we may sell up to 17,000,000 shares of our common stock from time to time in at-the-market or privately negotiated transactions under our equity distribution agreement . these shares are registered with the sec under our shelf registration statement ( as amended and or supplemented ) . during the year ended december 31 , 2019 , we issued 2,540,260 shares of common stock under our equity distribution agreement for proceeds of $ 40.1 million , net of approximately $ 846,000 in commissions and fees . we may sell up to 7,000,000 shares of our preferred stock from time to time in at-the-market or privately negotiated transactions . these shares are registered with the sec under our shelf registration statement ( as amended and or supplemented ) . as of december 31 , 2019 , we have not sold any shares of preferred stock under the equity distribution agreement . during the year ended december 31 , 2019 , we did not repurchase any shares of our common stock . factors impacting our operating results our operating results can be affected by a number of factors and primarily depend on the level of our net interest income and the market value of our assets . our net interest income , which includes the amortization of purchase premiums and accretion of purchase discounts , varies primarily as a result of changes in market interest rates and prepayment speeds , as measured by the constant prepayment rate ( “ cpr ” ) on our target assets . interest rates and prepayment speeds vary according to the type of investment , conditions in the financial markets , competition and other factors , none of which can be predicted with any certainty . the market value of our assets can be impacted by credit spread premiums ( yield advantage over u.s. treasury notes ) and the supply of , and demand for , target assets in which we invest . market conditions macroeconomic factors that affect our business include interest rate spread premiums , governmental policy initiatives , residential and commercial real estate prices , credit availability , consumer personal income and spending , corporate earnings , employment conditions , financial conditions and inflation . financial conditions eased considerably during 2019 , as the heightened volatility that negatively impacted financial markets during the latter part of 2018 dissipated . u.s. equities rallied sharply , with the s & p 500 index increasing by 29 % for the year and the nasdaq gaining 35 % . the fourth quarter was particularly strong with the s & p 500 and nasdaq climbing 8.5 % and 12 % , respectively . investor confidence was bolstered as the federal open market committee ( “ fomc ” ) signaled that replace_table_token_39_th monetary policy would be on hold as the economic expansion continues with few signs of persistent inflation . investor sentiment was also helped as trade tensions between the u.s. and china eased in the fourth quarter . commodity prices ended the year higher , as the crb commodity price index increased by 6.8 % during the fourth quarter , bringing the increase to 9.4 % for 2019. the price of oil rose 25.6 % for the year , with most of that increase ( 14.5 % ) coming in the fourth quarter as tensions flared in the middle east . the u.s. economy continues to grow at a moderate pace , and the labor market remained positive throughout 2019. monthly gains in non-farm payrolls averaged 175,000 for the year , with the fourth quarter averaging 184,000. the unemployment rate ended the year at a multi-year low of 3.5 % . the consensus forecast for gdp growth in 2020 is 1.8 % , with the consensus estimate for 2021 at 1.9 % . inflation remained generally subdued throughout 2019. the u.s. personal consumption expenditure core price index remained below the federal reserve 's inflation target of 2 % , while the consumer price index ended the year at 2.3 % as the impact of increased tariffs were felt . implied breakeven rates on treasury inflation protected securities , which reflect the market 's expectation of future inflation rates , rose throughout 2019 , but remain lower than the federal reserve 's inflation target of 2 % . the implied two- and five-year inflation rates ended the year at 1.47 % and 1.70 % , respectively . the fomc lowered the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points three times during 2019 before pausing during the fourth quarter . as of year-end , the pricing of federal funds futures contracts implied that the fomc will cut the federal funds rate one more time over the course of 2020 and 2021. treasury rates fell across the maturity spectrum during 2019 , with the two-year treasury rate falling 92 basis points during the year to 1.57 % and the 10-year treasury rate falling 77 basis points to 1.92 % . after undergoing a period of volatility during the third quarter due to a number of technical factors , the markets for repurchase agreements stabilized in the fourth quarter after the federal reserve intervened . structured securities performed well during 2019. agency mortgages outperformed similar duration treasuries for the full year , and in particular , agency rmbs backed by prepayment protected specified pools performed extremely well . the outlook for agency