Hank sold his 500 million in GS stock in '06. As to bankruptcy, anything can happen if a Wall St. Firm is indicted, just look at Drexel Burnham Lambert and the RICO case against it brought about by Giuliani.
but I believe they would need to suspend the dividend on the common in order to not pay out. current common yield is 0.8% with payout ratio of 6%, seem a pretty safe dividend(as compared to C or BAC). I think you are right on the Series D. when the fed starts to hike they should do well, plus you got the 4% floor in case we go to japanese scenarios. seems a no-brainer these preferreds, I would treat them as safe long-term bond on steroids, buying today can get you a mark to marked loss anytime but in 2-3 years you should be getting your money back plus interest over fed funds and libor heck maybe even s&p
Picked up some of the series D today for 17.9 / share. Liquidity sure is tight on these things. We'll see how it goes
PRIMUS TELECOMMUNICATIONS GRP SR NT CA / N/R 12.750% Due : 10/15/2009 Callable at $100.000 on 4/9/2008 86.00000 20,000.00000 $17,200.00 $13,400.00 +$3,800.00 +28.36% This was my best bond purchase. I bought this at 44 awhile back, and they are now worth 86, plus I get paid 12.75%. I plan to hold till they are called away. They were trading at 97 till the recent credit crunch. I used to be able to do a bond sreen on etrade but my money no longer there and I can't find it anymore. If someone knows where I can do a bond screen, feel free to let me know. Corporate bonds are good as long as you feel the company will not go belly up and you can buy them at the right price. Another good one which I sold out of at a profit was the GMAC (GM finance) bonds. I felt even if GM went belly up, their car finance unit would still be able to make money.
is there a good webiste that talks about the preferred shares? it would be great to have a place that has all the comanies and preferred information to screen
i picked up some of the Gs-B from $18.10-$19.50. looked like someone needed to raise some capital for margin calls
Try WPK, way down, solid dividend but don't think it will be called for a while...a bit of a gamble but nice pay off perhaps..good luck!