The surprise winner so far in 2012 after the first month is USG Corporation (NYSE: USG). then there are stocks like Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), and American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP).  Yep, the other winners of these seven holdings are mostly tied to finance.

We have evaluated the performance to date (from FinViz.com) and added in some color on each.  We have also shown how the price compares to the 52-week highs or to the consensus price target as well, and included in some cases whether the position is substantial or not.

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) is up 32.8% year-to-date and is actually Berkshire Hathaway’s top performing stock.  With so much interest in the bottoming out of housing at some point in 2012, it may not be that ridiculous even if the fundamentals have not changed all that much yet.  The concern here is that at $13.50 it now trades above the consensus $13.30 price target.  Buffett holds over 17 million USG shares.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is up 32.4% year-to-date and the new large preferred position is back to where Warren Buffett doesn’t look foolish for dreaming up his investment in BofA while in the bath.  At $7.36 there is still plenty of upside to the $8.90 price target and this remains (and is expected to remain) well under book value.

Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR) is up 15.5% year-to-date, not bad for what is usually a slower-moving company with a portfolio of industrial and commercial products.  At $35.18, it does not have much upside left to the consensus price target of $37.94 but it is still way off the 52-week high of $52.33.  Buffett’s position is way down from prior periods and is only 636,600 shares as of the last report.  This position just can’t move the entire Berkshire Hathaway Barometer too much.

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) is up 11.6% year-to-date.  The credit rating agency has been a controversial position that Buffett has lightened up on through time.  At $37.60, it is close to the consensus price target of $39.60 and under the 52-week high of $41.93.  Buffett did lighten up a bit on this position but still holds roughly 28.4 million shares.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 9.5% year-to-date and is one of the news 2011 investments that Mr. Buffett hid.  It was also his first technology pick as far as pure hardware is concerned.  At $26.55, Intel is very close to its 52-week high of $27.00 and close to its consensus analyst price target of $27.17.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is up 8.9% year-to-date and is up the least of the big money-center banks.  It is also the only one of the money-center banks trading above book value because the restructuring regulatory climate over future earnings will create the least amount of change at Wells Fargo. Buffett keeps adding here and now holds over 361 million shares as one of his biggest positions ever.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is up 7.7% year-to-date, which is lower than many financials. The recent earnings report showed improvement but perhaps a trend towards peaking of the improving credit metrics of AmEx customers.  Buffett’s position is roughly 151.6 million shares.

Berkshire Hathaway’s most recent holdings in entirety can be found here.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

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JON C. OGG

American Express beat its estimates for the fourth quarter but shares went down from rising loan loss provisions and as its revenues were short of plan.  AmEx managed to grow expenses at a slower rate to help its beat earnings expectations.  The company increased its provision for loan losses with some $409 million.  AmEx serves mostly higher credit customers.

Capital One serves the masses with its credit cards and few branches, but it also managed to have soft earnings as non-interest expenses and its sales and marketing costs rose.  Earnings were down to $0.88 per share, down from $1.52 in the fourth quarter a year earlier and under the consensus analyst estimate of $1.56. Capital One’s non-interest expenses rose to $2.62 billion from $2.09 billion in the year earlier.  Expenses of $2.0 to $2.5 billion are also apparently higher than what many analysts were expecting. It is important to keep in mind that Capital One has two major acquisitions which should close during the first half of this year.

AmEx ended up only losing a couple percent on Friday and its shares are up only marginally with a gain of $0.04 to $50.08; Capital One shares are up $0.16 at $46.19 after closing down about 5.6% on Friday.

JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 97 points to 12,720.48 (0.76%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 2 points (-0.06%) to 2,786.70, and the S&P 500 rose a bare 0.07% or less than 1 point to 1,315.37.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google maintained as ‘buy’ but target price cut to $700 at Canaccord Genuity; Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) reiterated as ‘buy’ with $35 target price at Argus; Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $92 at Argus; and Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo.

Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Google is down -8.78% at $583.39; Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 2.75% at $26.33; IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is up 4.48% at $188.61; Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is up 1.42% at $7.06; American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is down -1.94% at $49.96; General Electric is down -0.21% at $19.11; Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB is up 0.74% at $73.40; and Suntrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) is up 4.79% at $21.21.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Insmed Inc. (NASDAQ: INSM) is up nearly 30% at $4.94. The biotech company announced that the FDA has lifted a clinical hold on a lung disease drug.

The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) is up nearly 18% at $3.17. The clothing retailer is rumored to be under consideration for a takeover by two private equity firms.

Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is up nearly 14% at $49.25. The general merchandise retailer is thought to be under consideration for a takeover offer from its largest shareholder.

NCI Inc. (NASDAQ: NCIT) is down nearly -32%, after posting a new 52-week low of $7.71 earlier today. The federal contractor will restructure to compensate for loss of contracts.

Cogent Communications Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) is down nearly -18% at $15.45. The network communications provider is suffering from the shutdown last night of the Megaupload.com website, one of Cogent’s largest customers, by federal authorities.

Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 11:30 a.m. – 3-month and 6-month Treasury bill auctions

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Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

IKEA posts a profit and grows in most regions of the world. (Reuters)

Greece and private creditors move closer to a debt deal. (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) says it will enter the digital textbook business. (Reuters)

IBM (NYSE: IBM) results show solid IT demand. (Reuters)

Angry Birds’ parent pushes back the date of its IPO. (Reuters)

The EC will decide whether to approve a Google buyout of Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) by February 13. (Reuters)

Eastman Kodak’s (NYSE: EK) move into bankruptcy as a means to cut costs may not yield high value for its patents as well. (WSJ)

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) buys old AIG (NYSE: AIG) mortgage paper from the New York Federal Reserve. (WSJ)

AT&T’s (NYSE: T) new plan to raise data costs for subscribers may prompt some to switch to competitors. (WSJ)

HSBC’s (NYSE: HBC) Chinese PMI estimate shows slow manufacturing, with a 48.8 measurement compared to 48.7 in December. (WSJ)

Floods in Thailand do not dent Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) earnings much. (WSJ)

American homeowners finally begin to improve their property, according to IHS Global Insight. (WSJ)

China sets more deals with U.S. allies to strengthen its supply of oil. (WSJ)

The European Aviation Safety Agency says Airbus will do more safety inspections of its A380 superjumbo. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) says it is the largest car company in the world, but experts disagree on how to count affiliate sales. (WSJ)

The Energy Information Administration says exports of natural gas could drive U.S. prices up by 54% in 2018. (WSJ)

Google presses its effort in display ads, which could pressure Aol (NYSE: AOL) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). (WSJ)

General Electric (NYSE: GE) tries to improve its prospects, but its size and diversity may hurt that push. (WSJ)

Hedge fund investors pull more cash from the firms than they add in the last part of 2011. (WSJ)

Commerzbank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, and Spain’s Bankia must push to raise cash to meet regulations. (WSJ)

American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Capital One (NYSE: COF) earnings show consumers returning to the use of credit. (WSJ)

Dealogic says that companies have raised $44.2 billion this year — a record for the period. (WSJ)

Chris Dodd, the head of the Motion Picture Association of America, suggests that tech and content companies meet to explore their differences. (NYT)

Ireland says its economy will be troubled again this year as its tries to meet austerity goals. (NYT)

Italy’s banks borrow 50 billion euros from the European Central Bank. (FT)

International Monetary Fund’s Largarde warns that budget cuts linked to austerity could damage growth. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

We have compiled basic earnings previews and shown Thomson Reuters estimates from the following: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS); State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT); Bank Of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK); U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB); Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS); American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS); and Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF).

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is set to report earnings on Wednesday morning and the earnings estimates have been coming down more than just marginally ahead of the expected earnings report.  It is no longer expected to have the name “Golden Slacks” attached as a nickname right now.  The current target is $1.24 EPS on $6.54 billion in sales, but the earnings targets were above $2.00 EPS recently and the street expected almost $3.00 just about 90 days ago.

