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Probably everyone knows, but:
CUSIP: 04686J309
Description: ATHENE HLDG LTD DEPOSITARY SH REPSTG1/1000TH INT SH FXD RATE PERPETUAL NON CUMULATIVE PREF SHS SER C
Call Date: 2025-06-30
Sorry to see it go….
Jane S
What the heck is happening with the 8.25%/8.5% Liberty Media Bonds (QURATE) maturing 2029 (CUSIP 530715AD3). Trading less than 20% of face with yields in the stratosphere.
What a great investment I made when I picked up 20 of these back in 2020 above PAR…
the only person who will have a stratospheric yield with Qurate is the bankruptcy lawyer,…/s
Picked up CRBD today as well as I think it hit value territory.. nvestment grade bb and fits my objective of 7%.
Got this tender offer for UZD from Schwab.
(hope this is not a repost).
Also have 100 shares at Merrill but crickets from them so far.
Have submitted for the exchange at Schwab but can change my mind until 6/11 or 6/12.
Exchange Offer Terms US CELLULAR COR 6.25%PFDEXCHANGE OFFER EXP: 06/13.07/01/2025
Your securities:
·United States Cellular Corporation securities referenced above
¨1 security equals $25 principal amount
Offer type:
·Exchange and consent offer
Who is the offeror:
·T-Mobile USA, Inc.
What is being offered:
·In exchange for each of your securities:
¨$24.25 principal amount of new securities, subject to asset acceptance review
¨An early participation amount, if applicable, as described below
·Please refer to the offering materials for additional details
Early date:
·Holders who participate prior to the early date will receive an early participation amount of $0.75 principal amount of new securities and $0.025 cash per $25 principal amount of securities accepted in the offer, subject to asset acceptance review.
¨In order to qualify to receive the early participation amount, we must receive your response no later than June 12, 2025.
I see this is not new news.
From May 23
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/t-mobile-launches-exchange-offers-us-cellulars-outstanding-senior-notes
This move aligns with T-Mobile’s asset acquisition deal announced on May 24, 2024. The exchange includes 6.700% Senior Notes due 2033, 6.250% Senior Notes due 2069, 5.500% Senior Notes due March 2070, and 5.500% Senior Notes due June 2070.
Have some of the 5.5% UZF at Merrill as well. Would exchange those too if the terms are attractive
As far as I can tell, UZF will be exchanged at 25.00 for identical T-Mobile Baby Bonds. And as of end of day today, still appear to be trading for 22.00? What am I missing…?
You are not missing anything. The new T-Mobile 5.5% bonds replacing UZF will have a face value of $25, but will trade at a discount. 5.5% is reserved for A rated paper these days.
Appreciate it Chris, you are spot on. Is there not a scenario where they trade, at least briefly, for quite a bit more than 22, before ultimately settling into same range. How will a perceived “ safer” name impact this?
Just wondering if there is any meat on this bone at all
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250522582933/en/T-Mobile-US-Inc.-and-T-Mobile-USA-Inc.-Announce-Commencement-of-Exchange-Offers-and-Consent-Solicitations-for-Certain-of-United-States-Cellular-Corporations-Outstanding-Debt-Securities
So do I have to initiate the exchange or will it be automatic. I own UZD and haven’t heard anything from VG and I don’t want to miss out. I tried to search the TMUS announcement CUSIP and ISN (911684702/US9116847024) in the Finra Database and it came up no hits.
If I do have initiate a change I want to be able to prove that UZD and the Sr note in the announcement are the same investment. Last time I asked a question similar to this I received a canned answer which didn’t resolve my question.
Thanks
I did find the UZD CUSIP link in the IPO Documentation.
