Posts for Ticker ‘STT’

Paulson Takes Huge Stake In Citigoup, Dumps Goldman

Money ImageJohn Paulson is rather notorious, and wealthy, for how much he picked up by shorting financial stocks on the way down.  But the financial world found out in August that Paulson & Co. had bought up many key financial and banking stocks.  Paulson & Co. Inc. is out with a 13-F filing after the close showing he is still in many key financial stocks.

The famed hedge fund manager took a massive stake in Citigroup and sold his entire interest in Goldman Sachs

  • Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was listed as 159,794,229 shares, down from 167,990,464 shares.
  • Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) was static as a stake of 17,000,000 shares of common stock.
  • Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is listed as 300,000,000 (three-hundred million) of common stock.
  • Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was static as a 5,000,000 share stake.
  • First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE: FHN) was 7.11 million, up from a stake of 3,000,000 shares in August.
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was down to 2,000,000 shares, down from an August stake of 7,000,000 shares of common stock.
  • Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (NYSE: MI) was static at 12,000,000 shares of common stock.
  • People’s United Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: PBCT) was static at 2,750,000 shares of common stock.
  • Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) was static at 35,000,000 shares of common stock.
  • SunTrust Bank Inc. (NYSE: STI) was static at 1,500,000 shares of common stock.

We had also noted back in October how Conseco, Inc. (NYSE: CNO) had scored a Paulson investment.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was NOT in the new filing compared to the August filing where he listed 2,000,000 shares of common stock in the August filing.  State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was NOT in the filing versus a stake of 700,000 shares of common stock in August.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: November 13, 2009 – 5:50 pm in Activist Investor, Banking, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest (10/21/2009) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   China is having trouble managing supply and demand.

Reuters:   Geithner said the core programs of the TARP are ending.

Reuters:   Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) tripled it profits.

Reuters:   Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:JAVA) will cut 3,000 jobs due to delays in the Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) buyout of the company. Read More »

Posted on: October 21, 2009 – 4:08 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

State Street’s New Preferred Stock ETF (STT, PSK)

Money Stack ImageInvestors have just been given one more trading instrument meant to track a less-followed investment class.  State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) has announced that its State Street Global Advisors has launched a new ETF to track preferred shares.  This is the SPDR® Wells Fargo® Preferred Stock ETF (NYSE: PSK) began trading on the NYSE Arca this morning. The volume is still extremely thin on this one, but this could be yet another key ETF that serves the very ‘under-served’ preferred stock market for investors.
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Posted on: September 17, 2009 – 10:49 am in Bonds, ETF, Financial Stocks, ,

Paulson, Esteemed Bank Short Seller, Now Long Financials (BAC, COF, GS, JPM, FITB, FHN, MI, PBCT, SKF, RF, STT, STI)

John Paulson has been well known as a hedge fund manager because of the profits he made from short selling many of the key financial stocks.  Yet his new filing shows a large long position as of the quarter-end June 30, 2009. For example, it lists a huge stake in Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC).  There were many smaller company stakes, but some of the medium-sized stakes (for Paulson that is) are in Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM).  Below are the rest of his financial holdings: Read More »

Posted on: August 12, 2009 – 5:11 pm in Activist Investor, Banking, Financial Stocks, Insider Activity, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 8/11/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The Congressional Oversight Panel said the Treasury should do more to get toxic assets off bank balance sheets.

Reuters:   A federal judge still refuses to sign off on an SEC deal with Bank of America (BAC) and the SEC to settle charges regarding Merrill Lynch bonus payments.

Reuters:   Rio Tinto (RTP) says that there is no evidence against its employees detained in China. Read More »

Posted on: August 11, 2009 – 4:08 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 8/30/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Cybercrime is spreading fast on Facebook.

Reuters:   GM will seek to sell most of its assets to a new company.

Reuters:    Madoff got 150 years in prison.

Reuters:   AIG (AIG) shareholders will elect new directors.

Reuters:   GM is close to a deal to sell Opel.

Reuters:   A jury returned a $1.7 billion drug verdict against Abbot (ABT). Read More »

Posted on: June 30, 2009 – 3:03 am in Drug companies, Hardware, Healthcare, Medical, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, Press Digest, Wireless, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 6/17/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Obama proposed sweeping reform for financial industry.

Reuters:    A number of large banks repaid TARP. (JPM)(GS)(BBT)(COP)(STT)(AXP)(USB)

Reuters:   Consumer prices show inflation is in check.

Reuters:   China could still be a big buyer of US debt.

Reuters:   NYSE will create a derivatives clearing house. Read More »

Posted on: June 18, 2009 – 3:07 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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, , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 6/10/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters: The Supreme Court delays  Chrysler deal.

