Morning Commentary: Diana Shipping prices, not yet freed; banks firm despite forex settlement

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, May 21 – The preferred stock market was firm in early Thursday trading, but a trader noted that things were starting to quiet down ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index was up 11 basis points at mid-morning.

Diana Shipping Inc. announced late Wednesday that it had priced $55 million of 8.5% $25-par senior notes due 2020.

The deal came at the tight end of talk and was upsized from $40 million.

Come Thursday morning, a trader pegged the issue at $24.75.

He added that the notes had not yet freed to trade.

Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, BB&T Capital Markets and Wunderlich Securities Inc. ran the books.

Among listed issues, bank preferreds were holding up despite news out late Wednesday regarding a foreign exchange probe.

Four banks – Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc – pleaded guilty to manipulating forex markets. UBS pleaded guilty to a different change, while Bank of America Corp. avoided a guilty plea.

However, all six banks were levied a fine – a total of almost $6 billion.

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