rmbs is mixed , as prepayments have slowed off of their recent highs , but the to-be-announced ( “ tba ” ) market remains difficult to navigate and investors are forced to pay higher premiums for specified pools . during 2019 , spreads ( defined as the yield in excess of risk-free rates ) on cmbs and gse crt securities tightened throughout the year , as investor demand remains robust and fundamentals in both commercial and residential real estate remain on solid footing . story_separator_special_tag under these swap agreements , we pay fixed interest rates and receive floating interest rates indexed off of one- or three-month libor , effectively fixing the floating interest rates on $ 14.0 billion ( 2018 : $ 12.4 billion ) of borrowings . as of december 31 , 2019 , we received interest based on one-month libor on $ 10.7 billion of our swaps and interest based on three-month libor on $ 3.3 billion of our swaps . during 2019 , we terminated existing swaps with a notional amount of $ 25.3 billion and entered into new swaps with a notional amount of $ 27.0 billion to hedge repurchase agreement debt associated with purchases of agency rmbs and agency cmbs securities . we actively manage our swap portfolio by terminating and entering into new swaps as the size and composition of our investment portfolio changes . as of december 31 , 2019 , our interest rate swap portfolio had a weighted average fixed pay rate of 1.47 % ( december 31 , 2018 : 2.46 % ) and a weighted average years to maturity of 5.2 years ( december 31 , 2018 : 3.7 years ) . we extended the weighted average maturity of our interest rate swaps to take advantage of declining swap rates during the year by securing lower , more attractive borrowing costs for a longer period of time . in addition , we executed new interest rate swaps to replace terminated futures contracts that served to hedge longer duration assets , in order to more efficiently achieve our targeted duration profile . daily variation margin payment for interest rate swaps is characterized as settlement of the derivative itself rather than collateral and is recorded as a realized gain or loss in our consolidated statement of operations . we realized a net loss of $ 440.6 million on interest rate swaps during the year ended december 31 , 2019 primarily due to falling interest rates in 2019. as of december 31 , 2019 , we were not a party to any futures contracts . during the year ended december 31 , 2019 , we settled futures contracts with a notional amount of $ 5.3 billion and realized a net loss of $ 157.9 million due to falling interest rates in 2019. daily variation margin payment for futures is characterized as settlement of the derivative itself rather than collateral and is recorded as a realized gain or loss in our consolidated statement of operations . we enter into currency forward contracts to help mitigate the potential impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on investments denominated in foreign currencies . as of december 31 , 2019 , we had 20.8 million or $ 23.1 million ( 2018 : 20.3 million or $ 23.1 million ) of notional amount of forward contracts related to our investment in an unconsolidated venture . during the year ended december 31 , 2019 , we settled currency forward contracts of 89.8 million or $ 101.6 million ( 2018 : 202.9 million or $ 262.4 million ) in notional amount and realized a net gain of $ 1.5 million ( 2018 : $ 2.1 million net gain ) . replace_table_token_51_th book value per diluted common share we calculate book value per diluted common share as follows : replace_table_token_52_th ( 1 ) the company redeemed all op units of the non-controlling interest holder in november 2018 as discussed in note 14 - `` non-controlling interest - operating partnership `` . our book value per diluted common share increased 6.7 % as of december 31 , 2019 compared to december 31 , 2018 primarily due to interest rate spread tightening in both agency and credit assets . monetary policy eased notably in 2019 , as the federal reserve pivoted from increasing in the federal funds rate in 2018 to an easing policy through a pause in the first half of 2019 and cutting the federal funds rate in the second half of 2019. this shift in monetary policy supported risk assets , with additional steps by the federal reserve , such as increasing the size of its balance sheet via asset purchases and supporting the repurchase market through temporary open market operations , supporting market liquidity . the reduction in the federal reserve 's balance sheet contributed to wider spreads in agency mbs in 2018 , while higher interest rates more than offset modest spread tightening to drive lower valuations of our residential and commercial credit investments . although our interest rate hedges partially mitigated the impact of higher interest rates during the year , the company 's positive duration gap and underperformance in agency mbs led to a decline in book value per diluted common share of 16.8 % in 2018. refer to item 7a . “ quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk ” for interest rate risk and its impact on fair value . replace_table_token_53_th critical accounting policies