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is set to report earnings on Wednesday morning and the consensus estimate for the trust and custodial bank is expected to rise about 8% to $0.94 EPS.  Bank Of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) is set to report earnings on Wednesday morning and the earnings estimates are $0.53 EPS and $3.75 billion in revenues.  We will be waiting to see if any of the charges to trust and custodial customers taking the cash holdings operations to a cost rather than as an interest bearing account will have made a difference.  That seems to have gone away but it may have just been lost in the shuffle.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is expected to report earnings on Wednesday morning.  The estimates are $0.63 EPS on $4.76 billion in sales.  Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: NTRS) is also due Wednesday morning and estimates are $0.68 EPS and $972.3 million.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is due on Thursday after the close and earnings estimates are $0.98 EPS and $7.92 billion in sales.  As with the rest of the lenders and credit cards, we expect to hear continued improvements in credit metrics regarding the customer base.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is due to report on Thursday morning.  The most unpopular of the big ‘too big to fail’ money-center banks in America, has a consensus earnings estimate of $0.23 EPS on $24.08 billion in revenues.  This has been the best DJIA stock so far in 2012 even including the last two trading sessions.  It is a bit more than just interesting that earnings estimates have ratcheted higher over the last ten days when estimates elsewhere have been cut so much in banking.  The huge discount to book value is again likely to be less material than in years passed.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is set to report on Thursday morning as well.  Long gone is worrying about the relative book value and long gone is the comparison to Goldman Sachs.  Estimates are for a loss at -$0.57 EPS and $5.57 billion in revenues.

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) is due to report earning on Thursday and this is the credit card bank “for the rest of America.”  The earnings report could be wildly far off of estimates because the bank is in the process of acquisitions which could greatly skew the headline numbers.  A fresh SEC filing showed that monthly data showed a continued improvement in default rates and in late payments in December. The consensus estimate is $1.55 EPS and $4.08 billion in sales.

JON C. OGG

We have many key earnings, including some DJIA components, as follows: Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C); Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC); eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY); Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS); Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX); American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG); Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC); International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM); Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG); Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT); UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH); General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE); and Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB).

We have added in Thomson Reuters consensus data, as well as other bits of data and color if applicable.

Tuesday, January 17

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) both lead Tuesday morning off with earnings, and each are important.  Wells Fargo is the healthier of the two and it does not trade at a discount to book value like its peers because it is deemed the least penalized of the money center banks in the new lower-trading and less risk environment.  Both pulled back after J.P. Morgan earnings, but both were up handily so far this year.

Citi has estimates of $0.49 EPS and $18.54 billion in sales. 

Wells Fargo has estimates of $0.72 EPS on $28.08 billion in sales. 

Wednesday, January 18

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) has a bit of a neutral bias going into Wednesday’s earnings after the close as it is still mostly a domestic story for auctions, with PayPal being the biggest boost.  Earnings estimates are $0.57 EPS and $3.32 billion in revenues.

Read Also: DJIA Expected 12% Gains in 2012 to 13,678

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is due on Wednesday morning and the earnings estimates have been cratering ahead of the report.  The current target is $1.24 EPS on $6.54 billion in sales, but the earnings targets were above $2.00 EPS recently and the street expected almost $3.00 just about 90 days ago. 

We will be paying extra attention to the money center banks of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC); and then there are the “bankless bank holding companies” of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to consider as rival trading outfits.  Then there is also American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) with much of the same client base as Chase Banks and then the more mainstream Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) to consider as well. On the trust bank side and fiduciary side, there is Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK) and State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT).

