Midday Commentary: Qwest, Entergy holding in; Ladenburg expected soon; Capstead lists on NYSE

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, May 17 - Recent preferred stock deals were holding up in Friday trading.

A trader saw Qwest Corp.'s $750 million of $25-par four-year notes trading in a range of $24.95 to $24.97 during the first half of the day. The deal came on Tuesday.

From Wednesday business, Entergy Louisiana LLC's $100 million of 4.7% $25-par first mortgage bonds due 2063 were seen at $24.90 bid.

No new issues had come as of midday on Friday, but a trader said that Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc.'s proposed sale of at least $50 million series A cumulative perpetual preferreds could come later in the session or possibly Monday.

"I hear it's going well," the trader said.

The deal was first announced on Tuesday.

In new listings, Capstead Mortgage Corp.'s 7.5% series E cumulative redeemable preferreds hit the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

The $150 million deal priced May 8. The ticker symbol is "CMOPE."

Paper was trading up a penny from the previous close at $25.01 as of midday. However, that was down from opening levels of $25.05.

The Dallas-based real estate investment trust said Thursday that its over-allotment option had been partially exercised, bringing total issuance up to $170 million.

Meanwhile, National Bank of Greece SA's $2.25 series A noncumulative preference shares (NYSE: NBGPA) were trading actively and higher following Fitch Ratings' upgrade of the bank on Thursday.

The shares were up 9 cents, or 1.51%, at $9.44 at midday.

Fitch upped the company's rating to B- from F.

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