our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with u.s. gaap , which requires the use of estimates and assumptions that involve the exercise of judgment and use of assumptions as to future uncertainties . accounting estimates and assumptions discussed in this section are those that we consider to be the most critical to an understanding of our financial statements because they involve significant judgments and uncertainties . all of these estimates reflect our best judgment about current , and for some estimates , future economic and market conditions and their effects based on information available as of the date of these financial statements . if conditions change from those expected , it is possible that the judgments and estimates described below could change , which may result in a change in valuation of our investment portfolio , future impairments of our mbs and gse crts , change in our interest income recognition , and a change in our tax liability among other effects . mortgage-backed and credit risk transfer securities . we have

liquidity and capital resources liquidity is a measurement of our ability to meet potential cash requirements , including ongoing commitments to pay dividends , fund investments , repayment of borrowings and other general business needs . our primary sources of funds for liquidity consist of the net proceeds from our common and preferred equity offerings , net cash provided by operating activities , proceeds from repurchase agreements and other financing arrangements and future issuances of equity and or debt securities . we currently believe that we have sufficient liquidity and capital resources available for the acquisition of additional investments , repayments on borrowings , margin requirements and the payment of cash dividends as required for continued qualification as a reit . we generally maintain liquidity to pay down borrowings under repurchase arrangements to reduce borrowing costs and otherwise efficiently manage our long-term investment capital . because the level of these borrowings can be adjusted on a daily basis , the level of cash and cash equivalents carried on our consolidated balance sheets is significantly less important than our potential liquidity available under borrowing arrangements . however , there can be no assurance that we will maintain sufficient levels of liquidity to meet any margin calls . we held cash , cash equivalents and restricted cash of $ 289.5 million at december 31 , 2019 ( 2018 : $ 135.6 million ) . our cash , cash equivalents and restricted cash increased due to normal fluctuations in cash balances related to the timing of principal and interest payments , repayments of debt , and asset purchases and sales . our operating activities provided net cash of approximately $ 343.4 million for the year ended december 31 , 2019 ( 2018 : $ 304.3 million ; 2017 : $ 290.6 million ) . replace_table_token_104_th our investing activities used net cash of $ 4.3 billion for the year ended december 31 , 2019 ( 2018 : provided net cash of $ 621.6 million ; 2017 : used net cash of $ 3.1 billion ) .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```liquidity and capital resources liquidity is a measurement of our ability to meet potential cash requirements , including ongoing commitments to pay dividends , fund investments , repayment of borrowings and other general business needs . our primary sources of funds for liquidity consist of the net proceeds from our common and preferred equity offerings , net cash provided by operating activities , proceeds from repurchase agreements and other financing arrangements and future issuances of equity and or debt securities . we currently believe that we have sufficient liquidity and capital resources available for the acquisition of additional investments , repayments on borrowings , margin requirements and the payment of cash dividends as required for continued qualification as a reit . we generally maintain liquidity to pay down borrowings under repurchase arrangements to reduce borrowing costs and otherwise efficiently manage our long-term investment capital . because the level of these borrowings can be adjusted on a daily basis , the level of cash and cash equivalents carried on our consolidated balance sheets is significantly less important than our potential liquidity available under borrowing arrangements . however , there can be no assurance that we will maintain sufficient levels of liquidity to meet any margin calls . we held cash , cash equivalents and restricted cash of $ 289.5 million at december 31 , 2019 ( 2018 : $ 135.6 million ) . our cash , cash equivalents and restricted cash increased due to normal fluctuations in cash balances related to the timing of principal and interest payments , repayments of debt , and asset purchases and sales . our operating activities provided net cash of approximately $ 343.4 million for the year ended december 31 , 2019 ( 2018 : $ 304.3 million ; 2017 : $ 290.6 million ) . replace_table_token_104_th our investing activities used net cash of $ 4.3 billion for the year ended december 31 , 2019 ( 2018 : provided net cash of $ 621.6 million ; 2017 : used net cash of $ 3.1 billion ) .
