I will be adding a new link titled “Sandbox” in the right hand menu.
That link will get you to this page.
I had originally set up the “Reader Initiated Alert” page for ‘alerts’. I was thinking this, for instance, might be when a preferred stock is undergoing a temporary selloff and someone wants to let the population know about it quickly. Of course we all (including me) use the ‘alert’ page for general messaging.
I am requesting that we start using the Sandbox page for all general talk, and try to preserve the ‘alerts’ page for ‘alerts’.
I have had a screen up on one of my monitors all week where I see all comments – no matter where they are posted–it is a great page and I wish everyone had a page like that–believe me we all benefit from all the knowledge being shared. I don’t want to stifle any of the exchange of knowledge, but hope to get things a bit better organized by adding the Sandbox page.
Anyone out there figured out how to track bond data in a Google spreadsheet? Google finance will not recognize CUSIP numbers for bonds. I just purchased some of the New Jersey bonds maturing in 2031 and want to add it to my Google spreadsheet. Looked online and what I see was script for tracking Treasuries. Thinking it may be easiest to just do it by hand, but maybe somebody has found another way…….
I’m new to municipal bonds, and I see a lot have oid, or are zero coupon. What do I need to watch out for tax-wise in a cash account?
De Minimis Tax
https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/think-twice-before-buying-muni-below-par
Thanks. I know with preferred trusts, people here have cautioned to keep ones with oid in ira because taxes are hard. Is that still the case with a muni bond?
I wouldn’t mess with zeroes in taxable accounts. There are better ways to spend your time than dealing with phantom income on an annualized basis.
KTBA … Bell South CorTS 7% Debentures Tender Offer at $19.00
Expires March 10
Any holders have opinion on this tender offer ????
Last Close at $17.70
Semi Annual divi .875c payed Dec 01
I’m absolutely not tendering to these sharks at $19.
Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cash-tender-offer-for-7-00-bellsouth-debentures-corporate-backed-trust-securities-symbol-ktba-cusip-no-22080e205-at-19-00-per-certificate-301735557.html
This is a “third party” tender. They do these things when they see the opportunity to dance on top of a grave and profit from it.
Here is what KTBA is worth…Basically 1% over par based on the actual trading of the actual bond held inside the trust.
https://finra-markets.morningstar.com/BondCenter/BondDetail.jsp?ticker=C32618&symbol=T3668086
So they are “worth” over $25 but good luck getting it….Trouble is recent history has shown one cannot extract anywhere close to the intrinsic value of the bonds thanks to our government protecting us from safe bonds.
745 Capital is the outfit that offered the tender for the LTS bonds last year. Not offering advise here just more info.
T has been retiring the bonds. Only 76 mill left out of the original amount
I tried AGAIN to buy KTBA at Merrill Edge and Vanguard and they both are a solid NOOOOO. At ME even though I have signed every low price and high yield security letter they have KTBA in the impossible to buy category. I really need to open up yet another account somewhere like IB or overseas that will let me buy KTBA as it is probably safer then a good deal of what the large Wall Street slimy firms are peddling to their vulnerable clientele. Anyone here able to buy KTBA at their firm, please let all of us know, I am Azure
“I really need to open up yet another account somewhere like IB or overseas that will let me buy KTBA”
KTBA is “closing orders only” at IB, so that’s not the solution that you’re looking for. IB is pretty bad these days on OTC stocks – any little excuse and they slap them with “close only” so you can’t buy them anymore. Execution is also a lot worse than it was several years ago on OTC.
I also tried to place an order for KTBA with Siebert but was refused. Somewhat surprisingly I was able to put in an order for AFSIB (Amtrust Financial), which if I’m not mistaken I was unable to do previously.
Oh Great Oz, I know a computer does all the ledgering. Why can’t I place my own tender offer by placing an open, limit, ask order? Please, oh Great One, let my order just stand there while I wallow in my own ignorance. Wouldn’t THAT really reflect the Great American Dream of Freedom and Equality?
Please no responses, just more cryptic rhetoric from my sarcastic alter-ego. Gotta get in bed with facts and reality. I would advise that this is the time to get VERY real with any nest egg you may be managing…accept no hope, get hardened.
From Texas Coast, looking in on my friends here about once a week.
Prosper, just in case you Live Long.
Ditto. I will hold these forever.
Shouldn’t this tender have been filed with the SEC? I can’t find it. (unless it will appear overnight)
no, does not need to be.
I’ve wondered why AT&T has not tendered for any and all KTBA. Guess the hedge fund sharks are smarter than AT&T.
As for me, I’ll keep all my KTBA and collect the interest. I would have to receive a price of 24++ to be interested in selling.
Retired I think it needs a vote of the trust holders to accomplish that. I cant remember details. ATT has offered various tenders of the 2095 bonds over the years though and that is how the float has dropped. But what is left of the float 2/3 is trapped inside the KTBA trust. Im assuming (could be wrong) even if they had tendered they would just be stuck owning KTBA certificates and would just be paying themselves and then paying taxes off their own income.
Yes, as I understand it all trust holders would have to agree for a complete buyout. But it seems that AT&T could profit by buying some of the certificates if enough could be bought to offset the costs of a tender. Looks like the hedge fund has decided the costs of a tender are justified. I’m no accountant, but I would think that AT&T could buy any amount of the certificates and offset the income taxes with a similar deduction for paying the same interest.
Retired, but they already are deducting the interest since its presently being paid anyways, correct? So they would lose that part if they acquired shares…I think, ha. Anyways it aint happening. But yes, if I was a hedge fund and was looking for long term income, getting these shares at $19 and collecting 9.2% current uncallable income isnt bad for them.
Gridbird, Good point! As I said…I’m no accountant!
Retired, I am no step ahead of you on any of this I promise. I was just emboldened from 2 strong cups of coffee and still being about 8 hours away from “sundown syndrome” kicking back in.
You would probably have a better shot at filing suit against Structured Products Corp and forcing them to either dissolve the trust, or require them by court order to file AT&T’s financials with the OTCMarket to keep it current, since the filings are available.
The whole purpose of KTBA was to create an opportunity for investors to easily purchase the BellSouth bonds. Now the structure literally does the exact opposite – the bonds may actually be more liquid.
Does KTBA have a management team? Or a board?
This product seems ripe for what is occasionally practiced with closed end funds that consistently trade at a wide discounts to NAV. Who at Citi would one approach with the idea of open ending KTBA and distributing the underlying bonds pro rata? And, how could they not entertain the idea? Doing nothing is clearly injurious to shareholders.
The issue was delisted long before all this crap. It delisted in 2007 after ATT bought Bell South out. They werent Bell South bonds anymore, so that triggered it. There never were any financials ever reported. Its no different than KTH, KTN, GJP, etc….
Here is an example of KTH’s financials… lol…
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1283464/000106823822000232/corts_peco-8k.htm
Isn’t that a different scenario? When it was delisted in 2007 didn’t it just move to the Pink sheets, or did it not trade at all?
I am wondering if the two situations are exactly comparable.
