Posts for Ticker ‘BK’

Today’s Best Market Rumors (11/2/2009) (LVS)(PFE)(PLX)(BK)(ODFL)(PALM)(AAPL)

newspaperUpdated throughout the day.

Updated 1.05 PM EST:  Las Vagas Sands (NYSE:LVS) will try to raise $2.5 billion though an IPO in Hong Kong  (AP)

Updated 11.12 AM EST: Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is considering a joint venture with Protalix Biotherapeutics (AMAX:PLX) and may buy the Israeli company. (Reuters)

Updated 9.50 AM EST: The Fed will keep rates as they are  (CBNC)

A deal for Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to take control of NBCU from GE (NYSE:GE) is imminent, as usual.  (NYTimes)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is considering buying Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) tax credits (WSJ)

Bank of NY Mellon’s (NYSE:BK) CEO turned down a chance to be considered for the Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) CEO job.  (WSJ)

Roger Nightingale, economist at Pointon York, says the world faces a 1930s type depression if government stimulus packages are pulled too soon  (CNBC)

A draft order to approve AT&T’s (NYSE:T) $2.8 billion acquisition of Centennial Communications Corp is circulating at the Federal Communications Commission. (The Deal)

Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) top advertising strategist is not leaving his job.  (AppleInsider)

Sprint (NASDAQ:S) is starting to downplay the importance of the Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) Pre compared to other smartphones it is marketing.  (Barron’s)

Shares of Old Dominion (NASDAQ:ODFL) could move from $27 to $40 in a year  (BusinessWeek)

The market share of Apple’s Mac has not been hurt by the release of Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 7.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 2, 2009 – 9:58 am in Rumors, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 11/2/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Investors in the banking sector were disturbed by the CIT (NYSE:CIT) bankruptcy.

Reuters:   Summers will lead a high level meeting on the economy.

Reuters:   US companies are holding more cash.

Reuters:   The Fed is likely to keep interest rates flat due to economic uncertainty. Read More »

Posted on: November 2, 2009 – 4:54 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Twenty Companies That Wall St. Can Trust The Least

Wall St. likes financial statements that give it deep insights into a company’s operations, especially its liabilities. It likes boards that make sure shareholders get as complete a picture as possible of a firm’s balance sheet and details of its P&L, cash-flow, and other critical financial measurements.

bear24/7 Wall St. asked Audit Integrity to put together a list of companies traded on US exchanges with market caps of more than $3 billion that do particularly poorly in the areas  of corporate governance, detailed disclosure of high-risk events including M&A and restructurings, revenue and expense recognition, and asset and liability valuation.

Based on the Audit Integrity model, 24/7 created a list of the twenty companies that Wall St. can trust the least.  Among the companies that the analysis flagged are Altria (NYSE:MO), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), GE (NYSE:GE), Blackstone (NYSE:BX), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT),  Wells Fargo (NYSE:WMT), and Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW)

The list:

Read More »

Posted on: October 27, 2009 – 5:31 am in Corporate Governance, Research, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ATK, CELG, NTAP, NVLS, WMT, ATHN, ARNA, BK, GENZ, Q)

These are the top 10 analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations we have seen early this Monday morning:

Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
Celgene (CELG) raised to Outperform at R.W.Baird.
NetApp (NTAP) raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs
Novellus (NVLS) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Wal-Mart (WMT) Started as Overweight at HSBC.
Athenahealth (ATHN) started as Sell at Citigroup.
Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) cut to Market Perform at Leerink Swann.
Bank of New York Mellon (BK) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Genzyme (GENZ) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Qwest (Q) Cut to Conviction Sell List, but was already a Sell, at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 21, 2009 – 8:21 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (BK, NILE, LLL, NTRS, PRU, VMW, YHOO)

These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research calls we have seen from Wall Street early this Tuesday morning:

Bank of New York Mellon (BK) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill.
Blue Nile (NILE) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
L-3 Communications (LLL) Raised to Overweight at JP Morgan.
Northern Trust (NTRS) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill.
Prudential (PRU) Raised to Overweight at JP Morgan.
VMware (VMW) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
Yahoo! (YHOO) Started as Buy at Canaccord.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: July 14, 2009 – 6:32 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , ,

Short Sellers Target Big Financial Names (BAC)(AIG)(WFC)(FRE)

bearShort sellers upped their investments in stocks of the most prominent financial firms. Short interest in Bank of America (BAC), AIG (AIG), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Freddie Mac (FRE) all rose for the period ending June 30.