```    
 Suspicious Activity Report : we may sell up to 17,000,000 shares of our common stock from time to time in at-the-market or privately negotiated transactions under our equity distribution agreement . these shares are registered with the sec under our shelf registration statement ( as amended and or supplemented ) . during the year ended december 31 , 2019 , we issued 2,540,260 shares of common stock under our equity distribution agreement for proceeds of $ 40.1 million , net of approximately $ 846,000 in commissions and fees . we may sell up to 7,000,000 shares of our preferred stock from time to time in at-the-market or privately negotiated transactions . these shares are registered with the sec under our shelf registration statement ( as amended and or supplemented ) . as of december 31 , 2019 , we have not sold any shares of preferred stock under the equity distribution agreement . during the year ended december 31 , 2019 , we did not repurchase any shares of our common stock . factors impacting our operating results our operating results can be affected by a number of factors and primarily depend on the level of our net interest income and the market value of our assets . our net interest income , which includes the amortization of purchase premiums and accretion of purchase discounts , varies primarily as a result of changes in market interest rates and prepayment speeds , as measured by the constant prepayment rate ( “ cpr ” ) on our target assets . interest rates and prepayment speeds vary according to the type of investment , conditions in the financial markets , competition and other factors , none of which can be predicted with any certainty . the market value of our assets can be impacted by credit spread premiums ( yield advantage over u.s. treasury notes ) and the supply of , and demand for , target assets in which we invest . market conditions macroeconomic factors that affect our business include interest rate spread premiums , governmental policy initiatives , residential and commercial real estate prices , credit availability , consumer personal income and spending , corporate earnings , employment conditions , financial conditions and inflation . financial conditions eased considerably during 2019 , as the heightened volatility that negatively impacted financial markets during the latter part of 2018 dissipated . u.s. equities rallied sharply , with the s & p 500 index increasing by 29 % for the year and the nasdaq gaining 35 % . the fourth quarter was particularly strong with the s & p 500 and nasdaq climbing 8.5 % and 12 % , respectively . investor confidence was bolstered as the federal open market committee ( “ fomc ” ) signaled that replace_table_token_39_th monetary policy would be on hold as the economic expansion continues with few signs of persistent inflation . investor sentiment was also helped as trade tensions between the u.s. and china eased in the fourth quarter . commodity prices ended the year higher , as the crb commodity price index increased by 6.8 % during the fourth quarter , bringing the increase to 9.4 % for 2019. the price of oil rose 25.6 % for the year , with most of that increase ( 14.5 % ) coming in the fourth quarter as tensions flared in the middle east . the u.s. economy continues to grow at a moderate pace , and the labor market remained positive throughout 2019. monthly gains in non-farm payrolls averaged 175,000 for the year , with the fourth quarter averaging 184,000. the unemployment rate ended the year at a multi-year low of 3.5 % . the consensus forecast for gdp growth in 2020 is 1.8 % , with the consensus estimate for 2021 at 1.9 % . inflation remained generally subdued throughout 2019. the u.s. personal consumption expenditure core price index remained below the federal reserve 's inflation target of 2 % , while the consumer price index ended the year at 2.3 % as the impact of increased tariffs were felt . implied breakeven rates on treasury inflation protected securities , which reflect the market 's expectation of future inflation rates , rose throughout 2019 , but remain lower than the federal reserve 's inflation target of 2 % . the implied two- and five-year inflation rates ended the year at 1.47 % and 1.70 % , respectively . the fomc lowered the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points three times during 2019 before pausing during the fourth quarter . as of year-end , the pricing of federal funds futures contracts implied that the fomc will cut the federal funds rate one more time over the course of 2020 and 2021. treasury rates fell across the maturity spectrum during 2019 , with the two-year treasury rate falling 92 basis points during the year to 1.57 % and the 10-year treasury rate falling 77 basis points to 1.92 % . after undergoing a period of volatility during the third quarter due to a number of technical factors , the markets for repurchase agreements stabilized in the fourth quarter after the federal reserve intervened . structured securities performed well during 2019. agency mortgages outperformed similar duration treasuries for the full year , and in particular , agency rmbs backed by prepayment protected specified pools performed extremely well . the outlook for agency rmbs is mixed , as prepayments have slowed off of their recent highs , but the to-be-announced ( “ tba ” ) market remains difficult to navigate and investors are forced to pay higher premiums for specified pools . during 2019 , spreads ( defined as the yield in excess of risk-free rates ) on cmbs and gse crt securities tightened throughout the year , as investor demand remains robust and fundamentals in both commercial and residential real estate remain on solid footing . story_separator_special_tag under