Delisted is delisted. The added variable now that wasnt in 2007 is will a company provide financials to OTC (and cut a check) if they are not available on SEC. Many old delisted subsidiary preferreds are piggy backed eligible because the hold co parent provides financials through their SEC filings. Thus they dont do anything (they may not have anyways and they could have possibly fell into expert markets too if not for piggy back provision).
Based on issues just like KTBA that still trade on exchanges, its the trust company holding the debt the certificates lay claim to that does the filing. Its certainly an odd situation.
…once the experts acquire enough KTBA they’ll be leaning on the trust to cut a check.
And I see that the “experts” have bought over 3,466 KTBA this morning at 18- 18.05. Easy money for them.
I may well have missed it but was anything decided about HMLPF today: down $1.20 on more than 8 times average volume (580K against 67K)?
probably our good friends at PFF dumping.
Might behoove one to investigate this. But look at HMLPF on OTC. Notice the “Grace period, Hour glass” icon to the right along with “dark defunct”. Does this mean its on the path to “expert market”? Im just asking, as I do not know.
https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/HMLPF/security
@Stephen, @MCG, @Gridbird:
It was definitely PFF dumping HMLPF today – no question about it. They’re selling ‘ cos the index they follow (PHGY) can’t hold anything except NYSE- and NASDAQ-listed stocks. HMLPF was delisted on January 3, 2022 but PHGY doesn’t make immediate changes – it updates its holdings monthly.
We’ll know in the morning, but I’ll bet PFF got rid of all 532,602 shares they owned as of yesterday. And if that’s the case, PFF handled it much better than they have in the past (LTSA, GMLPF, GasLog Ltd. GLOG-A, National General, Costamare, Tsakos – it’s a long list of pref shares that PFF has had to dump over the years, making for some real opportunities).
Grid: the Grace Period notation gives them 15 calendar days before they move to the expert market. Click on the graphic “Grace Period” and you’ll jump to this text:
“This security has entered a Grace Period, where it can be publicly quoted for 15 days before moving to the Expert Market for unsolicited quoting only. Securities enter the Grace Period when OTC Markets Group is no longer able to confirm that the issuer’s disclosure is current and publicly available as required under Rule 15c2-11.”
https://www.otcmarkets.com/glossary#grace-period
See also https://www.otcmarkets.com/files/15c2-11%20Tier%20Chart.pdf (fine print at bottom of file reads “Grace Period: Issuers that no longer meet the applicable criterial for OTCQX, OTCQB or Pink Limited will enter a grace period of 15 calendar days before moving to the Expert Market.”)
I missed the “Edit” window on this one: “HMLPF was delisted on January 3, 2022” should read “HMLPF was delisted on January 3, 2023”.
Rats! – and sorry.
(And in the “while I’m at it dep’t. ” – according to Schwab StreetSmart Edge, the total volume on HMLPF today was 841,031 shares, with a 188K block trade at $16.20 taking place in after-hours at 16:27.)
Esw3, So do you think OTC is sleeping on this, since you mentioned a 1/3 delistment date?
Funny you should ask, Grid – I had an email conversation with the compliance department at OTCM yesterday and today about HMLPF. I was told by one of their execs in early December, 2022 that HMLPF would go to expert market as soon as it delisted. When it didn’t, on Friday afternoon, I asked why. This came in early Monday:
+++++
“Apologies for the delayed response. We are looking into their reporting status, thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
+++++
Then when I followed up to ask if there were a hard and fast rule about how soon a security moved to the expert market, the same person responded as follows:
+++++
“We have a 15c2-11 Market Tier chart on our website https://www.otcmarkets.com/files/15c2-11%20Tier%20Chart.pdf that you can reference to determine when a company will enter the Grace Period based on their reporting standard. Once a company is in the Grace Period, you can see the last day that would stay on before moving to the Expert Market by going to the “Quote” page on their profile.”
+++++
So yeah, given that HMLPF was delisted on January 3, 2023, I’d say that OTCM may have been asleep at the switch, or busy, or something. Not going to blame them since they’ve been quite responsive to emailed questions, but the HMLPF experience may presage something similar with SJIJ – something to keep our eyes on!
ES, Probably giving them a bit extra time to see if they can extract a check from the company and keep it Pink Sheets. Im sure their rules wouldnt get in the way of them trying to make a buck. Lord knows there are a few preferreds that do have financials available in public domain but since they aint getting a check, they arent going to list them.
There were five issues today that had large block trades that are either PFF or likely another large institution. Other than the HMLPF discussion, I do not know why any of the others would have these large, abnormal block trades today, particularly MS-F.
BDXB
FCNCO
FITBI
HMLPF
MS-F
none of those other names were PFF.
BDXB wasn’t a large block either.
More Riley & bitcoin debt/lending:
” GREE: for $1 million today, we’ll give you $1.9 million on Tuesday” (and nothing until June)
bwhhaaahh!
and … $70 million more.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3930027-core-scientific-to-borrow-up-to-70m-from-b-riley-to-extend-runway?mailingid=30413871&messageid=2900&serial=30413871.1051&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha&utm_term=30413871.1051
Hmm… how much could I get?
I moved out of RILY prefers last month once I understood all the risk they were taking on with the crypto miners.
MBIN had a great earnings report. Common is up 9%. All preferreds are up as well. I would sell MBINN here at 24.55 as well as MBINP at 25.95, and buy MBINO at 23.90. I believe MBINO is worth MORE than MBINN. MBINO has risen but remains under priced relative to the other two IMHO. Not sure about MBINM.
SJIJ…… Down another 2% as of this morning. Looking at the chart of the last week or so this one has fallen off a cliff due to the upcoming darkness due to delisting. Still thinking about taking a chance with a few shares and adding it to the other couple or so I have that are expert market also. Lots of unknowns and risk involved. Wonder how low it will go by February 5th……
From Larry Kotlikoff, Boston University Econ Professor and Social Security expert:
****************************************************************
I receive emails on a routine basis from people who, out of the blue, received a letter from Social Security demanding, with no clear explanation, that they pay back previously paid benefits within 30 days! Very young children, elderly widows, retirees, spouses, divorcees, disabled workers — you name it. The bills can be in the thousands, tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands. One disabled lady was clawed back for over $300,000 for a mistake that Social Security admitted in writing was theirs! For that lady, who was living solely off of Social Security, and for lots of others, these letters can be a death sentence or, at least, an abject poverty sentence. How so? Well, if you don’t repay, which most can’t, Social Security almost always will stop sending you a single penny until you’ve repaid “what you owe.” This can take years or decades.
In virtually every case, the demands for repayment are due to Social Security’s having miscalculated a beneficiary’s correct benefit amount years or even decades in the past. But Social Security’s mistakes are your mistakes. If you are desperately poor, they may choose to let you keep their overpayments. Otherwise, tough luck. The disabled lady who “owed” some $300,000K was deemed by Social Security’s Administrative Law Judge to be too well off to qualify for relief from the system’s mistake. Why? Because the judge, I kid you not (I read his decree word for word.) decided she had too many channels on her cable plan and must, therefore, be well off.
