I say What the Hell!!
First Midwest Bancorp (FMBI) is selling a new issue of $25 preferred stock.
FMBI just sold a new issue 1 month ago–so this was a surprise. George M picked this one up early mid day. If you Prefer had it also.
The issue will be non-cumulative, qualified and rated BB- by S&P and Ba1 by Moodys.
The issue from last month carries a 7% coupon and is trading around $24.84 right now.
The preliminary prospectus for the new issue can be found here.
I think there is a lot of trouble in River city with a capitol T.
After reading what 2WR posted about United and Goldman Sachs trying to monetize frequent flyer miles and using it to back bonds seems like a desperate attempt to get cash to refinance the debt United has and hand off the doo bag to someone else.
Just the tip of what we could be seeing in next couple months
Is that better or worse than WTF?
I don’t recognize the ticker “WTF”. Oh, OK, got it.
I think Tim is saying this is a warning flare, and if that’s the case I agree. A company that goes from having no preferred to having 2 in one month is likely either in hyper growth mode or getting into trouble.
Banks collectively distributed $32 billion in dividends last quarter and made $18 billion in profits from what I saw today. That isnt a sustainable path going forward.
Actually, I was thinking WinTrust Financial