Allianz $25-par bonds rise in active trading; First Niagara bonds get temporary trading symbol

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., Dec. 16 - Preferred stocks finished the week with a softer tone, market sources reported Friday.

"There was nothing too dramatic on the news front," one source said. "But there were a couple of odd trades that were pretty liquid."

One such trade was in Allianz SE's 8.375% subordinated callable bonds. Over 4 million of the bonds changed hands, though the source noted that it looked like a block of 2 million that crossed over.

Meanwhile, First Niagara Financial Group Inc.'s recent fixed-to-floating series B preferreds got a temporary trading symbol on the OTCBB exchange. Though the issue was flat on the day, it was still actively traded.

Allianz active, better

Allianz's 8.375% subordinated callable bonds rose 41 cents to end at $25.50, according to a market source.

He said it looked like more than 4 million of the bonds had traded, but upon further inspection he noted that it looked like " a block of 2 million that got crossed, so it got reported twice."

There was no news out to explain the heavy trading.

"I have not a clue what was driving that," the source said.

Allianz is an insurance company based in Munich.

First Niagara lists temporarily

First Niagara Financial's recent $350 million issue of fixed-to-floating series B preferreds listed temporarily on the OTCBB exchange on Friday. The temporary ticker symbol is "FNFGP."

Sources saw the securities trading actively but steady at the $25.20 mark.

The issue is expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange within 30 days of issuance, which was Dec. 9. The permanent symbol is expected to be "FNFGPB."

First Niagara is a Buffalo-based bank.

Financials end mixed

Among other actively traded preferreds, Ally Financial Inc.'s 8.125% series 2 fixed-to-floating trust preferreds (NYSE: ALLYPA) were busy and lower again. The paper fell 27 cents, or 1.39%, to $19.18.

ING Groep NV's 7.375% perpetual hybrid capital securities (NYSE: IDG) were also active, but unlike Ally, the preferreds managed to gain 12 cents to close at $18.56.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s 7.2% series BB fixed-to-floating capital securities (NYSE: JPMPB) ended down 4 cents at $25.16.

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