Morning Commentary: Preferred stock pipeline goes dry; Fannie, Freddie still in focus, weaker

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, Oct. 8 – Preferred stocks were flat at mid-morning on Wednesday, though they had been up slightly as the market opened.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index was up a couple basis points. But by mid-morning, it was settling back to unchanged from Tuesday’s levels.

“There’s not all that much going on,” a trader said. “There’s been no mention of any new deals, and everything is listed for the most part.”

There did continue to be weakness in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paper, however. The preferreds have been trending toward the downside since Sept. 30, when a federal judge dismissed investors’ lawsuits claiming the government consignment of a majority of profits was illegal.

Fannie’s 8.25% series S fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds (OTCBB: FNMAS) were off 2 cents in early trading at $3.38. Freddie’s fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative perpetual preferreds (OTCBB: FMCKJ) slipped 6 cents, or 1.7%, to $3.46.

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