Reuters:   The cleared ten banks to repay TARP include JPMorgan (JPM), Goldmand Sachs (GS), American Express (AXP), Cpaital One(COF), State Street (STT), BBT (BBT), Morgan Stanley (MS), and US Bancorp (USB).

Reuters:   Senate Democrats revealed healthcare bill.

Reuters:   New York Times (NYT) will not close the Boston Globe Read More »

Posted on: June 10, 2009 – 3:02 am in Autos, Banking, Biotech, Brokerage Firms, Compensation, Consumer Electronics, Corporate Governance, Economy, Financial Stocks, Management Change, Oil & Gas, Press Digest, Private Equity, Turnarounds, Wireless, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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, , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (ATHN, BPSG, FWRD, JDAS, MRVL, MWA, SWY, STT)

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

athenahealth (ATHN) Raised to Outperform at Blair.
Broadpoint Securities (BPSG) Started as Outperform at KBW.
Forward Air (FWRD) Raised to Buy at KeyBanc.
JDA Software (JDAS) Started as Outperform at JMP Securities.
Marvell (MRVL) Raised to Outperform at JMP Securities.
Mueller Water (MWA) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Safeway (SWY) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
State Street (STT) Started as Outperform at Bernstein.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: June 9, 2009 – 6:39 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , ,

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

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (WTR, DL, EHTH, GYMB, MEOH, SHW, STT)

It is looking pretty thin in new great research calls from Wall Street today.  Here are the top analyst calls seen as of 7:30 AM EST this Tuesday morning:

Aqua America (WTR) Raised to Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott.
China Distance Learning (DL) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
eHealth (EHTH)  Cut to Underperform at Oppenheimer.
Gymboree (GYMB) Raised to Positive at Susquehanna.
Methanex (MEOH) Cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
Sherwin Williams (SHW) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
State Street (STT) Raised to Top Pick at RBC.

JON C. OGG
May 19, 2009

Posted on: May 19, 2009 – 6:52 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , ,

Stress Test Results, Bank by Bank (AXP, BBT, BAC, COF, C, FITB, GS, JPM, KEY, MET, MS, PNC, RF, STT, STI, USB, WFC)

Finally, the stress tests are out for the US banking and financial institutions.  Of the banks, 10 of 19 banks need a combined $74 billion of equity.The good news is that a few companies were given essentially a clean bill of health, such as American Express Company (AXP), BB&T Corp. (BBT), Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BK), Capital One Financial Corp. (COF), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), MetLife, Inc. (MET), State Street Corp. (STT), and USBancorp (USB).

We have broken these down in a single unified and summarized report that shows each bank or financial institution along with an estimated market cap to show what the capital requirements are as far as what each bank will need to raise versus what shareholders already have at stake.   We summarized the list below, and be advised that the tier 1 capital is the total tier 1 capital rather than the Tier 1 Common Capital.  Also be advised that the SCAP BUFFER is the term used for the capital needed to be raised, and that is inclusive of capital raised and from infusions.
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Posted on: May 7, 2009 – 4:59 pm in Banking, Financial Stocks, Regulation, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 4/30/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaper29According to Reuters, Bank of America (BAC) shareholders voted to separate the chairman and CEO roles and Ken Lewis was replaced as chairman.

Reuters reports that talks to keep Chrysler out of Chapter 11 are on the rocks.

Reuters reports that the Fed sees the economic downturn easing. Read More »

Posted on: April 30, 2009 – 2:51 am in Autos, Banking, Consumer Electronics, Corporate Governance, Earnings, Earnings Warning, Economy, Labor & Unions, Management Change, Oil & Gas, Press Digest, Shareholder Issues, Technology, Telecom, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 3/16/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaper12According to Reuters, a price battle among goods makers is beginning.

Reuters reports that payments to AIG (AIG) employees is causing rage among people already concerned about the bailout.

Reuters reports that Bernanke sees a US recovery starting in 2010.

Reuters writes that the Feds want to freeze Ruth Madoff’s assets.

Reuters writes that Obama will announce measures to help small businesses.

Reuters reports that the newspaper crisis is sparking a debate about free online news.

Reuters writes that the Treasury is close to proposing new bank rules. Read More »

Posted on: March 16, 2009 – 2:53 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Williams Issues Private Debt (WMB, STT, GS)

money-stack-image2The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) announced this morning that it was “initiating a private debt issuance to certain institutional investors.” The notes have not been registered with the SEC and will not be available for public sale.
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Posted on: February 26, 2009 – 11:36 am in Bonds, Oil & Gas, Secondary Offering, , ,

When Stockpiling Gold Becomes Hoarding Gold (STT, GLD)

gold-image2An affiliate of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) reported this morning that its ETF SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) has amassed more than $30 billion in assets. That makes the trust second only to State Street’s S&P 500 ETF in asset size.
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Posted on: February 23, 2009 – 11:20 am in Commodities, ETF, Metals, ,

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