Short sellers also increased position in several regional  banks. Short interest in KeyCorp (KEY) rose 31% to 38.1 million. Shares sold short in Regions Financial (RF) were up 13% to 65.9 million. Shares short in Bank of NY Mellon (BK) rose 31% to 14.2 million, and the short interest in Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) rose 75% to 58.8 million. Read More »

Posted on: July 11, 2009 – 5:24 am in Short Interest, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (APA, BIDU, BHP, STD, BK, CENT, IVZ, QCOM, SVNT, STT, TXN)

These are the top analyst upgrades and positive research calls from Wall Street we have seen early this Wednesday morning with more than two hours until the market opens:

Apache (APA) Raised to Strong Buy at S&P.
Baidu (BIDU) Target Raised to $350 at Goldman Sachs.
BHP Billiton (BHP) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.
Banco Santander (STD) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill.
Bank of New York Mellon (BK) Started as Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Central Garden (CENT) Raised to Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Invesco (IVZ) Raised to Strong Buy at S&P.
QUALCOMM (QCOM) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Savient Pharmaceuticals (SVNT) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.
State Street (STT) Started as Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Texas Instruments (TXN) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: June 17, 2009 – 6:39 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Getting Out From Under the TARP (AXP, BK, BBT, COF, GS, JPM, STT, USB)

Money Stack ImageThe Treasury is finally allowing some of the TARP recipient banks that posed the least systematic risk to begin repaying the Treasury’s preferred stock funds.  This will get these institutions out from under as much oversight from regulators, but more importantly it will take away the political-risk headlines and will reduce some of the importance over issues such as compensation and total loans.  This list is partial and please be advised that it may change.  We believe that these eight are among the ten banks which will be allowed to buy back the Treasury’s preferred shares:

  • American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP)
  • Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK)
  • BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT)
  • Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF)
  • Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS)
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM)
  • State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT)
  • USBancorp (NYSE: USB)

Read More »

Posted on: June 9, 2009 – 7:55 am in Banking, Financial Stocks, Regulation, , , , , , , ,

Should Banks Exiting TARP Still Pay Dividends to Government? (COF, USB, BK, BBT, STT, GS, MS, JPM, BAC)

Money Stack ImageIt is no secret that the banks that can pay the money back want out from under the Troubled Asset Relief Plan, or the TARP.  It is also no secret that the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the politicians have not agreed to any terms yet take the TARP monies back from the major money center and larger institutions.  Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), US Bancorp (NYSE: USB), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK), BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT), State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) are among the larger banks that have said they want to or that have been reported about wanting to pay back those TARP funds immediately.

Even the troubled Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) has had its CEO Ken Lewis say that he wants to pay back the TARP, although the stress tests showed the need for more capital and ‘B of A’ has been raising capital over the last ten days or so.  Where a large dilemma comes up is regarding future dividends and the warrants held by the U.S. government.  Uncle Sam gets paid dividends every quarter from these same institutions, and Uncle Sam also has a 10-year warrant in each of these institutions.  It is very possible that the government wants more than just two quarters of dividends for the capital it put up.
Read More »

Posted on: May 19, 2009 – 1:17 pm in Banking, Bonds, Dividend, Financial Stocks, Politics, Regulation, Secondary Offering, , , , , , , , ,

What To Expect In House Financial Grilling of Bank CEO’s (BAC, C, JPM, WFC, GS, MS, STT, BK)

burning-money-pic5There is not going to be much positive press today about the U.S. banking sectors.  The top CEOs of America’s  banks are going to testify before the House Financial Services Committee.  Despite the government now being part owner, the grilling today is likely to generate even more major PR damage at a time when these banks are already on the defensive.