Hmmmmmmmm, I own GJH, Synthetic Fixed-Income Sec STRATS 2004-06, 6.375% US Cellular Corp, where the security behind it is the US Cellular 6.70 12/15/33. I wonder how this tender impacts Trust? I wonder if there’s anyone around to review it???? It’s been so long since I’m researched this I guess I’m going to have to go back to the drawing board and research it all over again just to see if anyone’s doing anything…. At least I’ve got some old Grid notes for a name to start with – (212) 214-6289 Barbara Garafalo, President Synthetic Fixed-Income Securities, Inc. Anyone else looking into this too????
2WR—I also own GJH. Why would the tender affect GJH? I’m just asking, because I don’t have a clue. Is there any difference in the new issue being offered from the original one? I always thought it was just an issue to hold until maturity without any risk.
Since this is a tender, it looks like someone has to do something for this to turn into a T-Mobile credit from its US Cellular current underlying. I don’t think we can’t do it – it has to be done by Synthetic Fixed Income Inc at the Trust level…. It also looks that we don’t participate in any incentive fees for tendering and those will go to the Trust but this is at first blush only….. I’m not sure what happens if bonds are NOT tendered but I want to make sure at the very least we end up owning a new T-Mobile bond…..
Take none of this as gospel – this is just first blush opinion and I want to see if I can make sure that somebody does something instead of just ignoring the tender…
2White, I forget the name of the person I spoke with.. pretty sure it was someone at Wells Fargo. but I did research it, and I was told they would stay as US Cellular bonds. GJH docs require all shareholders vote to tender the underlying bonds for t mobile bonds, and that is highly unlikely.
Maine –
As to your post:
“2White, I forget the name of the person I spoke with.. pretty sure it was someone at Wells Fargo. but I did research it, and I was told they would stay as US Cellular bonds. GJH docs require all shareholders vote to tender the underlying bonds for t mobile bonds, and that is highly unlikely.”
So what are the consequences if if the $12.5M trust GJH does not agree to exchange into the new TMUS 6.7% bond? Part of $544M CUSIP 911684AD0 will remain outstanding ($44M)? That bond currently trades for $108+.
The way I read it TDS and USM are still going to exist as stand alone companies after TMUS, ATT, and Verizon deals. TDS owns 83% of USM. TDS disclosed on recent EPS call that USM will likely do a giant distribution of cash ($2B?) to shareholders when and if deal closes (likely this summer 2025). 83% of that will go to TDS.
So TDS should benefit and be nearly debt-free when all is said and done? One could almost argue that the tiny $44M left of USM 6.7% that is not exchanged into 6.7% TMUS might actually be safer under the USM/TDS umbrella than it will be under TMUS? Based on what you have posted with what was communicated from Wells Fargo, part of that $44M of USM 6.7% left outstanding will be the underlying bond of $12.5M GJH.
Am I way off base here…thoughts? Your posts are always educational and informative!
RE: “GJH”
I see Maine’s point. Please see below. Is the change in control to T-Mobile and exchange of bonds considered to be a ” refinancing”? There is no plan to refund. Inasmuch as there is no payment of principal to the existing certificate holders and no change in interest rate or duration, I see it more as a substitution WITHOUT A PLAN FOR REFUNDING OR REFINANCING ??? Was the GJH bond debt included in the original buyout price from T-Mobile?
Please correct me if I have misread. Thanks!!!
_________________________________________________________________________
“or which would result in the exchange or substitution of any of the outstanding Underlying Securities in accordance with a plan for the refunding or refinancing of such Underlying Securities, except with the consent of Certificateholders representing 100% of the aggregate Voting Rights of the Certificates…….”
2WR –
“At least I’ve got some old Grid notes for a name to start with – (212) 214-6289 Barbara Garafalo, President Synthetic Fixed-Income Securities, Inc. Anyone else looking into this too????”
Please let us know if you learn anything from Ms. Garafalo. I am also going to give her a call at the number you provided.
Thanks!
2WR,
RE: “GJH”
The way I read the prospectus supplement the Trustee should be passing through the solicitation from T-Mobile to the respective holders of “GJH.” I wonder if DTC has forwarded the exchange offer to the Trustee????