these swap agreements , we pay fixed interest rates and receive floating interest rates indexed off of one- or three-month libor , effectively fixing the floating interest rates on $ 14.0 billion ( 2018 : $ 12.4 billion ) of borrowings . as of december 31 , 2019 , we received interest based on one-month libor on $ 10.7 billion of our swaps and interest based on three-month libor on $ 3.3 billion of our swaps . during 2019 , we terminated existing swaps with a notional amount of $ 25.3 billion and entered into new swaps with a notional amount of $ 27.0 billion to hedge repurchase agreement debt associated with purchases of agency rmbs and agency cmbs securities . we actively manage our swap portfolio by terminating and entering into new swaps as the size and composition of our investment portfolio changes . as of december 31 , 2019 , our interest rate swap portfolio had a weighted average fixed pay rate of 1.47 % ( december 31 , 2018 : 2.46 % ) and a weighted average years to maturity of 5.2 years ( december 31 , 2018 : 3.7 years ) . we extended the weighted average maturity of our interest rate swaps to take advantage of declining swap rates during the year by securing lower , more attractive borrowing costs for a longer period of time . in addition , we executed new interest rate swaps to replace terminated futures contracts that served to hedge longer duration assets , in order to more efficiently achieve our targeted duration profile . daily variation margin payment for interest rate swaps is characterized as settlement of the derivative itself rather than collateral and is recorded as a realized gain or loss in our consolidated statement of operations . we realized a net loss of $ 440.6 million on interest rate swaps during the year ended december 31 , 2019 primarily due to falling interest rates in 2019. as of december 31 , 2019 , we were not a party to any futures contracts . during the year ended december 31 , 2019 , we settled futures contracts with a notional amount of $ 5.3 billion and realized a net loss of $ 157.9 million due to falling interest rates in 2019. daily variation margin payment for futures is characterized as settlement of the derivative itself rather than collateral and is recorded as a realized gain or loss in our consolidated statement of operations . we enter into currency forward contracts to help mitigate the potential impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on investments denominated in foreign currencies . as of december 31 , 2019 , we had 20.8 million or $ 23.1 million ( 2018 : 20.3 million or $ 23.1 million ) of notional amount of forward contracts related to our investment in an unconsolidated venture . during the year ended december 31 , 2019 , we settled currency forward contracts of 89.8 million or $ 101.6 million ( 2018 : 202.9 million or $ 262.4 million ) in notional amount and realized a net gain of $ 1.5 million ( 2018 : $ 2.1 million net gain ) . replace_table_token_51_th book value per diluted common share we calculate book value per diluted common share as follows : replace_table_token_52_th ( 1 ) the company redeemed all op units of the non-controlling interest holder in november 2018 as discussed in note 14 - `` non-controlling interest - operating partnership `` . our book value per diluted common share increased 6.7 % as of december 31 , 2019 compared to december 31 , 2018 primarily due to interest rate spread tightening in both agency and credit assets . monetary policy eased notably in 2019 , as the federal reserve pivoted from increasing in the federal funds rate in 2018 to an easing policy through a pause in the first half of 2019 and cutting the federal funds rate in the second half of 2019. this shift in monetary policy supported risk assets , with additional steps by the federal reserve , such as increasing the size of its balance sheet via asset purchases and supporting the repurchase market through temporary open market operations , supporting market liquidity . the reduction in the federal reserve 's balance sheet contributed to wider spreads in agency mbs in 2018 , while higher interest rates more than offset modest spread tightening to drive lower valuations of our residential and commercial credit investments . although our interest rate hedges partially mitigated the impact of higher interest rates during the year , the company 's positive duration gap and underperformance in agency mbs led to a decline in book value per diluted common share of 16.8 % in 2018. refer to item 7a . “ quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk ” for interest rate risk and its impact on fair value . replace_table_token_53_th critical accounting policies our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with u.s. gaap , which requires the use of estimates and assumptions that involve the exercise of judgment and use of assumptions as to future uncertainties . accounting estimates and assumptions discussed in this section are those that we consider to be the most critical to an understanding of our financial statements because they involve significant judgments and uncertainties . all of these estimates reflect our best judgment about current , and for some estimates , future economic and market conditions and their effects based on information available as of the date of these financial statements . if conditions change from those expected , it is possible that the judgments and estimates described below could change , which may result in a change in valuation of our investment portfolio , future impairments of our mbs and gse crts , change in our interest income recognition , and a change in our tax liability among other effects . mortgage-backed and credit risk transfer securities . we have