Link to article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kotlikoff/2023/01/30/every-social-security-recipient-should-live-in-fear-of-having-past-benefits-clawed-back
Unfortunately this article is behind the Forbes paywall. Since I just finished my first year of SS was interested in reading it. Somewhere I have an Excel spreadsheet that calculates your benefit if you have the record of your contributions I used several years ago to verify what SS said my benefit was. Maybe I will search for it and see if it jives with SS. I am sure I have way too many channels on the idiot box in the TV room!
The author sells software that promises to give you exact numbers for your benefit so you are not taken by surprise. So…big grain of salt needed here IMO.
Azdak, I suggest NOT talking what Kotlikoff says about SS with a grain of salt. There are two challenges here:
1) SS payout rules are very complex with many different rules and conditions
2) SS personnel are not all well trained on giving 100% accurate answers when you call them and/or meet them. (Similar to IRS agents.)
This Kotlikoff post is about SS employee’s giving 100% factually incorrect advise.
I have yet to meet a retiree or near retiree that understands all of their SS claiming options. In many cases, they either have already chosen or are close to choosing a sub-optimal claiming strategy.
If you have the skills to understand how to optimize the claiming strategy WITHOUT using software, I would like to meet you. You will be the first person I have met like that. For everyone else, like I have recommended here many times before, it is worthwhile to use software to better understand your options. You can use Kotlikoff’s software which is the gold standard or you can use one of the free ones that I have recommended in the past.
I have no financial interest in Kotlikoff’s software and/or any other SS claiming software. I have not made a TikTok on it, but probably should.
Tex, I agree with you and last week decided to verify the amount that I was being paid. Social Security has an excellent online calculator that you can use. It looks complicated because that’s the way that the gov’t is but if you don’t fall into one of the exceptions it is easy. I was able to calculate and verify my benefit. Here is the link: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/AnypiaApplet.html
SteveN, thanks for the link. That applet’s calculator does not yet take into account the 2023 inflation adjustment.
I agree Azdak. That author has ulterior motives. Not saying this couldn’t happen – I am sure there are some isolated incidents out there. But if this was a big problem, you would have heard about it more frequently and our political class would be bloviating about it
While it’s true that Kotlikoff sells a Social Security calculator, and it also may be true that the scenario he outlines in Tex’s post may occur only infrequently, that doesn’t diminish the importance of educating yourself in order to set your Social Security claiming strategy accurately and appropriately.
Put in terms of risk: having the government come after you to claw back over-claimed Soc Sec benefits may have a low probability, but the impact if it occurs would be high, so best to do what you can to avoid it.
Kotlikoff charges $39/yr for his calculator (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase), an amount I am all too willing to spend to help educate me. Won’t be the only way I educate myself, but I’ll definitely be giving it a try (and will likely only pay once, then cancel before the year is out, having a healthy antipathy toward subscriptions in general).
Good afternoon my income loving brothers and sisters. I bought a very unusual tax free bond at Vanguard a moment ago and thought I’d share it:
CUSIP 31350ACJ5 Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp Multifamily 3.05% due 4/15/34 @$89.34 CMO Backed Housing rated AA+ callable @100 starting 3/15/29 with 30 days notice YTW/YTM is 4.21%. This tax free bond pays monthly (only the 2nd time I’ve bought a tax free that pays monthly in decades of investing) and as it goes with housing bonds, when the rates move higher people refinance to lock in their fixed mortgage rate (these are variable rate mortgage notes) and pay off the original note hence I will get principle back. I called Vanguard and one of my friends that runs a municipal institutional bonds desk, both confirmed that this is a unicorn. My families trusts own a good sized position (1%+ of the float) on (GHI) Greystone Housing Impact Investors LP that used to be (ATAX) American First Multifamily Investors; currently pays 7.76% tax free and has a Beta of just 0.66; this bond is the basis for what they are primary investors in.
Any questions would be welcomed, Azure
AB – It’s tough to find any info on this, even at EMMA…. no Official Statement, no nothing other than knowing this was issued in 2019. Have you been provided any info? Also no info on trading that I could see, not since Jan 25 according to Fidelity…. This is noted as a multi-family issue which would imply that the prepayment phenom you’re pointing out might be different as the paying off would not be motivated by individual house mortgages, wouldn’t it? It’d be more from owners of apartment buildings et al, wouldn’t it? Doesn’t negate the premise but perhaps alters the prepayment experience a bit….. I would suspect that might be spelled out to some degree were there any official statement available…. just casual musings on my part……
2WR, I not as mad at you bond guys today. I noticed a $5k pop today in a bond of mine as they finally decided to mark to market it almost what it actually is worth. It made me so happy I saw 5 2033 Philadelphia Electric bonds available at 6.1% and bought them with the “gains” I made on the bond price adjustment, ha.
LOL
Do you have the CUSIP on that 2033 Philadephia Electric bond?
Nevermind, Schwab’s search function was funky. Found it on Fidelity. Thanks!
Dick, this is 30 year subordinated debt issued in 2003. Have to watch the pricing as it can be fleecing. It sat for days with shares for sale at over $102, then this afternoon 5 shares showed up at $97.30 so I bought them.
Dick in case your interested Illinois ute behemoth ComEd has a very similar 2033 issue also.
I believe these bonds are considered a partnership Pass Thru and the gist is that like the underlying they should be traded with a factor adjustment like a cmo. Principal and interest are paid monthly.
They are tax free and unlike GHI they are non-AMT
I put this comment on the wrong slot. They belong in answer to AzureBlue’s new purchase and 2WR comments.
So combining what you’re saying and what AB is, this is essentially an amortizing bond of some sort that will also pay additional principal if/when underlying multifamily mortgages get paid down? Would love to see an official statement. I could easily be barking up the wrong tree in how I’m perceiving this…..If so, then maturity is not as important as average life?
Vanguard busted my trade, “Vanguard doesn’t purchase CMO’s from TradeWeb” 🤬 they would not settle the trade as Vanguard stopped doing CMO’s 12 years ago… Just why this bond was offered on the Vanguard Municipal bond trading platform “is beyond their comprehension”.
AB, I tried to find it on Fido and they said it wasn’t listed. Tried government, agency, even corp and muni
Charles, I found the bond on Trace, Thompson and Bloomberg. Unfortunately, Vanguard busted my trade and gave me the excuse that they do not sell CMO’s so I’m not able to buy it, even though VANGUARD offered the bond 🤬
This is a new one for me, but income life goes on. Be well, Azure
I ended up finding it on Fido, was doing a bad cut and paste. Told me I didn’t have correct amount of digits!
Circular can be found here:
https://capitalmarkets.freddiemac.com/mbs/lookup?cusip=31350ACJ5&option=poolSupplements
Does anyone know what happens to exchange traded debt if the issuer delist? Or if the issuer delist and does not provide the proper financials? In particular, I am interested in ATCOL. The senior notes are callable in a short period and due in 2027. My interest would be a possible evaluation for a ROTH conversion. TIA
That could be as it was sometime ago I asked that question of Vanguard. I eo know it’s a wash.
Does anyone know the date of when SJIJ goes dark? I see it has dropped like a rock the last week. I have thought about adding it to collection of preferred gone dark as the current price gives a yield of almost 9%., but then I go lay down till the urge passes. The time may be drawing near. Any thoughts out there as I see it has been a topic of discussion recently again.?