IF ANY HOLDER OF GJH HAS NOT RECEIVED THE EXCHANGE OFFER YOU MAY WANT TO CONTACT YOUR BROKER ASAP. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
______________________________________________________________________________
“the Trustee shall mail a notice of such proposed amendment, modification, waiver or solicitation to each Certificateholder of record as of such date. The Trustee shall request instructions from the Certificateholders as to whether or not to consent to or vote to accept such amendment, modification, waiver or solicitation. The Trustee shall consent or
vote, or refrain from consenting or voting, in the same proportion (based on the relative principal amount of the Class A-1 Certificates) as the Certificates of the Trust were actually voted or not voted by the Certificateholders of the Trust as of a date determined by the Trustee prior to the date on which such consent or vote is required; …….”
(Reference: Prospectus Supplement Page S-15, “Voting of Underlying Securities”, dated April 13, 2004)
_______________________________________________________________________________
Here is a copy of the whole section if it helps.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
VOTING OF UNDERLYING SECURITIES
The Trustee, as holder of the Underlying Securities, has the right to
vote and give consents and waivers in respect of such Underlying Securities as permitted by DTC and except as otherwise limited by the Trust Agreement. In the event that the Trustee receives a request from DTC or the Underlying Issuer for the Trustee’s consent to any amendment, modification or waiver of the Underlying Securities, or any other document thereunder or relating to the Underlying Securities, or receives any other solicitation for any action with respect to the Underlying Securities, the Trustee shall mail a notice of such proposed amendment, modification, waiver or solicitation to each Certificateholder of record as of such date. The Trustee shall request instructions from the Certificateholders as to whether or not to consent to or vote to accept such amendment, modification, waiver or solicitation. The Trustee shall consent or vote, or refrain from consenting or voting, in the same proportion (based on the relative principal amount of the Class A-1 Certificates) as the Certificates of the Trust were actually voted or not voted by the Certificateholders of the Trust as of a date determined by the Trustee prior to the date on which such
consent or vote is required; provided, however, that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the Trustee shall at no time vote or consent to any matter which would alter the timing or amount of any payment on the Underlying Securities, including, without limitation, any demand to accelerate the Underlying Securities, or which would result in the exchange or substitution of any of the outstanding Underlying Securities in accordance with a plan for the refunding or refinancing of such Underlying Securities, except with the consent of Certificateholders representing 100% of the aggregate Voting Rights of the Certificates and all of the Warrantholders and subject to the requirement that such vote or consent would not, based on an opinion of counsel, materially increase the risk that the Trust would fail to qualify as a grantor trust for federal income tax purposes. The Trustee will not be liable for any failure to act resulting from Certificateholders’ late return of, or failure to return, directions requested by the Trustee from the Certificateholders.
____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
If I read correctly the Trustee should report the results of the offer “in the same proportion” as the CERTIFICATE HOLDERS elected from the solicitation from T-Mobile.
Again I’m not saying anything definitively but imho, the question is who is the owner of the Certificates? I don’t think we are. the Trust is.. Go back to Page S-10 and read DESCRIPTION OF THE TRUST AGREEMENT. I THINK, and the emphasis is most definitely on “think” not “know,” that the technical owner of the underlying 6.70% bond in question remains in the hands of the Trust not the individual owners of the GJH bond. If that’s accurate, then tender notices are not to be sent to us but solely to the trust or its successor. If that’s right, then to tender or not to tender is out of our hands…..I’ll try to find out if this theory is right in the AM. Again I don’t feel very confident of my interpretation.
I added to my position in WFC-L. I have owned it since the last good value to buy in Fall of 2023, when it was as low as 1,050. Maybe it will head there again, but noone can time the market
I bought some as well. Inflation is at about 2.1% last I checked. Income is up a good deal more than that and jobs are actually being added in the private sector so I am not seeing any reason the fed would raise or lower rates.
