The United States, Europe and Japan planned joint intervention to rescue the dollar when it was plunging in March at the time U.S. investment bank Bear Stearns collapsed, the Nikkei business newspaper reported.
U.S. federal prosecutors asked securities regulators to delay a civil case against two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers while they hold grand jury hearings in building a criminal case against the pair.
Shares of national banks mostly rose Wednesday as a report showing a larger-than-expected increase in durable goods orders helped ease investors' concerns about the economy.
NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of national banks mostly rose Wednesday as a report showing a larger-than-expected increase in durable goods orders helped ease investors' concerns about the economy.
Editor's Note: The following piece was a collaboration with Minyanville professor Rob Roy."Dead Man Walking": Originally a phrase in a poem by Thomas Hardy in 1909 but later in a work of non-fiction by Sister Helen Prejean A Roman catholic nun and one of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Medaille. Prejean later wrote ‘Dead Man Walking’ which became a hit movie in 1995. Death Row: A term that refers to the section of a prison that houses individuals awaiting execution. It is also used to refer the state of awaiting execution even in places where a sp???
At the expense of you and me, tax breaks help companies hand ever-bigger paychecks to CEOs. What are the presidential candidates doing about it? Almost nothing.
According to quarterly figures, insured commercial banks and savings institutions posted a profit of just $5 billion in the second quarter, the second-lowest quarterly total since 1991.
Trying to select stocks from companies that got caught up in the housing crisis is a lot like trying to determine what can be salvaged from a house fire. You might find something worth saving, but it'll take some time and work. For investors, the work consists of finding something worth saving.
Depots at a Lowe Point
The first stocks I'd like to point out are not, oddly enough, bank stocks. Let's start with companies such as Home Depot (HD) and Lowe's (LOW), the places that make their living out of selling building materials. As you might expect, 2008...
During one of my research efforts in support of a different post, I came across this JP Morgan (JPM) position piece (circa 2004) attempting to convince participants in trade transactions how useful CDS contracts might be. Please click here and read it.
This nonsense is just one example of how far the industry is willing to go to promote “financial innovation”. The CDS market is unregulated and apparently unlimited in its suggested applications. It’s out of control and we are all at its mercy.
Freddie sells $2B in debt, eases bailout worries. Freddie Mac (FRE) easily sold $2B in short-term debt on Monday, providing welcome reassurance to investors worried about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's (FNM) ability to fund operations without government help. Freddie's stock jumped 17% to $3.29, and Fannie gained a more modest 3.8% to $5.19. Both companies currently meet regulatory capital requirements and are rolling over their debt on schedule, and Fannie Mae is due to sell $2B in bills tomorrow.
Isn’t the financial sector supposed to be in dire straits? Maybe they are, but the latest Market Insight publication from AIC Funds says 76% of their largest 25 financial stocks raised dividends in the past year, 20% had no change, and 4% had a decrease.
Prices of Treasury coupon securities surged today as the credit crunch hovers and associated economic weakness hangs over the market like a funeral pall draped over a casket. It is sad and depressing and good news is hard to find. The day opened with the news that there would not be a Korean based deus ex machina for Lehman Brothers (LEH). The strange euphoria which this shabby story generated faded quickly.
During the day the depth of the problem resonated with word that JPMorgan (JPM) in an SEC filing has acknowledged that it had lost $1.2 billion...
Barry Ritholtz over at the Big Picture recently highlightedBloomberg'sChart of the Day showing that analyst profit forecasts are currently worse than ever.
With that in mind, we pulled up a post we did back in November highlighting the average analyst price targets for the 30 Dow stocks. After analyzing those price targets and where the stocks are now, it's clear that bear markets are definitely not an analyst's best friend.
It is hard to imagine something more difficult than trying to determine the intrinsic value of a bank right now. The combination of complexity and a tendency towards subterfuge make understanding the risks involved near impossible.
Morningstar, a company that provides independent advice to the average Joe on equities and mutual funds, appears to have taken a liking to JPMorgan (JPM). Warren Buffett clearly thinks highly of their CEO.
I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what a Lehman (LEH) take-over would imply for the valuation of financials.
I ran a screen for financials with market caps above $900m that trade in the US and trade below current book value. I then removed some of the more obscure names to narrow down the list and make it more succinct.