How are we going to be paid dividends once it goes dark? How do we sell the stock once it goes dark?
A lot of known unknowns here… If it goes experts market you can sell at likely a nice loss if the expert gets you over the barrel which seems to be frequent.
If it goes OTC and the company for some unknown generous reason provides financials it will trade fairly normal on the pink sheets. If it goes dark with no ticker, then you likely will have to conduct a private transaction to sell. As it basically would be a “private” issue in that scenario.
To compound a situation. Justin uncovered a brokerage or two that could jettison the issue from your account after 18 months or so if they so desired if the issue became a non tradeable no ticker issue. This is all in your accounts “fine print” it they have that policy. I was a little concerned about that when I had WTREP that went totally dark a year ago. But they redeemed it a year later well under that window.
Your interest payment will continue as always as the terms of the issue havent changed, just its market it was on. Though they could come a little later as there seems to frequently be “payment bugs” on these types once they get delisted.
…Another slim possibility it could wind up as a $25 baby bond on the bond desk. A couple delisted baby bonds have wound up there too.
The only known known is that PFF will flood the market at the worst possible time. 🤣🤣
That is certain, Maine. Actually its already occured. Lazy arses have had an entire year to get rid of these. Yes it could be tied to some bogus made up fake preferred index but shame on those idiots then if that is the reason. They could have unwinded this 25% plus higher. Not their problem though. Its the owners of PFF just like they hosed the fund on their shameless LTSA-A dump down to ~$7 when they could have tendered them at $25.
“…. on or about Feb 6.”
https://investors.sjindustries.com/news/news-details/2023/New-Jersey-Board-of-Public-Utilities-Approves-Proposed-Acquisition-of-South-Jersey-Industries-by-Infrastructure-Investments-Fund/default.aspx
Any advice or thoughts on buying SJIJ in a traditional IRA, then rolling that into a ROTH at a presumably low price in order for tax advantages?
Apologies, I know this has been discussed before, but I can’t recall specifics.
I guess it depends on the following assumptions.
1)Buy right before it delists at a super low price in an Ira.
2)Assume it goes down further once it hits the private market., then roll into Roth at lower price.
3) market risk – SJIJ stays never defaults.
Sorry, realizing I was a bit vague.
I guess my specific question is whether anyone has transferred expert market securities from an IRA to a Roth? Were any issues experienced? How was the price determined for the transfer price?
I have done that with a different preferred stock. It ended up being called so it worked out very well for me.
I will do it with this one too if SJIJ gets low enough. But that will have to be very low for me to be tempted.
I have converted LTSA, GMLPF, and HMLPF to my Roth with no issues whatsoever. They are held in Vanguard. Vanguard sells them at the close of business on the day I convert them from my IRA account and then buys them back for my Roth as I understand it. The sale and buy price match exactly. So far all three have paid on time. If they ever get called I will make out like a bandit, but will sure miss the juicy dividends. Lord knows what will happen in the future though……..
From my experience at Schwab, when doing the conversion online, they just immediately “journal” over the assets from one account to the other at the last trade price.
I can not believe that any brokerage would sell them and then buy them back.
That could be as it was sometime ago I asked that question of Vanguard. I eo know it’s a wash.
Not sure if the custodians are on to that trick, but rolling it over to the Roth could cause the issuance of a 5498 indicating indicating the contribution is hard to value.
Maine
One thought – you have to pay tax on the value when transferred/converted.
So, if they never go up in price- you just wasted some money (except by removing some div income from your TIRA).
It’s an ‘In-Kind’ transfer of shares. Usually you can do it yourself online.
Thanks Gary (and Justin).
Yes, good point. I would think of it as an annuity stream, with the hope of converting it at a lower price .
In a perfect world, buy it when public after PFF pukes it, say at a price of $10. Then convert to Roth once it hits private market and price is lowered to $7. One risk is the price associated with the transfer, that my broker provides a price quote higher.
Maine-
There should be no price higher either during the day or at closing price- which they do will be up to the brokerage. Then, the shares are transferred.
Question.
Do you think that Money Market interest rates are a reliable bellweather/canary in a coalmine indicator of where rates are headed?
I ask because for the first time in months and months this am, Schwab Value Ad MM (SWVXX) yield is down a smidge, from 4.273% to 4.270%.
Its only been heading in one direction for nearly 12 months..
DOGS of DOW current YIELDS:
VERIZON ~ 6.54%
3M ~ 5.28%
WALGREEN ~ 5.27%
INTEL ~ 5.12%
IBM ~ 4.93%
DOW ~ 4.82%
AMGEN ~ 3.34%
CISCO ~ 3.23%
CHEVRON ~ 3.22%
GOLDMAN SACHS ~ 3.1%
COWNL – Cowen, Inc., 7.75% Senior Notes due 6/15/2033 optional call 6/15/23
Seller in the market at 25.23… That’s about 24.99 stripped…. COWN being acquired by TD with expected closing this quarter…. Language referring to COWN debt outstanding is very murky so difficult to figure out if these will be called or not…. COWN to operate as a wholly owned sub upon close.. Language is on p 55 of https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001466538/000095015722000833/ex2-1.htm and repeated in the now approved proxy statement, p 104 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1466538/000114036122036813/ny20005205x2_defm14a.htm#tTMRA
I loaded up on a ton of these when they were $24.50.
BTW 2WR, I didn’t ignore your e-mail but all of the responses I send to it bounce back. You might want to see if anyone else is having a problem sending you emails.
Tex & Grid—do you think that the SJI ’31 bonds have the same risk of default as SJIJ? Ignoring the difference in maturity dates. In other words, if one defaults the other one will too. If there is really a 15-30% risk of default, both become a very risky investment.
Randy, my 15% to 30% default probability comes from the 8.5 to 9.0 YTM for the 2031 bonds. It is NOT an informed opinion about SJI. I estimated that YTM was consistent with a single B to CAA rating. Here is what SP says about default ratings:
From SP data from 1981-2021
B rated, 8 year maturity, default rate= ~22%
CCC rated, 8 year maturity, default rate= ~50%
Link to SP default rates:
https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/research/articles/220413-default-transition-and-recovery-2021-annual-global-corporate-default-and-rating-transition-study-12336975
Tex, Your link to S&P Global is incredibly valuable and good of you to post. All here not familiar with S&P Global ratings would benefit from a review. A good summary is found in Table 26. The intel is both useful and sobering.
I use this table periodically to create a risk v return profile of rates. Over the past few years the Yield x Risk chart is downward sloping – meaning the riskier the debt, the LOWER the ultimate risk-adjusted return. This indicates investors are NOT being sufficiently rewarded for the additional risk absorbed as the spreads are too narrow. This finding is based on S&P’s large data sets and over time. Your individual issue may “beat the odds” for years or forever.
Some here like Grid and Bea evidence a great deal of skill navigating the riskier issues, though they would probably be the first to advise the less experienced to exercise caution. As evidenced here with increasing recent frequency, an issue does not need to go full-on default to be problematic, and many are not understanding the ins and outs of what they are holding. We all do it at least once.
