Reuters: Thain regrets nothing he did at Merrill Lynch and during its merger with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).
Reuters: Trump put his support to the bondholders of his casino business.
FT: A Chinese court ruled against Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in an intellectual property case. Read More
Reuters: China is the key stop on Obama’s tour of Asia.
Reuters: South Korea’s businesses may start to feel more pressure from China competitors..
Reuters: Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) bought 3Com (NYSE:COM) for $3.1 billion.
Reuters: Lou Dobbs left CNN (NYSE:TWX) Read More
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) may be the one single bright spot taking the market higher this Friday when you consider the 10.2% unemployment rate and when you look over the latest round of earnings. Both Oppenheimer and Bernstein raised their official GE ratings to “Outperform” in research calls this morning. It depends upon which way the wind blows, but there are many times that GE trades more like some of the troubled financial stocks rather than as the top industrial stock in America.
American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG), Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) are all headed in opposite direction of GE. We noted that Fannie had broken the buck in pre-market trading and is back above the $1.00 level now. It is also dragging down Freddie Mac. AIG is adding to larger losses seen at the open.
GE shares are trading up 5.4% at $15.21 and we have already seen over 30 million shares trade hands in the first 20 minutes and pre-market period.
JON C. OGG
Reuters: The Wall St. insider trading probe lead to another 14 arrests.
Reuters: Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) lost $19 billion and asked Treasury for money.
Reuters: GM is readying its plans for Opel as some of its workers went on strike.
Reuters: The pay czar says the jury is still out on reforms. Read More
Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) recorded a net loss of $18.9 billion for the third quarter of 2009. Including $883 million in dividends on the senior preferred stock, the net loss attributable to common stockholders was $19.8 billion, or $3.47 per diluted share.
For the third quarter of 2008, the net loss was $29.0 billion, and the net loss attributable to common stockholders was $29.4 billion, or $13.00 per diluted share. Read More
The government’s many programs to keep the number of mortgage defaults from growing has grown by one. The new Dead for Lease program will allow some homeowners who face foreclosure to turn their homes over to Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) then rent them for a year with month-to-month extensions. It is not predictable what the level of fraud in a program of this kind will be, but it is likely to be high. Fannie Mae could end up with a number of houses with no tenants or sub-tenants which have been surreptitiously been moved in Read More
Reuters: The value of the yuan could cause a trade war between the US and China.
Reuters: Executive pensions rose despite drops in stock prices.
Reuters: Lloyds will make a large stock offering.
Reuters: Stanley Works (NYSE:SWK) bought Black & Decker (NYSE:BDK) for $3.46 billion.
Reuters: CIT’s (NYSE:CIT) exit from bankruptcy is not clear.
Reuters: UBS (NYSE:UBS) posted a loss and wealth management clients continued to leave.
Reuters: Ford (NYSE:F) posted a surprise profit.
Reuters: Manufacturing and pending home sales both rose.
Reuters: Volker said the economy could not rely on consumer spending.
Reuters: The commercial real estate business is still in deep trouble.
WSJ: Toyota (NYSE:TM) expects a monthly sales decline.
WSJ: IllyCaffè SpA will work with local coffee shops to compete with Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX).
WSJ: The head of the IMF says financial firms are going back to old practices.
WSJ: Blu-ray makers are becoming more involved with web video.
WSJ: Research-in-Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) is the focus of a number of bearish comments.
WSJ: Schwab (NASDAQ:SCHW) is making a push into ETFs.
WSJ: GM’s board will revisit the Opel sale.
WSJ: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Office faces inexpensive versions of similar software.
WSJ: Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) may need to get cash from its Canadian operation which presents challenges.
WSJ: Problems are beginning to appear in the financials of Chinese banks.
WSJ: Business bankruptcies rose 7% in October.
NYT: The US will allow GM to use federal money to put into Delphi.
NYT: The Supreme Court is looking at fees advisors charge mutual funds.
NYT: The Senate is pushing insurance companies on the amount of premiums they actually spend on care.
NYT: Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) may buy tax credits from Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM)
FT: The Fed has asked banks to adopt it new pay rules early to cover 2009 compensation.
FT: Ebay’s (NASDAQ:EBAY) PayPal has opened doors to outside developers.
Bloomberg: The next head of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) may be based in NYC.
Douglas A. McIntyre
It is of little surprise that CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) is seeing clobbered today. The company has finally filed its pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy package and that has CIT shares down a sharp 63% at $0.26 on triple its average volume. By now, the game is probably known by everyone that bankruptcy usually leaves shareholders of common stock out in the cold. Should it be of any surprise that the “other troubled financial stocks” are seeing their shares head south?