We have added in color on each group as well as shown trading ranges, implied price targets, and the implied discounts to the stated book values.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is the best of the large diversified money center banks to most investors and it still trades at 0.76-times its stated book value.  The stock is at $36.35, the 52-week range is $27.85 to $48.36, and the consensus analyst price target objective is $46.29. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.91 EPS and $23.05 billion in revenues for the quarter.  Keep in mind that estimates have ticked lower almost each week during the last quarter.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was recently listed as being at well under 0.5-times book value, but the stock has been the top performing DJIA stock.  With shares at $6.87, the 52-week range is $4.92 to $15.31. The consensus target is $9.02.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was recently about 0.52-times stated book value. Shares are trading around $31.27 with a 52-week range of $21.40 to $51.50 and the consensus price target is $41.98.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was recently trading at 1.1-times book value, making Warren Buffett’s favorite bank stock the only of the money center banks not at a discount to its stated book value.  That is partly because the new trading rules and regulations are believed to have the least impact on it out of the money center banks.  Shares are trading around $29.62 with a 52-week range of $22.58 to $34.25 and the consensus price target is $32.37.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) trades at about 0.7-times its stated book value and some now expect a loss when it reports earnings.  At $99.76, the 52-week range is $84.27 to $175.34 and the consensus price target is $128.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) trades at a steep discount even to Goldman Sachs with a price/book ratio of only about 0.52-times stated book.  Shares trade at $17.10 and the 52-week trading range is $11.58 to $31.04.  The consensus price target is currently about $21.80.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is not at a discount to book value at all at 3.19-times book value because it is classified in such a different manner.  Shares are trading at $48.95, the 52-week range is $41.30 to $53.80, and the consensus price target is $56.63.

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) may not be accurate on book because of the acquisitions and changes there.  It is stated as being 0.75-times its stated book value.  Shares trade at $47.71, the 52-week range is $35.94 to $56.26, and the consensus price target is $56.85.

Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK) trades at 0.77-times its stated book value at the custodial and fiduciary bank. Shares are at $21.50, the 52-week range is $17.10 to $32.50, and it has a price target of $25.33.

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is at a premium of 1.08-times its stated book value for the custodial bank.  State Street;s stock is at $43.05, its 52-week range is $29.86 to $50.26, and the consensus price target is $47.36.

Price-to-book and price-to-earnings data provided by Finviz.com, consensus price target (mean target) provided by Thomson Reuters.

Many estimates have been trimmed by analysts of late for the banks and financials.  We still expect modest credit metric improvements in most of the big banks and more importantly expect improvements in customer credit metrics to have improved again.  The difference this quarter is that there should be a tick up in loan demand actually being met by the banks, but don’t expect any huge gains there.

Before you get too excited about the discounts to book value, this may still be more of a ceiling rather than a floor.  Cash may have to be paid out in settlements, carrying cash balances yields literally nothing, and many banking operations remain in a state of muted flux.

Lastly, look for this to impact the wild triple-leverage ETF of the Direxion Financial Bull 3X Shares (NYSE: FAS), but watch the tracking error when the markets are not open.

JON C. OGG

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) Reiterated Buy with $60 target at Argus.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Maintained Buy but cut target to $11 at Canaccord Genuity.
BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Started as Buy at UBS.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) Maintained Outperform but cut earnings estimates at Credit Suisse.
Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) Cut to Hold with $79 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
France Telecom SA (NYSE: FTE) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LECO) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE: MWE) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Maintained Outperform but cut target to $34 from $35 at Credit Suisse; Maintained Hold and lowered estimates at Argus.
Oasis Petroleum (NYSE: OAS) Cut to Hold with $32 target at Canaccord Genuity.
SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) Maintained Neutral but cut target to $7 from $10 at Credit Suisse.