We know S&P Global is fallible, though the depth and breadth of their resources dwarf what most of us as individuals can bring to the table without material time-investment.
Wishing all excellent risk-adjusted yields.
Alpha, to me it boils down to making sure one is in their personal risk profile comfort zone along with measured purchase amount limit. As Tex alluded to credit ratings bring about a certain bankruptcy risk profile as a general historical rule, but not directly company specific.
NSS for example has been a constant B area rating for its 10 year history. At various times it has been more stressed than others though the rating has stayed constant. I would suggest there is little risk near term considering how profitable its been now. But balance sheet is more susceptible to risk if something goes wrong.
What SJI could face is some more debt saddled to the hold co in financing the deal. DPL (Dayton Power and Light hold co) faced this when AES acquired them. Thus DPL (not the operating subsidary) has been sub IG status ever since. The lower cap trust debt which I recently bought has been B saddled ever since and has continuously paid. But the additional leverage creates more stress on the company and thus less room for error.
Just as a side note, me personally although I own HY, I have considerably more money in solid IG senior unsecured debt, CDs, and IBonds than I do in “junk” rated issues. And right or wrong I have the 2031 bonds in my “junk drawer”.
Randy ANY subordinated debt is at bottom of feed trough. Is what it is. NSS has about a 0% recovery if it went bankrupt and I own a decent amount of it too.
But senior notes can go to zero on dirtbag companies. If own wants real safety they need to stick to A rated senior unsecured.
Tex, I should clarify I don’t disregard your points. As I bought a B plus rated 8.3% Ute hold Co in past month. For me, I am not betting on credit quality, I am betting on company staying solvent to 2031. Also, I don’t think credit quality is based on trading availability as private non traded bonds are rated too. And not on experts market possibility since they don’t trade to begin with.
Texas, You need to remember the specter of the 2031 bonds could also be effected by the SEC regs. I know they got delayed by a year but there is an overhang. Acquirer said they are committed to IG subsidiary status which is the lifeblood to SJI hold Co. Think this way..Is SJIJ at $16 more riskier than it was at $20 a week ago? Not really it’s just became obvious on what was already obvious. It’s getting delisted as noted over a year ago. Personally I expecting to hold until maturity. I view it as a high risk bucket purchase but mostly from spectre of it going dark… Think this way, what benefit is this company if it can’t upstream anything to the pension fund investors, etc. They have proven to be good stewards to the other utilities they have acquired.
Grid, I get the possible SEC action requiring many corporates to trade on the expert market. However, I am not seeing that having a widespread effect on other corporates. The question is would SJI be singled out worse than others?
Do you have an S&P account? I don’t.. Quantum appears to have kept SJIJ at BB+ Nov. 22. You could look to see if there is any prose there if Quantum is accurate. The 2031 was one notch higher in the past. I am presuming because it doesn’t have the deferrable feature but that is just my idle speculation.
From S&P:
US$200 mil 5.625% Subordinated Notes due 09/16/2079
Local Currency LT
BB+
Regulatory Disclosures
09-Sep-2019
20-Sep-2022
EE|UKE
Watch Neg
25-Feb-2022
US$287.5 mil 5.02% nts ser A due 04/15/2031
Local Currency LT
BBB-
Regulatory Disclosures
30-Mar-2021
20-Sep-2022
EE|UKE
Watch Neg
25-Feb-2022
Grid, here is the SP summary from 2/25/22. They did not mention the possibility of the $1k bonds going to the expert market, so maybe they do not consider it a risk?
*****************************************************
South Jersey Industries Inc. (SJI) recently announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Infrastructure Investments Fund (IIF), an investment vehicle advised by J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc.
Therefore, we placed all of our ratings on SJI and its subsidiaries South Jersey Gas Co. (SJG) and Elizabethtown Gas Co. (ETG) on CreditWatch with negative implications. This includes our ‘BBB’ long-term issuer credit ratings on each entity and our ‘A-‘ issue-level ratings on SJG’s and ETG’s first-mortgage bonds (FMBs).
The negative CreditWatch primarily reflects the uncertainty around the company’s leverage under its future organizational structure, which could lead it to maintain weaker consolidated financial measures.
South Jersey 2031 bonds. Lots of discussion regarding the South Jersey baby bond, SJIJ, 5.625% coupon, callable 9/16/24, matures 9/16/2079. The discussion regards SJI going private and will SJIJ end up on the expert market. Related to this, Grid has talked about the SJI $1k face, 5.02%, non-callable, matures 4/15/31 CUSIP 838518AA6. It is SP rated BBB- and has many recent buys in the 8.50% to 9.0% yield to maturity. Comparable BBB- rated issues have much lower YTM’s, in the 5.0 to 6.5% range. Comparable issues with 9.0% YTM’s are junk rated in the B to CAA range. The BofA high yield index closed at 7.95%.
There is a large disconnect here. Two choices:
1) Buy of the year with its outsized YTM and BBB- rated default probability
2) Default risk is much higher than the BBB- rating would indicate and is significant, maybe in the 15% to 30% range
I am not sure which choice to go with, but they cannot both be correct, so I must be missing something. Maybe some corporate bond funds are prohibited from owning private company bonds, forcing them to sell these before the go private date. Lots of small trades which would not favor that explanation.
Link to SP’s latest report is 11 months ago before the buyout was approved (2/25/22)
https://disclosure.spglobal.com/ratings/en/regulatory/article/-/view/type/HTML/id/2801284
Pension Funds in Historic Surplus Eye $1 Trillion of Bond-Buying
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-28/pension-funds-with-a-historic-surplus-eye-1-trillion-of-bond-buying?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=twitter
For some of America’s biggest bond buyers, the soft-versus-hard-landing debate on Wall Street might be a sideshow. They’re getting ready to swoop in with as much as $1 trillion, no matter what happens.
One of the pillars of the trillion-dollar pension fund complex is now awash in cash after struggling under deficits for two decades. This rare surplus at corporate defined-benefit plans, thanks to surging interest rates, means they can reallocate to bonds that are less volatile than stocks — “derisking” in industry parlance.
Strategists at Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. say the impact will be far-reaching in what’s already being coined “the year of the bond.” Judging from the cash flooding into fixed income, they’re just getting started.
“The pensions are in good shape. They can now essentially immunize — take out the equities, move into bonds and try to have assets match liabilities,” Mike Schumacher, head of macro strategy at Wells Fargo, said in an interview. “That explains some of the rallying of the bond market over the last three or four weeks.”
An irony of pension accounting is that a year like last year, with its twin routs in stocks and bonds, can be a blessing of sorts to some benefit plans, whose future costs are a function of interest rates. When rates climb, their liabilities shrink and their “funded status” actually improves.
The largest 100 US corporate pension plans now enjoy an average funding ratio of about 110%, the highest level in more than two decades, according to the Milliman 100 Pension Funding index. That’s welcome news for fund managers who suffered years of rock-bottom interest rates and were forced to chase returns in the equity market.
In Times of Surplus
The surplus at the largest 100 US corporate pension funds is the highest in two decades
Now, they have an opportunity to unwind that imbalance and Wall Street banks pretty much agree on how they’ll use the extra cash to do it: buying bonds, and then selling stocks to buy more bonds.
