Morning Commentary: Preferreds firm on back of jobs report; GSEs busy; Morgan Stanley lists

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, Feb. 3 – Preferred stocks were up smartly early Friday, following equities higher in the wake of a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index was up 42 basis points at mid-morning. By comparison, the Dow Jones industrial average was up more than 161 points, or 81 bps.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that non-farm payrolls increased by 277,000 in January, better than the 175,000 increase expected.

Wage growth, however, remained tepid, rising only 0.1%.

In preferred dealings, Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc.’s $1 billion of 5.85% series K fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds – a deal that priced on Jan. 24 – began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “MSPrK.”

Meanwhile, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paper once again took over as the dominating securities. Vanguard Natural Resources LLC was Thursday’s most active name, after the company announced it had filed for bankruptcy.

The GSE-linked preferreds continued to trend upward, while Vanguard remained weak.

Fannie’s 8.25% series S fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds (OTCBB: FNMAS) were up 26 cents, or 2.73%, at $9.77. Freddie’s 8.375% fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds (OTCBB: FMCKJ) were 28 cents better, or 3.05%, at $9.30.

In Vanguard, the 7.625% series B cumulative redeemable preferred units (Nadaq: VNRBP) were off 77 cents, or 22.19%, at $2.70, while the 7.75% series C cumulative redeemable preferreds units (Nasdaq: VNRCP) dropped 78 cents, or 22.03%, to $2.76.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.