It was just a week ago that I discussed the Fannie-Freddie equity conundrum. Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) are down further. After all, these two are in government conservatorship. It is even easy to argue that these are just being kept alive so that Uncle Sam doesn’t have to include the obligations on the Fed’s balance sheet. And how many investors in these companies really believe that they are holding anything more than a long-term warrant or LEAP option that is way out of the money? Fannie Mae is down 7.4% at $1.00 and Freddie Mac is down almost 9% at $1.12, and neither are on active volume today.
Read More
Updated 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
Reuters: 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
It is no secret that things could be much better at Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE). But the last week or so has re-highlighted just how dire the situation is for these government sponsored entities and perhaps more importantly for the common shareholders. Both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were forced into federal conservatorship last year by Uncle Sam.
We have taken an in-depth look here at the situation and the past to get a feel for the future of these companies (GSE’s). If you parse through the data and watch what has been happening in Washington D.C. of late, there is the clear reminder that these emperors have no clothes on. In the world of Star Trek, these companies stockholders may be facing a Kobayashi Maru scenario.
Read More
These are this morning’s top pre-market day trader alert stocks for Wednesday. We have more detailed analysis and data on each stock linked through to VSInvestor.com:
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is trading up at 52-week highs after earnings.
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) is a huge point loser, but down 5% after earnings.
Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) is the biggest loser by percentages this morning after earnings.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) is still up, but off its after-hours highs, after blowing out earnings.
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) are trying to make it three in a row after that ZERO VALUE call from KBW on Monday.
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.
JON C. OGG
OCTOBER 21, 2009
These are this morning’s top day trader alerts. We have more detailed price and volume data along with added color over with links through to each stock at VSInvestor.com:
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is bumping against all-time highs after blowing out earnings.
BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPAX) is one of this morning’s top gainers on safety reviews allowing the study to proceed.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is up at 52-week highs after blowing out earnings.
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) are continuing yesterday’s losses, with Freddie being slapped harder than the Fannie step-sister.
MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM) is up close to 10% on word that Kerkorian’s Tracinda is interested in exploring deals after the December City Center open.
Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) is up 6% on a test of virus-like particle H1N1 influenza vaccine in Mexico with Avimex Laboratories and GE Healthcare.
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.
JON C. OGG
These are this morning’s top day trader alert stocks with more detailed data on price, volume, and further analysis with links to each stock over at VSInvestor.com:
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.
JON C. OGG
OCTOBER 19, 2009
These are ten of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen early this Monday morning from Wall Street research notes:
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Air Tran Holdings (NYSE: AAI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
CareFusion (NYSE:CFN) Started as Market Perform at Leerink Swann; Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut To Neutral at Macquarie.
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) Cut to Underperform at KBW.
Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) Raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
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.
Jon C. Ogg
October 19, 2009
Reuters: Chinese investors are holding a large amount of gold.
Reuters: Bernanke sees tighter policies as the economy improves.
Reuters: The Congressional Oversight Panel says that the US plan to help homeowners with mortgages is not enough.
Reuters: The FDIC questioned a review of Citigroup (NYSE:C) management. Read More
Reuters: Wealth management firms are starting to target the not-so wealthy.
Reuters: Gold’s record price drew a muted response.
Reuters: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) are heating up the smartphone software race. Read More
CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) is back to looking like its shares the paper they are printed on could be less valuable and less useful than toilet paper. What is surprising is that this is not killing the other junky actively financial stocks. CIT is down almost 40% at $1.46 on over 32 million shares on reports that it is close to collapsing, and that is before the market is even open. Common logic would dictate that this relation of one moving the others would be the case. But junk under one roof is valued differently than junk under another roof.
Right before the open, there are many of the other junky financial stocks that are flat or trading up. Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) is flat at $1.56 on less than 500,000 shares, while Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) is down 0.5% at $1.84 also on under 500,000 shares. Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) is actually up 1% at $1.80 on only 30,000 shares.
The stock market did not fall apart at the seams, but it did very poorly on news that existing home sales dropped last month by 2.7% to a rate of 5.1 million. That was down from a figure of 5.24 million in July. The National Association of Realtors put a brave face on as it released the figures. “Home sales retrenched from a very strong improvement in July but continue to be much higher than before the stimulus,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. Read More
Short sellers posted a mixed record on big banks. Short interest in Citigroup (C) plunged by 73% to 177.5 million shares. The short interest in Bank of America (BAC) was down 18% to 82.2 million. And, shares short in Morgan Stanley (MS) dropped 10% to 39 million.
Shares short in Fannie Mae (FNM) were up a fraction to 188.7 million. The short interest in Well Fargo (WFC) rose 5% to 90.5 million.
Companies with weak earnings prospects and poor balance sheet were hit particularly hard for the period that ended September 15. Shares sold short in Sprint (S) were up 18% to 88.6 million. Shares sold short in Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) rose 37% to 39.4 million. Short interest in Vonage (VG) was up 135% to 10.2 million. Shares short in Blockbuster (BBI) were up 28% to 25.6 million. Read More
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