Already this year fixed-income flows are outpacing those of equity funds, marking the most lopsided relationship since July.
How much of that is due to derisking by pension funds is anyone’s guess. Some of the recent rally in bonds can be ascribed to traders hedging a growth downturn that would hit stocks hardest.
But what’s obvious is their clear preference for long-maturity fixed-income assets that most closely match their long-dated liabilities.
Pension funds need to keep some exposure to stocks to boost returns, but that equation is changing.
Once a corporate plan reaches full funding, their aim is often to derisk by jettisoning stocks and adding fixed income assets that line up with their liabilities. With the largest 100 US corporate defined benefit funds riding a cash pile of $133 billion after average yields on corporate debt more than doubled last year, their path is wide open.
With yields unlikely to go above their peak level once the Federal Reserve hits its terminal rate of about 5% around the middle of the year, there’s rarely been a better time for them to make the switch to bonds.
Even if growth surprises on the upside and yields rise, causing bonds to underperform, the incentive is still there, said Bruno Braizinha, a strategist at Bank of America.
“At this point and considering where we are in the cycle, the conditions are favorable for de-risking,” Braizinha said in an interview.
JPMorgan’s strategist Marko Kolanovic estimates derisking will lead pension managers to buy as much as $1 trillion of bonds; Bank of America’s Braizinha says a $500 billion buying spree is closer to the mark.
The Year of The Bond?
“The pattern has certainly been the shift from equities to fixed income,” said Zorast Wadia, principal and consulting actuary at Milliman and co-author of the pension funding index. “If you were even considering the merits of this in the past, now it’s a slam dunk. You certainly want to do it now.”
Achieving an asset-liability match has been a long-held goal for corporate defined benefit pension plans. Since 2008 they’ve cut their allocations to equities to about 29% from about 44%, in turn increasing fixed-income to about 51% from around 42%, according to the latest data from Milliman.
Pensions funds reach overfunded status when assets exceed the value of liabilities. For corporate plans, the interest rates on high-quality bonds determine the plan’s “discount rate” — an indication of what they expect as their risk-free return.
Thanks to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest-rate hikes, this rate surged to 5.22% as of Dec. 31, up from 2.8% a year earlier, according to a Milliman gauge.
Even as markets suffered their worst year since the financial crisis, corporate plans reaped a windfall as aggregate liabilities fell by $493 billion, more than enough to offset investment losses of $321 billion.
It’s a different story for public pension funds. They are more sensitive to swings in market prices. Unlike corporate defined plans, their funding ratios have fallen with falling markets.
For corporate pension plans, liabilities are based upon a corporate bond yield curve, making the performance of equities and bonds less relevant for the funding status.
If pension fund managers increase their allocation by 3% to 4% it would translate into $1 trillion of bond purchases, according to JPMorgan calculations. Even a 6% increase isn’t out of the question, according to the firm’s strategists.
“This represents a unique and urgent opportunity for these funds to lock in the favorable funding status by selling equities and buying bonds,” Kolanovic wrote in a note. He described it as a “likely inflection point for equities to go lower and bonds higher.
EarlyBird…We have certainly seen bonds rally, but equities selling off, not so much yet, with the exception of the first week in December, in so far as SPY vs. TLT is concerned. This month both are up approx. 6%
This last week SPY actually outperformed TLT by approx. 6% to bring the monthly difference close to 0%.
Earlybird I was playing around with the FINRA Bond searcher and looking at muni ‘s here in Calif. So many housing authorities, schools, develop authorities paying just 1 to 3 % YTM on 5% or less issue’s. These just don’t make sense with inflation. I understand these were bought in a low rate environment and looking at their charts the prices came down in 2022 but now the past month prices are going back up again.
With all that money there wanting to buy bonds driving up prices and yields down I don’t understand it.
I was able to sell my 5.375% Edison Intl today at $93.75 and got out with a small loss after a long ride down and, all of a sudden, a big jump up. I bought at par and averaged down at $89. It went a lot lower but I never averaged down again. Buying & selling corporates at Schwab is very cumbersome. You’re at the mercy of the trading desk and they couldn’t care less about maximizing your execution price. When buying corporates, I need to be in for the long haul or it’s not worth the aggravation.
I hear you Randy. This was a tough one issued in low rate IPO with a low par yield but also with a relative high adjustment of 4.69%. So I had to not only buy at par, but also around $90, and then a triple down around $84 as that reset had to come into play eventually at reset time albeit that is still a few years away. That being said I culled 2/3 of the herd at $92 myself the other other day and will keep the base position as that damn reset is still too far way and now the fixed yield is back under 6% again. One can actually get an SCE live floater paying over 8.5% and heading over 9% next payment.
Entry point timing is everything. I bet I made more money holding SCE-L recently for a month than I did on the 5.375% for 2 years, lol.
There was previous discussion on NuStar Preferreds, all floating and their guesstimate on reprice. Well NuStar has declared the dividends and they are rich as expected.
Based on the announced dividends (see below), the yield based on today’s price are:
NS-A: 11.4%
NS-B: 11.2%
NS-C: 11.5%
SAN ANTONIO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 26, 2023– NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a fourth quarter 2022 common unit distribution of $0.40 per unit. The fourth quarter common unit distribution will be paid on February 14, 2023 to holders of record as of February 8, 2023.
NuStar Energy L.P.’s Board of Directors also declared a fourth quarter 2022 Series A preferred unit distribution of $0.71889 per unit, a Series B preferred unit distribution of $0.64871 per unit and a Series C preferred unit distribution of $0.72602 per unit. The preferred unit distributions will be paid on March 15, 2023 to holders of record as of March 1, 2023.
NSS has crept up to be my biggest position. NS reports 2/1 so it will be interesting to see how they are progressing on the pvt pfd buyback and in general on storage etc.
If they keep on track and paydown more and more debt these seem like the best values in the market now, even the common. My only name in the o/ng space along w Coterra.
I posted on ET/C earlier and wanted to get comments on my thoughts to see what I may have missed.
1. Currently trading at $23.60 (my cost $23.46)
2. Currently paying .4609 quarterly, or ~7.8%.
3. On 5/15/23, it flips from fixed 7.375% to floating 3 mo LIBOR plus 4.53%. Current 3m libor is 4.82%, so assuming same it’s 9.35% (or 9.9% @ $23.60).
Given ET commons just raised dividend to prior amount, and still has $2b in FCF and stated they’re going to pay down debt, I think they use the opportunity to call the issue on 5/15/23. If so, you’ll net two interest payments (0.921) plus $1.40 for a total of $2.32. On 23.60, that’s 9.8% and nearly 30% IRR. If they don’t call, you’ve got a 10% yielder on what I think is a safe payer.
Yes, you get a K-1. Any thoughts on what I’ve missed? I’ve loaded up on this issue (4% position), and need some counterpoints to keep me from buying even more. Any feedback is appreciated.
Confirmation bias here.