If it goes lower I will leg in a bit more.
WFC-L and BAC-L are both really cheap. Both yield over 6%.
I don’t get it. These yields are really high compared to treasuries and
CDs. Either a gift or something is going on I don’t know about.
They’ve been “cheap”, relative to other preferreds, for over a decade now.
I think the $1,000 par scares a lot of people off.
WFC-L and BAC-L are perpetuals with a convertible twist. Trend-wise, WFC-L trades like a long-bond proxy. May 30 was WFC-L ex-div.
Mr Conservative:
I can time the market. Every time I buy an annuity, long rates proceed to shoot higher!
Ready Capital has RCB, a 6.20%, $25 note maturing 07/2026. It dropped on a month-end fall Friday trading almost a half million shares!! A dump by some big holder. Not over with 88,000 traded so far today, but up slightly to $23.75. The yield is 6.5% with YTM next year over 11%. RC is a commercial mREIT that’s having some issues with non-accruals right now, but the short maturity of the note makes this a blue-light special, IMO. I am buying. Do your own dd.
Some folks must be worried. FWIW, Fidelity lent my shares to a short-seller on Thursday, so I’m getting 34% interest on them for now. My buy order was too late/low on Friday, but did snag a few shares of RCC, which is also bouncing back. It has even shorter duration, and of course, lower YTM, but still pretty decent.
Are you the same “Wilson” that had access to the PFF rebalance ahead of time and posted it on SA, or was it here. I think you signed up for a free trial or something. Not sure that lists exists now..
That was awesome!
oh yea, I bot RCB/C as well.
AGM-D at $20.97, 6.8% yield.
Tim, I can wait for a low ball bid to hit to get YOC at 7% just too much unexpectedness in the market. Everyone is trading like it’s normal while they are whistling past the graveyard.
I agree with Tim, there is still time to rearrange the deck chairs. I might not be looking at the same things he is, but being in short term calls seems to be paying off.
The VIX index is not matching up to my unease with the market.
Tim—I placed a GTC order at $20.35 which is a 7% yield. Thanks for posting.
fwiw..I moved up capital stack and bot BHFAL 6.25 9/15/2028 to yield 7.64..the BHFAL/VCLT pair went from 2 sigma rich at the beginning of they year to 2 sigma cheap in mid april presumably on back of takeover rumors (3yr horizon) …currently it is 1 sigma cheap….the BHFAN/VCLT pair bottomed Liberation day and went from near 2 sigma cheap to now near fair value..
I was talking to a broker at schwab. he said that SLMNP (LYONDELLBASELL) is now fully in the expert market, so I have to put in all transactions through a broker (only sales allowed).
I still have a few I picked up in the 800s I have been selling as price has ticked up, but I was able to place sell orders by myself until today.
Squeezing the last drop of financial blood from that lemon. Grrr….
Looks like FIDO hasn’t started doing that.
I don’t think this is correct… I was able to enter a sell order in SSEdge.
mmarek evans
May 30, 2025 3:17 PM
CTA-VCLT pair trading 1.5 sigma cheap (1yr range) ..LANDO/VCLT pair 2 sigma cheap (1yr horizon)… TRTN preferreds 1.5 sigma cheap.. among others .. broad based selling in low coupon perpetuals
Mj is that you? I’ve been following mmarek over on the SA once in a while.
yes
pair trades are measures of relative valuation using standard statistical measure (standard deviation/sigma)
ATH-C redemption 6/30
https://www.streetinsider.com/Globe+Newswire/Athene+Announces+Redemption+of+All+Outstanding+Series+C+Preferred+Stock+and+Related+Depositary+Shares/24877741.html
Are there any problems with this in a taxable account?
Irish – is there a problem with what in a taxable account?
I think your comment got separated from the message you were talking about?
