The country’s largest financial institutions are having another good day today, despite the announcement by the European Central Bank (ECB) early this morning that it would not be lowering interest rates. Shares of Bank…
The NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is going to try to make good on its botched IPO of Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB). This is not really good to the public, at least not directly,…
The continuing difficulty that Spain faces in persuading investors to buy the country’s sovereign debt got a little worse today. Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro told a Spanish radio station that it is “technically impossible”…
We are mostly in a world where many investors are now just willing to settle for a “return of capital” rather than a “return on capital.” Still, retirees and investors who rely upon income…
about what can be done to salvage the US economy will be dominated by whether the Federal Reserve will launch a QE3. So far, the Fed has reported that unemployment, housing, and consumer spending…
While everyone remains focused on the jobs report and the European meltdown, investors are having a harder and harder time finding real investment returns. Germany actually saw negative yields briefly on the first day…
You might think that record low bond yields in the U.S. and in Europe’s safer nations would have a floor of zero percent. Afterall, you cannot have a negative bond yield. Or can you? …
Bill Gross is the de facto Bond King. Running a giant institution like PIMCO give you quite some power. Gross makes monthly outlooks and his June report is not offering any great hope for…
Yesterday Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) filed a report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission indicating that the company’s total US payments volume fell by -3% and that US debit card payment volume fell…
Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) has been a disaster since its private equity group buyout imploded. Or has it? When companies lose a buyer it is never a good thing. …
In what is probably just a sign of how badly managed the company has been, The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) agreed today to a $2.75/share buyout by private equity group Sycamore Partners. Talbots turned…
Is this a great time be in the market for a mortgage or what? Well, as long as you don’t consider what the 10-Year Treasury yield is telling you about the economy. As “Sell…
It didn’t take long for Germany to respond to a report from the European Commission proposing that the European Stability Mechanism be empowered to lend directly to banks. From Market News International: The German…
The executive branch of the European Union — the European Commission (EC) — is set to release a report today that recommends allowing the funds in the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to be used…
Stern Agee has decided to “stress test” the new Stress Tests under the Dodd Frank regulation. The current rate calls for banks with $10 billion or more in assets to get this test and…