Already own the E series @~$24, and now adding to the C. I think they call this puppy. As you noticed:
“we’re clearly looking at paying down as much [debt] as we can. There is still a little bit to go as far as getting what our free cash flow is going to be. But in fairness, we do have a very good capacity left on our revolver from our credit facility. So we’ve got options as to how to navigate that, and we’re going to be careful. I don’t really want to get out in front of it and try to preannounce. But you nailed it when you said looking at trying to pay down as much as we can of [2023 debt maturities] if not moving some of it to the revolver only because when you look out over the remainder of the year and you see what the free cash flow continues throughout the year.”
DYODD. Thanks!
But, Rick, doesn’t what you are quoting pretty clearly imply that they will be first focusing on outstanding debt, not preferreds, and for that matter, short term debt as top priority? I don’t follow ET nor any K-1 issuers, but this sounds as though they might be more willing to hold a long term perpetual thru what they may consider to be a short term period of higher rates than you might think… consider this a belly button opinion…..
2WR- here is a decent SA article speculating that they will call the preferreds (he lays out their projected free cash flow and the three most likely options)
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4568679-energy-transfer-stock-what-to-expect-in-2023
The article includes a list of debt maturing in 2023-2025 and you can see the preferreds, especially once they go floating , will be the highest rate by far
Like I said, I don’t really know much of anything about ET. I was only commenting on the quote provided…. Normally, though, a desire to focus on retiring the shortest maturities as opposed to the highest cost (which the quote seemed to say they were going to be doing) implies a move by a company concerned about its overall debt load in a risky environment… That sure doesn’t seem to be the case for ET which is IG rated and on Moody’s credit watch positive, so who knows……
question. how to purchase preferred or BB from Canadian banks thru TDA
thanks
Ron
I have positions in a few Canadian common and preferred shares with TDA. TDA supports (most) OTC symbols.
Thanks greg, I also some commons. when I looked up the preferred symbol they showed NA
I’ll call TDA Monday
New CPI index will be based on 1 yr YOY change, rather than the 2 years it used.
Will this skew the Inflation rate lower?
I wonder how this will affect fixed income yields and prices.
Starting with January 2023 data, BLS plans to update weights annually for the Consumer Price Index based on a single calendar year of data, using consumer expenditure data from 2021. This reflects a change from prior practice of updating weights biennially using two years of expenditure data.
Found the absolute best preferred buyers ever! They have the secret sauce and the golden keys to the market. On Tuesday 1/24, Sotherly Hotels filed with the SEC they were reinstating dividend payouts on their three preferreds. Some rockstar buyer(s) new to load up a few days before the announcement. All three issues gained ~3.00 to 3.50 per share after the announcement.
SOHOB 127,617 shares on 1/19, largest since 5/28/20, 90 day volume= 4,406
SOHOO 86,587 shares on 1/18, largest since 9/4/2019, 90 day volume= 3,464
SOHON 170,661 shares on 1/18-1/19, largest since ~ 2019, 90 day volume= 4,844
Lots of block trades >=1,000 shares, so it was not a gazillion small trades. The announcement was not part of a regular earnings release and/or conference call. It was seemingly an asynchronous event.
Maybe they will start posting here and spread some of that wisdom.
We were NOT involved in any of the trades in 2023, but I did post last fall on 11/11/22, that these were reasonable speculations with very high risk. We own small amounts in a few risk tolerant accounts.
That’s some serious intuition there. Almost as though someone knew something was going to happen….
Poor saps like me had to add a small amount of shares in March of 2020 at a cost of 5.78/share and wait almost three years to sell at 25.35/share. And now, I am sitting on my original investment from late 2019 at 25.94/share.
Some people are just lucky I guess…..
You appear to suggest that somebody traded on illegal inside information, which may or may not be the case, and perhaps got in ahead of others somehow depriving them of an opportunity to make 3 to 3.50.
The possibility of Sotherly’s dividend reinstatement was well-advertised long before its announcement. It was more a “when” rather than a “whether.” Post pandemic operations were slowly turning around. They sold property, reduced debt and talked about reinstatement. The opportunity to buy was open to retail traders long before the announcement. Just my opinion.
If I tell a story that happened a long time ago or long before, i usually use it in a context that means longer than 5 days ago. For this scenario that occured, i I would use something like a few days ago or at the most “last week.” Maybe I speak a different lingo though.
Based on some discussions I saw earlier in the week I tried buying SLMNP on Fildelity. Got 15 at $846. I had owned some previously and sold before it went to Expert Market. Isn’t it odd that Fido is now trading it! I am happy to buy at that price for a fairly secure 7.1% and protection on the downside with the put to the Company. Has anyone actually tried the put? First time purchase on the Expert Market. Now if I could only buy KTBA!!
Just for the heck of it I tried to add another 5 shares to my holdings in Vanguard. The trade wasn’t permitted.
I didn’t even bother trying KTBA, but wouldn’t that be nice to buy it at current levels.
just for the heck of it…I added 2 shares to my position of SLMNP at Fidelity. Entered a buy at 847 and it immediately filled at 846. No go for buys at Schwab, and sadly no go at either firm for KTBA.
It makes zero sense how one can buy SLMNP on the expert at one broker but so many other expert market securities are not allowed at almost every broker. If Fidelity finds out about that they might very well block that one as well. Probably slipped through the cracks.
I might be worthwhile to test out every decent expert market ticker at Fidelity to see what is available. DMRRP perhaps? Last trade was 27 bucks!
Fc— I tried buying SLMNP at TDA and my order was rejected.
It was blocked at Fidelity previously – somehow it (accidentally?) got unblocked, but now there’s no bid/ask displayed.
@Fryman
I had no problem getting 4 more SLMNP at Fidelity
I see it had a volume of 72 total today.
Grateful to add below the put…
Hi Malka! hope you are well!! miss our chat group.. Bea
Blackrock increased its ownership in LXP to 19%.
I’d be concerned about a buyout and delisting for holders of LXP-C
LI – a quick look see of prospectus shows this – I did not look in depth
” Upon the occurrence of a fundamental change, as
described in this prospectus supplement, a
holder may require us to purchase for cash all
or part of its Series C Preferred Shares at a
price equal to 100% of their liquidation
preference plus accrued and unpaid dividends,
if any, up to, but not including, the
fundamental change purchase date.
2WR and Landlord:
Correct, and from my reading a “fundamental change” would include almost any merger proposed by a private entity which would guarantee $50/share for LXP+C.
Any public entity that acquires LXP would almost certainly have to keep LXP+C outstanding (with no delisting), with a likely adjustment in the conversion ratio of this busted $100M convertible (currently at 2.4339). LXP is a $5B total enterprise value company. This preferred is a tiny portion of the TEV.
It would be nice if some commenters (not you 2WR as you always seem to read up on the prospectus) on this site stop throwing out the delisting/expert market threat and sowing fear on individual preferreds without doing at least a little homework by reading the prospectus?
