These are some of the top upgrades we have seen this Monday morning with about 2 hours until the open: Allied Capital (ALD) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Started as…
Because management at Countrywide turned out to be thieving goons, Bank of America (BAC) is stuck with mortgages which should never have been granted by the huge housing lender. As they must do to…
Perhaps the Fed and the Treasury have saved the banking and brokerage industries. The Fed has certainly provided hundreds of billions of dollars at its emergency window and Paulson has his $700 billion. Next…
A sword was brought, and Solomon ordered,"Cut the baby in half! That way each of you can have part of him." 2 Chronicles 1.1-1.3 If Vikram Pandit at Citigroup (C) had not screwed up…
Santa will be thinner this year, a sign that he cannot afford all that rich food. It is a good thing that he wears a beard because can’t afford a razor. By most estimates,…
Bloomberg reports that "Richard Fuld, the chief executive officer of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., may tell legislators angry about Wall Street’s excesses that eroding confidence in the financial system led to the demise of…
According to Reuters, regulators around the world are trying to shore up the banking system. Reuters reports that the Fed is trying to broker a deal for whether Citigroup (C) or Wells Fargo (WFC)…
Markets in Asia sold off sharply. The Nikkei fell 4.3% to 10,473. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial fell over 9%. Other financial stocks fell sharply as did big exporter Canon. The Hang Seng sold down 4.4%…
Many Americans have chosen to live in ignorance of basic economic theory, the role of our government in the regulation of financial markets, the roles of the SEC, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve,…
Now that Citigroup (C) has botched its takeover of Wachovia (WB) it hopes to turn to the US court system to be its savior. Wells Fargo (WFC) moved in under the cover of night…
Perhaps it is important that someone be blamed for the failure of Lehman. Henry Paulson who did not order Treasury to step in with aid. The most convenient villain is Dick Fuld, the company’s…
As long as companies in the "smokes" business are not being sued by dead people who used their products, it is a hell of a business. Operating margins can run above 20% and cash…
Bloomberg is reporting that Google (GOOG) will delay its deal to sell search advertising for Yahoo! (YHOO) "until U.S. regulators can wrap up an investigation into the deal." Since The Justice Department is handling…
The IPO market has been dead as a doornail. But next week we have a bank IPO coming to market. It is amazing that a bank would dare come to market in this environment. …
Idearc Inc (IAR) No major news. Off to $.78 from 52-week high of $32.52. First Industrial Realty (FR) Cuts guidance and plunges to $18.32 from 52-week high of $42.71. Officemax (OMX) Office supply stocks…
Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) just told CNBC that the bailout plan was "no panacea" but that it will help avoid a total disaster. Whether it will be a big help…
The $700 billion bailout bill passed the House after its failure early this week. The Senate has already approved this new package which contained many more add-ons than the prior bill. The magic number…
Canadian miner Teck Cominco (NYSE:TCK) is changing its name to Teck Resources, and the company intends to build its brand just on the name Teck. The new name takes effect legally in April 2009.…
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) has finally issued a statement on the interruption of its Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) buyout. Citi is saying that Wachovia’s agreement to a transaction with Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) is…
Vikram Pandit has been the CEO of Citigroup (C) for ten months. The only thing he has done right is collect $216 million in compensation. Much of that was for the sale of his…