Here are the banks and CEOs which will be on Capitol Hill this morning, along with our TAP count:

  • Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Ken Lewis, $45 billion
  • Citigroup (NYSE: C) Vikram Pandit, $45 billion
  • JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) Jamie Dimon, $25 billion
  • Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) John Stumpf, $25 billion
  • Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) Lloyd Blankfein, $10 billion
  • Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) John Mack, $10 billion
  • State Street (NYSE: STT) Ronald Logue, $3 billion
  • Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) Robert Kelly, $3 billion

Read More »

Posted on: February 11, 2009 – 8:55 am in Banking, Financial Stocks, Law, Politics, Regulation, Turnarounds, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Are Troubled Bank Stocks A Double? (FITB, BAC, C, PNC, STT, BK, WFC, JPM)

It seems that Uncle Sam via Treasury and via Congress is going to give the markets what they want.  TARP, TALF, Bad Bank, aggregation, accounting rule exceptions, and the rest.  If you were watching many of these huge banks with troubled stocks and troubled operations you might have thought that nationalization was imminent.  But the rally that came on the heels of developments on Thursday and Friday took some of these stocks up massively.
Read More »

Posted on: February 9, 2009 – 9:41 am in Banking, Financial Stocks, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , ,

Fiduciary Banks, More Financial Sector Funerals (STT, BK)

Burning_money_pic_4The so-called fiduciary banks were never supposed to be immune from the woes of the financial sector.  They were supposed to be more-resistant than most depository and lending institutions.  Ask anyone holding State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) or The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.  (NYSE: BK) how that theory is working out.

Read More »

Posted on: January 20, 2009 – 2:42 pm in Banking, Earnings Warning, Financial Stocks, ,

Pre-Market Analyst Downgrade/Negative Calls (AAPL, BK, BUCY, CCRT, EGO, JOYG, NOK, PALM, SAY)

Broken_money_merger_imageThese are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades or cautious calls seen from Wall Street early this Thursday morning with more than two hours to the open:

  • Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Started as Hold at Canaccord.
  • Bank of NY Mellon (NYSE: BK) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
  • Bucyrus International (NASDAQ: BUCY) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
  • CompuCredit (NASDAQ: CCRT) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
  • Eldorado Gold (NYSE: EGO) Cut to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.
  • Joy Global (NASDAQ: JOYG) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
  • Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Started as Sell at Canaccord.
  • Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) Started as Sell at Canaccord.
  • Satyam Computer (NYSE: SAY) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs; Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Jon C. Ogg
December 18, 2008

Posted on: December 18, 2008 – 7:20 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

Early Bird Analyst Upgrades (ACAP, BK, BBBY, BHP, GENZ, RTP, UBS)

Money_stack_picThese are some of the early positive analyst calls and analyst upgrades we are seeing this Wednesday morning:

  • American Physicians (ACAP) Started as Buy at SunTrust Robinson.
  • Bank Of NY Mellon (BK) Raised to Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann.
  • Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) Raised to Market Perform at FBR.
  • BHP Billiton (BHP) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
  • Genzyme (GENZ) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  • Rio Tinto (RTP) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
  • UBS (UBS) Raised to Buy at Societe Generale.

Jon C. Ogg
December 3, 2008

Posted on: December 3, 2008 – 7:03 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , ,

Custodial Banks Join The Carnage (STT, BK)

Bank_ny_logoState_street_logo_2We are suddenly seeing a meaningful drop in the major custodial banking stocks.  State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) and The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK) are the leaders in this group.  Until recently, these institutions were spared from the carnage on Wall Street.  There are some obvious reasons these companies have been hit today, although the severity of the price drop is noteworthy.

Read More »

Posted on: September 18, 2008 – 10:37 am in Banking, Financial Stocks, ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ANN, ASH, SCHW, AMTD, COH, DHT, NAT, PHTN, WYNN, BK, LEH, GS, IVZ, STT)

These are not the only research calls this morning affecting stock, particularly as the world is focused on the fleecing that has occurred at Bear Stearns this morning.   But these are other brokerage firm calls for Monday morning:
Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN) raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Ashland (NYSE: ASH) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) downgraded to Underperform at FBR.
Coach (NYSE: COH) downgraded to Hold at Citigroup.
Double Hull Tankers (NYSE: DHT) downgraded to Underweight at JP Morgan.
Nordic American Tanker (NYSE: NAT) raised to Neutral at JP Morgan.
Photon Dynamics (NASDAQ: PHTN) raised to Overweight at Lehman Brothers.
TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) downgraded to Neutral at UBS; downgraded to Market Perform at FBR.
Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
UBS downgrades brokers and fiduciaries to Neutral: cuts Bank of New York (NYSE: BK), Lehman (NYSE: LEH), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), InVesco (NYSE: IVZ), State Street (NYSE: STT).