A “fundamental change” will be deemed to have occurred if any of the
following occurs:
1. we consolidate with or merge with or into any person or convey,
transfer, sell or otherwise dispose of or lease all or substantially all
of our assets to any person, or any corporation consolidates with or
merges into or with us, in any such event pursuant to a transaction in
which our outstanding voting shares are changed into or exchanged for
cash, securities or other property, other than (a) any such transaction
where our outstanding voting shares are not changed or exchanged at all
(except to the extent necessary to reflect a change in our jurisdiction
of formation), or (b) where (i) our outstanding voting shares are
changed into or exchanged for cash, securities and other property (other
than equity interests of the surviving corporation) and (ii) our
shareholders immediately before such transaction
own, directly or indirectly, immediately following such transaction,
more than 50% of the total outstanding voting stock of the surviving
corporation; or
2. we are liquidated or dissolved or adopt a plan of liquidation or
dissolution.
I’d bail. These guys always find a way to screw debt.
Good morning my income loving brothers and sisters! Another day another opportunity to buy a tax free bond for my ladder portfolio:
Sierra PKS Levee Improvement District, Texas General Obligation CUSIP 82622PAU4 3% due 9/1/41 rated A1/AA AGMC Insured underlying A1 @$82.573 YTW 4.38%, YTC 7.995% YTS in 9/40 4.438% Duration 13.379 Convexity 2.25 Be careful as many of the Texas bond are now tiny specific numbered districts and not broader based areas that are safer GO’s.
Wall Street sells stocks and bonds, but what it really peddles is hope., I am Azure
AB infer from your comment some of the older bonds based on larger districts might be slightly safer if trading similar to this one?
But now that gives me an idea are there any levee district bonds in Calif ?
Market futures are all green today. Market sentiment is party on as evidenced by the remarks by readers on SA on editor post that initial GDP is expected to be 2.9% in 4th qtr. 1/4 point raise by the feds is already baked in.
Fed Funds Futures confirm…. below from Thurs FF open ##’s ….
Jly Contract …. 4.875% Funds indicated
Sep Contract …. 4.785% Funds indicated
Nov Contract …. 4.590% Funds indicated
Regarding GLOG Ltd’s proposed purchase of the units of GLOP partners, has anyone read or have a sense of what fate might await the GLOP preferreds? All 3 of the preferreds are down about 3% today after the announcement on 5 or 6 times normal volume.
asure
is there a site or publication that follows or specializes in new york munies that you can suggest? I to am in N.Y. and want to get more information on ny munies. tia sc
Back yet again to the tax free bond window. I bought Yonkers, NY General Obligation 3% due 2/15/39 CUSIP 986082K46 rated AA3/AA AGMC Insured underlying A3/A+ Stable @ $89.336 and was priced at issue $109.685 to yield 1.93% 😱 Convexity 1.819, duration 12.207, YTW 3.90% YTC 4.60%. This tax free bond fits my happy passive income ladder and my portfolio, please do your own deep due diligence as I am someone behind an iPad and may or may not have your best “interest” in mind.
To get rich, you have to be making money while you’re asleep.
I may need a nap, Azure
asure
is there a site or publication that follows or specializes in new york munies that you can suggest? I to am in N.Y. and want to get more information on ny munies. tia sc
sc, I really know of no specific site or publication that would specialize in NY state bonds. I always put my bond perimeters (taxable and tax free) in Vanguard and Merrill Edge and then do the research on the bond(s) that look like the best deal. Of course, there is an easy way to get just NY tax free bonds on both sites to come up. Best of luck, A
thank you for the thoughts. Is there a general site you use for munies> I want to upgrade my understanding but not doing very well. thanks sc
sc4, you mean for research, seeing all the trades or buying??
azure
for research or hints as what to look at. I will do the final research but I need some pointers . Thanks your consideration. SC
I’m not sure this posted before but if it helps, a quick google search brought up this site which seems like a thorough one – not educational but info on trades and issuers within NY https://newyork.municipalbonds.com/bonds/recent/
whiteroses
Many thanks for the suggestion. This certainly looks like it could be part of the puzzle. Many thanks. sc
sc4, I’d be glad to help you any way I can. You need to decide initially on your parameters (time frame, coupon, rating, insurance, premium/discount, type, revenue source, AMT etc). I look at every bond on my Vanguard account and analyze if this debt instrument fits my personal needs and what will fill my income ladder. I always try to buy with a solid IG underlying rating even though the vast majority of my bonds have insurance. I would rather take a bit less for a more solid bond (like a GO from a great issuer) then a riskier bond that I have to think of in the future. These tax free bonds all go into my deep long term income stack and not for future trade under any circumstances; they are the foundation of my income portfolio. I also like to look at the bonds on FINRA Trace to see if I have missed anything and it’s trading history. Further, because I was primarily an Institutional Money Manager for 24+ years on Wall Street, I have an incredible group of people that still give me key information about municipalities and specific bonds I may want to look at. I am based in South Florida and we do not have any state income taxes so I can buy tax frees from anywhere. Reach out to me and I’d be glad to further assist you. I am azurebluenomad on Reddit. Hope this helps, A
ASURE
thank you for your very kind offer. I will be traveling for the next couple weeks but will follow up with you for sure. Much appreciate your generosity of spirit.SC
Credit Suisse offering a 2 year unsecured note (callable after 12 months) at 7.1%. I would appreciate your thoughts/wisdom. The bank has been a lousy performer, but recently raised equity through a rights offering. CUSIP 22553QQ67
“More money has been lost reaching for yield than at the point of a gun.” – Raymond DeVoe Jr.
https://www.fitchratings.com/research/banks/credit-suisse-restructuring-involves-substantial-execution-risk-28-10-2022
Alpha, 2 months ago I ran bond searches on Fidelity and they kept coming up with bonds for Credit Suisse rated as A
With what had been in the news the past 6 months I didn’t feel it safe. Felt as if Wall St was trying to pass the doggie doo to unsuspecting investors wowed by the name.
This is just me, others may see it differently. The title of the article, substantial risk says it all.
How does the 10 Year US Treasury Rate of 3.469% compare to the rest of the planet 🌎? Anyone investing in Zambia at 30.18%?? I do trade the government debt and equities in a couple of these countries right now. How about you?
https://tradingeconomics.com/bonds
I am Azure
Do you know if there’s foreign tax withholding on USD denominated bonds issued by foreign countries?
Generally, no, though there are exceptions. I think Brazil and possibly Spain charges withholding tax on debt, but it is fairly rare on debt.
Equities have withholding tax in most places, but there are exceptions to that as well, such as Ireland for US persons because of the US/Irish treaty, and Bermuda.
I’m long Brazil USD bonds and don’t recall any withholding, although I don’t really look any more.
The coupon is not the only factor. Currency conversions affect returns. I did Mexico Treasury bills denominated in pesos. After I scored a 48% – 6 month gain I hung up my spikes. I don’t remember any withholding but I bought and sold through a bank in California.
There are a lot of websites that cover tax treaties / foreign tax withholding. Look before you leap.
Thanks for the replies. I bought some USD denominated Colombia bonds in a non-taxable account before thinking about whether there would be withholding. Waiting to find out. Did tons of research out there and there’s no info on whether there’s withholding for USD denominated bonds (there is for local currency bonds). The best I could come up with is the fact the USD EM bond ETF has no withholdings while the local currency EM bond ETF does. So, I concluded no withholding but I’ll have to wait and find out.
Argentina announced it would be buying its ST bonds. Moody’s claimed this a default. IMF apparently is Ok with it. I suppose good news for some.