Morning Commentary: Preferreds dampened by concerns over Argentina; Northern Trust gets symbol

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, July 31 – Preferred stocks were coming in Thursday, as investors grew concerned about a debt default by Argentina.

Argentina defaulted on some of its debt obligations this week. And bondholders are eyeing their next move. The default could increase borrowing costs for a country that is already doing poorly economically.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index was down 27 basis points at mid-morning.

A trader said that Northern Trust Corp.’s $400 million issue of 5.85% series C noncumulative perpetual preferreds – a deal that priced Tuesday and freed to trade on Wednesday – had been assigned a temporary trading symbol.

The symbol is “NTRNP.”

The trader said he saw the preferreds trading around $24.80 early in the session.

Another source placed the issue at $24.78, down from opening levels of $24.84. Nearly 500,000 shares had been exchanged as of mid-morning.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, BofA Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo Securities led the deal, which came upsized from $150 million.

Initial price talk was 6%.

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