Jon C. Ogg
March 17, 2008

Posted on: March 17, 2008 – 6:13 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Earnings Next Week Part 2 (July 19-20, 2007)

THURSDAY
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSDAQ:AMD)
Ameritrade (NASDAQ:AMTD)
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)
Bank of New York (NYSE:BK)
Cemex (NYSE:CX/ADR)
Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL)
Cypress Semi (NYSE:CY)
Dow Jones (NYSE:DJ)
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)
First Data (NYSE:FDC)
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG)
Honeywelll (NYSE:HON)
Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW)
International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT)
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT)
NASDAQ Stock market (NASDAQ:NDAQ)
OptionsXpress (NASDAQ:OXPS)
PMC-Sierra (NASDAQ:PMCS)
Roche
Safeway (NYSE:SWY)
SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK)
SAP AG (NYSE:SAP)
Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL)
Seagate Tech (NYSE:STX)
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ:SPWR)
SunTrust (NYSE:STI)
Telefonos De Mexico (NYSE:TMX)
Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP)
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)
Wyeth (NYSE:WYE)
Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX)

FRIDAY
Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX)
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT)
Citigroup (NYSE:C)
Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC)
Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB)
Wachovia Corp (NYSE:WB)

Jon C. Ogg
July 13, 2007

PLEASE NOTE: THSE DATES MAY CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE OR MAY HAVE ALREADY CHANGED

Posted on: July 13, 2007 – 5:05 pm in Calendar, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Short Interest Rose in Bank Stocks: June 2007 (JPM, BAC, USB, NCC, STT, C, WFC, BK, STI)

Stock Tickers: JPM, BAC, USB, NCC, STT, C, WFC, BK, STI

The large banking stocks saw a fairly large increase in short interest from May to June in 2007.  That is after a mixed April to May period.  With what happened in rates during the last month that would have probably been expected.  Here is the June 2007 short interest:

STOCK (Ticker)                    JUN07    MAY07   Change
JPMorgan Chase (JPM)     31.94M    28.24M    +12%   
US Bancorp (USB)               35.4M     25.23M     +40% 
National City (NCC)              33.7M    26.66M     +26%
State Street (STT)                 13.8M     12.44M     +10.9%   
Bank of America (BAC)        35.2M     28.72M     +22%   
Citigroup (C)                         31.26M    32.4M       +6%      
Wells Fargo (WFC)              51.8M      35.97M     +44%   
Bank of New York (BK)        7.01M      5.04M       +39%

lower short interest…..
SunTrust Banks (STI)            7.42M    7.94M        -6.5% 

Jon C. Ogg
June 22, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: June 22, 2007 – 8:15 am in Banking, Financial Stocks, Short Interest, , , , , , , , ,

May Short Interest in Bank Stocks Mixed (JPM, STI, USB, NCC, STT, BAC, C, WFC, BK)

Stock Tickers: JPM, STI, USB, NCC, STT, BAC, C, WFC, BK

The short interest for MAY 2007 is out., and there is notreally any trend in the large money-center and super-regional banks sector.  We noticed an increase in the regional bank ETF short interest:  The KBW Bank ETF (KBE) rose from a short interest of 229,700 in April 2007 to 390,000 in May; and the Regional Bank HOLDRs Trust (RKH) saw its short interest of 2.48 million in April rise to 3.049 million in May; iShares Financial Sector Fund (IYF), 41.4% banking, saw its short interest of 263,100 in April grow to 330,600 in May. 

Here is the rest of the May short interest versus April:

STOCK (Ticker)                    MAY07    APR07    Change
JPMorgan Chase (JPM)    28.24M    27.47M    2.7%
SunTrust Banks (STI)        7.94M      5.81M      36%
US Bancorp (USB)             25.23M    24.8M      1.46%
National City (NCC)           26.66M    22.34M    19.3%
State Street (STT)               12.44M    9.58M      29%

lower short interest…..
Bank of America (BAC)      28.72M    32.3M     -11%
Citigroup (C)                        32.4M      29.49M    -9.0%
Wells Fargo (WFC)             35.97M    36.69M    -1.9%
Bank of New York (BK)       5.04M      6.23M      -19%

Jon C. Ogg
May 22, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: May 22, 2007 – 9:04 am in Banking, Financial Stocks, Short Interest, , , , , , , , ,