Ath-c, being redeemed
Quantum Online says that the call date is 9/30/2025, not 6/30/2025. I just bought in on that assumption
Looks like they can call it June 30, with proper notice
from the prospectus
” The Series C Preference Shares are redeemable for cash at our option in whole or in part, from time to time, during any par call period at a redemption price equal to $25,000 per share (equivalent to $25.00 per depositary share), plus the amount of declared and unpaid dividends, if any, without interest on such unpaid dividends. “Par call period” means the period from and including June 30 of each year in which there is a reset date (which is three months prior to the reset date in such year) to and including such reset date. “
And the link on QOL itself to the issue’s prospectus, which is the issue’s Bible, not QOL, clears it up: p S-27 – We may redeem the Series C Preference Shares at our option, in whole or in part, from time to time, during any par call period, at a redemption price equal to $25,000 per share (equivalent to $25.00 per depositary share), plus the amount of declared and unpaid dividends, if any, without interest on such unpaid dividends. In the event the applicable reset date that is the redemption date is not a business day, the redemption price will be paid on the next business day without any adjustment to the amount of the redemption price paid.
“Par call period” means the period from and including June 30 of each year in which there is a reset date (which is three months prior to the reset date in such year) to and including such reset date.
So much for a safe hideout. I was hoping for another 3 to 4 months like the rest of us.
Now need to find something to replace it with.
I wouldn’t call it “safe,” or not as safe as ATH, but FTAIN is now below par and also has a crazy high reset.. I took a starter..
“ Distributions based on the stated liquidation preference of $25.00 per share will be payable on the shares at a rate equal to (i) from and including the date of original issue to, but excluding, June 15, 2026, 8.25% per annum, and (ii) thereafter, during each reset period, at a rate per annum equal to the five-year treasury rate as of the most recent reset distribution determination date (as described elsewhere in this prospectus supplement) plus a spread of 737.8 basis points per annum.”
Bear, Maybe a taste in one of my accounts, but this is for my wife’s account. I equate that high a return with higher risk. Especially anything to do with aviation.
Any thoughts on BWNB or BWSN. Both mature in 2026 and are trading in the $11- $13 range. Value at maturity is $25 so a chance to double investment$$? Thoughts?
BG–I would call it an interesting speculation. On one hand the company is getting a little bit squared away–peeling off some assets etc. But on the other hand this is a B Riley financed company and I have 0 faith in Bryant Riley given than he is so slimy. Maybe there is room for a little taste of speculative play here–the risk/reward is decent.
These are extremely high risk issues. The company has to roll a lot of debt in the near future and has issued a going concern warning.
If you can get comfortable with the financials, have at it, but you should examine them closely.
UMBXV is up on fidelity
Buy, buy, buy??
Just read Colorado Wealth’s post were he expects TWO to lose a lawsuit over its firing of the external manager. Judgement against it approx. 190 million.
Not sure how this will affect their preferred B & C
LANDO/VCLT pair has gone from 2 sigma rich on 5/21 to near 1 sigma cheap today (1yr horizon)
Would you explain what this post means for the folks in Rio Vista?
I have no idea what I’m being “alerted” to…
Here’s how I interpret this:
mjtroll is taking the price of LANDO and dividing it by the price of VCLT. This generates about 250 numbers, one for each trading day in the last year. Using that set of numbers, he computes the average and the standard deviation. For a given day like today, he can then tell you how many standard deviations above or below the annual average the current price ratio lies.
There are two assumptions hidden in the background. First, this implicitly assumes that this ratio is distributed as a Normal Distribution (the famous bell curve.) Second, this implicitly assumes that there is some long-term average that the ratio should respect, so if LANDO is below its average as compared to VCLT, it is likely to rebound to that average.
If you accept both of those assumptions, then LANDO is likely to overperform VCLT over the next indefinite time period.
mjtroll, please jump in to correct any errors I have made or to explain in greater detail where needed.
Citadel,
It’s a secret fraternity thing. Thus, the use of “Sigma.”
You obviously didn’t get a bid during III rush week.
Nobody did……..