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JON C. OGG

Bill Gross’s PIMCO Total Return Fund has $1.4 billion in outflows in December, according to Morningstar. (Reuters)

MF Global sold some assets to Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) before its collapsed. (Reuters)

As a move toward making its activities more public, the Federal Reserve will publish its rate forecasts. (Reuters)

BP (NYSE: BP) stops payments from its Gulf Coast Claims Facility as it waits for a court hearing on how some outlays should be made. (Reuters)

Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) says small business payrolls rose by 55,000 in December. (Reuters)

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) may take the chairman title away from its co-CEOs. (Reuters)

Samsung expects a good Q4 because of rising smartphone sales. (Reuters)

PayPal President Scott Thompson will be named Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO. (AllThingsD)

Venture capitalists cut investment activity after a torrid 2011. (WSJ)

Banks grow concerned about investments in Asia as the economy there slows. (WSJ)

MBIA (NYSE: MBI) wins a ruling in its mortgage suit against Bank of America’s (NYSE: BAC) Countrywide. (WSJ)

Toyota’s (NYSE: TM) earnings power will be challenged by the value of the yen. (WSJ)

Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) hires the CEO of Brookstone to help resurrect Kmart. (WSJ)

Farmers and the food industry want relief from new government rules on consumer intake of dioxins. (WSJ)

The French government will increase its VAT. (WSJ)

Oprah Winfrey’s new TV show has a poor start. (WSJ)

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) to raise prices in some parts of the country. (WSJ)

Athabasca Oil Sands will sell 40% of one of its oil sands products to PetroChina (NYSE: PTR). (WSJ)

AT&T (NYSE: T) will pay TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) $125 million for a license to some of its technology. (WSJ)

Ford (NYSE: F) to launch a new SUV in India. (WSJ)

Online sales help the results of UPS (NYSE: UPS) and American Express (NYSE: AXP). (NYT)

The jobless rate in Germany falls to 6.8%. (NYT)

As Spain’s unemployment reaches 23%, evidence grows that Europe has been divided into financial “haves” and “have not” nations. (FT)

Mobile research firm Flurry says that more than 1.2 billion apps were downloaded the week of Christmas. (FT)

Due to a slow global economy, Fiat may be well short of its goal to sell 6 million cars,  between its main unit and Chrysler, by 2014. (Bloomberg)

Shares of Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) fall as investors worry about the future of online daily deals. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

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Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is working on a deal with Alibaba to sell part of its stake in the Chinese company. (Reuters)

Toyota (NYSE: TM) expects record sales next year of 8.48 million, up 20% from this year. (Reuters)

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) will pay $335 million due to a lending bias charge against its Countrywide operation. (Reuters)

Fitch warns the U.S.’s AAA rating is under pressure because of debt load. (Reuters)

EU antitrust officials have not been convinced by arguments that the NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and Deutsche Boerse should merge. (Reuters)

A study by Exane BNP Paribas shows that only a few people in Europe would buy the new Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Lumia smartphone. (Reuters)

Airbus should deliver 1,600 planes this year, which would significantly push down the market share of Boeing (NYSE: BA). (Reuters)

Hundreds of eurozone lenders have tapped the European Central Bank for $640 billion in low interest loans, a sign of trouble in the financial sector there. (WSJ)

Former Avon (NYSE: AVP) CEOs James Preston and David Mitchell say they are upset that current CEO Andrea Jung will stay as executive chairman after she steps down as CEO. (WSJ)

American Express (NYSE: AXP) looks at businesses beyond credit cards. (WSJ)

Nevada may allow online poker within its borders. (WSJ)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he will not back a proposal to eliminate use of cellphones in cars. (WSJ)

Michigan will further look into Detroit’s finances as it considers a takeover of the city. (WSJ)

The Justice Department says Exelon (NYSE: EXC) and Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) could merge if they sell several plants. (WSJ)

Aol (NYSE: AOL) says criticism of management’s plans by Starboard Value is misplaced. (WSJ)

The head of TheStreet.com (NASDAQ: TST) to depart. (WSJ)

The National Association of Realtors says home sales were 14% below forecasts from 2007 to 2010. (NYT)

M&A activity drops because of sovereign debt and economic slowdowns. (FT)

Greece’s creditors resist IMF pressure to take more write-offs on sovereign paper. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre