PR.K Deemed-Retractible 61,537 Desjardins crossed 50,000 at 25.40.
YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2012-05-15
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.36
Bid-YTW : -15.21 %
There were 20 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
BAM.PR.C Floater Quote: 16.91 – 17.57
Spot Rate : 0.6600
Average : 0.4498

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2042-04-12
Maturity Price : 16.91
Evaluated at bid price : 16.91
Bid-YTW : 3.12 %

ENB.PR.A Perpetual-Premium Quote: 25.91 – 26.24
Spot Rate : 0.3300
Average : 0.2124

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2012-05-12
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.91
Bid-YTW : -28.20 %

CM.PR.K FixedReset Quote: 26.30 – 26.69
Spot Rate : 0.3900
Average : 0.2776

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2014-07-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.30
Bid-YTW : 2.90 %

FTS.PR.H FixedReset Quote: 25.40 – 25.88
Spot Rate : 0.4800
Average : 0.3705

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2042-04-12
Maturity Price : 23.49
Evaluated at bid price : 25.40
Bid-YTW : 3.04 %

POW.PR.C Perpetual-Premium Quote: 25.32 – 25.57
Spot Rate : 0.2500
Average : 0.1749

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2012-05-12
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.32
Bid-YTW : -10.02 %

TD.PR.R Deemed-Retractible Quote: 26.88 – 27.08
Spot Rate : 0.2000
Average : 0.1278

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2013-04-30
Maturity Price : 26.00
Evaluated at bid price : 26.88
Bid-YTW : 1.85 %

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