Q: I am looking for some insight to help me understand how the market is currently pricing preferred shares. I had a position in CPD from 2015 to 2020 when I dumped it out of frustration. During that period it seemed that when interest rates were forecast to go up the preferreds would go down because investors would focus on the lower relative yields. If rates were forecast to drop the preferreds would still go down because then investors would focus on the reset aspect. It was an investment that provided the worst of both worlds!

I still hold a couple of preferreds including some fixed perpetuals such as POW.PR.D and RY.PR.P which despite everyone’s expectation of rising interest rates are both hitting new all-time highs now. It’s all just too perplexing for me. Any explanation?