Three more banks reach ARS settlements. In separate settlements reached with state regulators, Merrill Lynch (MER), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Deutsche Bank (DB) will buy back at least $12.5B ($10B, $1.5B and $1B respectively) of auction-rate securities [ARS] and will pay $162.5M in fines. The three settlements are the latest in a string of ARS-related buybacks and fines: Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), UBS (UBS) and Wachovia have agreed to $35B in buybacks and over $360M in fines. Other firms, including Bank of America (BAC), are...
DUBLIN , Ireland , Aug 26 , 2008 ( BUSINESS WIRE ) - - Research and Markets ( http : / / www . researchandmarkets . com / research / 191ceb / jpmorgan_chase_i ) has announced the addition of ...
JPMorgan Chase & Co . ( JPM ) could post a write - down of $600 million or more on the value of its holdings of Fannie Mae's ( FNM ) and Freddie Mac's ( FRE ) perpetual preferred stock as their ...
NEW YORK ( Associated Press ) - Among the stock activity stories for Friday , Aug . 22 , from AP Financial News :MILWAUKEE ( AP ) _ Shares of Dean Foods Inc . rose Friday after an analyst raised ...
This morning there was a rather long CNBC interview where Becky Quick got to interview Berkshire Hathaway's ( NYSE : BRK - A ) Warren Buffett live in Omaha.He noted specifically that the economic ...
Aug 22 , 2008 ( Datamonitor via COMTEX ) - - JPM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating - - JPMorgan Chase & Company has renewed its contract with the State of Arizona for the distribution of benefit ...
( RTTNews ) - Thursday , electronic payments services provider Visa Inc . ( V : News ) and financial services company JPMorgan Chase & Co . ( JPM : News ) announced a consumer pilot that delivers ...
NEW YORK , Aug 20 , 2008 ( BUSINESS WIRE ) - - Fitch Ratings assigns a rating of ' AA / F1+ ' to the approximately $108,500,000 Missouri Development Finance Board , variable rate demand cultural ...
DALLAS , Aug . 20 / PRNewswire / - - BeaconEquity . com announces the availability of Trade Alerts on stocks making news today.Investors can view all of the daily trading notes for free by visiting ...
Mergers between investment banks and commercial banks had become rare until JPMorgan Chase & Co . ( JPM ) bought Bear Stearns , but falling profits and tougher funding have hurt Lehman Brothers ...
se in July's Consumer Price Index was not as large as June's increase , but it was twice as high as the market expected , and brings inflation to its highest annual pace in 17 years.The core ...
"If you're talking about a bottom in sales, it could happen late this year or early next year," says Gary Thayer, a senior economist at Wachovia. "If you're talking about a bottom in pricing that may take a little bit longer to hit." Thayer tells John Wordock he's watching first for sales to bottom. "We're not there yet. But we're getting some encouraging signs."
This year, when it comes to convention spending, Wall Street has a tough choice: spend as it has in the past or tighten the purse strings in recognition of ongoing industry challenges.
Jennifer Waters reports on more retailers hanging caution signs in the window. Wall Street waits for more news on shaky real estate. And grab a sweater! Ann Cates says heating oil prices are going through the roof this winter.
Shares of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were mixed in early trading Monday as speculation continues to swirl that a government bailout is inevitable with no housing recovery in sight.
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in a regulatory filing Monday said it held about $1.2 billion par value of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preferred stock. "The firm estimates that such preferred stocks have declined in value by approximately an aggregate $600 million in the third quarter to date, based on current market values," J.P. Morgan said in the filing. "The precise amount of losses that may be incurred on these securities for the third quarter is difficult to determine, given the significant volatility being experienced in the market values of these securities." J.P....
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (MarketWatch) -- A former Bank of England official on Saturday sharply criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's handling of the credit crunch, saying Bernanke has been too cozy with Wall Street at the expense of economic stability.
Stocks next week will take their cues from fresh data on housing and consumption, while the fate of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, as well as the future of investment firm Lehman Brothers, will likely keep investors on their toes.
U.S. stocks rally, with sentiment boosted by a drop in oil prices and talk that Lehman Brothers may be acquired, while a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke confirms the Fed sees inflation moderating this year.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- At least one investment banking strategy adopted in the past few years seems to be working these days -- the move by large securities houses to take retail banking deposits has proved an unlikely source of stability in these troubled times.
Hickey and Walters (
