Search results for Goldman Sachs
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Posted
Sep 23 2008, 12:10 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Armed with stronger backing from federal banking regulators, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are going shopping for cash.
Yesterday, the last bastions of Wall Street independence announced plans to transform into more traditional banks, subjecting themselves to deeper regulatory scrutiny and tighter limits on leverage. The move also allowed them to pursue customer deposits, a more stable funding source than the recently chaotic money markets.
This morning, Bloomberg reported the 2 firms are already on the prowl, combing the banking landscape for deposits they can snatch up on the cheap. This may seem odd, since Goldman and Morgan were fighting for their lives just a few short days ago - and Morgan was desperately searching for an infusion of capital.
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Posted
Mar 24 2009, 07:29 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The phrase “taxpayers will share in any upside” always makes me shudder.
And with good reason: Last September, as Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) crumbled under the weight of their massive loan portfolios, the U.S. taxpayer ponied up $2 billion to rescue them, along with $200 billion in guarantees for future losses.
We were told that our investment would be well-protected, since the companies barely played in the subprime space: Their $5 trillion portfolios consisted of only the finest prime mortgages. One Wall Street Journal columnist even called Fannie and Freddie “a gold mine.”
Six months later, Fannie and Freddie have chewed through almost half their taxpayer-funded safety net. With delinquencies on prime loans rising, and home prices tumbling in high-end markets, losses are likely to keep growing -- as will the taxpayer's obligation.
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Posted
Mar 27 2009, 01:18 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
As someone who focuses on equities for a living, I usually don't spend much time thinking about the rating agencies. I recently took a look at them with the thought that they might be beaten up enough to merit a discounted purchase. Indeed, Moody’s (MCO) certainly looks cheap if you believe in the viability of its business model.
It's that viability, however, that offers the rub. Moody’s and the other rating agencies (Standard & Poor’s, Fitch, etc.) enjoy a special status in the financial world. The majority of capital available to invest in our marketplace is restricted as to what it actually can and cannot own according to ratings (primarily Moody’s and S&P).
Thus, a large pension fund or insurance company would be forced to sell a security if one of these rating agencies decided to lower the rating on such security. Further, a downgrade in rating could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in incremental funding costs. Simply put, the rating agencies have an enormous amount of power.
Now, if you're an entity that wants access to the credit markets -- just a company looking for a new loan, or to rollover an existing one -- you have to pay homage to the rating agencies. You'll spend time convincing the folks at S&P and Moody’s that you deserve a higher rating.
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Posted
Mar 18 2009, 03:11 AM
by
Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site The Big Money. IBM (IBM) is in early stage talks to buy Sun Microsystems (JAVA), the Wall Street Journal reports, in a deal that would "bolster IBM's heft on the Internet, in software and in finance and telecommunications markets." Talks could yet fall through, the Journal says, but there is also a chance the negotiations could wrap up as early as this week. IBM is likely to pay at least $6.5 billion in cash, the newspaper adds, a premium of more than 100% over Sun's closing price Tuesday. Sun's share price rocketed more than 80% in morning trading Wednesday on the news, while IBM shares fell slightly.
Big Blue's interest in Sun comes down to control of a $100 billion market, the Journal writes, and it's all focused on the data center -- the large computer rooms that keep businesses and the Internet running.
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Posted
Jul 14 2009, 03:46 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Goldman Sachs (GS) has a tin ear. It cannot hear, or wishes to ignore, the tremendous bad publicity from news that it will pay record bonuses this year. It will pay those bonuses after taking billions of dollars in government bailout money, which it has paid back, and in the face of a Congress that is looking closely at limiting executive pay.
Goldman acts as if it wants to be rebuked by the federal government, shareholders, and the broader public. But, the firm has been the most successful investment bank in the world for years, and it may simply think that its management deserves large bonuses for the quality of work they do and the returns they provide.
Goldman has poured more fuel on the fire over compensation. Executives at the financial firm sold $700 million in stock between September and April. According to the FT, “The surge in selling among Goldman partners, at a time when the U.S. government had thrown a lifeline to Wall Street, is likely to draw criticism from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.” That may be the understatement of the year.
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Posted
Aug 07 2009, 02:20 PM
by
John Reese
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
My investment strategy is based on the idea that reinventing the wheel can be a dangerous game, and that you can learn a great deal from those who have had the greatest past success in the stock market. At the end of each week I thus examine what the gurus I follow have been saying about the market and the economy.
This week, the gurus' comments have made clear the disconnect between a red-hot market and a still-struggling, baby-step-forward economy. On the one hand, there was Abby Joseph Cohen, senior investment strategist at Goldman Sachs, who told CNBC that she and her firm think a new bull market has begun. “Our sense is that things are now coming together, not just in the United States, but there are some other nations, primarily in Asia, where economic growth does seem to have resumed,” Cohen said. Goldman is expecting strong third and fourth quarters, $75 in per-share earnings for the S&P 500 next year, and the index to be in the 1050-1100 range by year-end.
• See the two new Warren Buffett-type stocks I'm adding to my Wall Street Survivor portfolio today
Others, however, see the economy dragging the market down. John Mauldin, the economist and strategist from Millennium Wave Investments, told Yahoo! TechTicker Friday that the market has gotten "way ahead of its fundamentals".
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Posted
Sep 01 2009, 03:51 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Vanity Fair has announced its “New Establishment 100″ list for 2009, basing selections on wealth, influence, and philanthropy, as well as such intangibles as vision and "X factor.”
Topping the list is Goldman Sachs (GS) chief executive Lloyd Blankfein. Apparently, the big pay packages that he and his top executives get are not enough to erode his power in the business community. Blankfein was in the No. 2 spot a year ago.
Second on the list is Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple (AAPL). He should arguably be at the top. He is clearly the most influential and powerful chief executive in America, taking a role that Jack Welch of General Electric (GE) once had.
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Posted
Sep 17 2009, 11:57 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This article is written by Minyanville's Andrew Jeffery
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke may have kept his job for another four years, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be any easier than the last four.
With pundits, politicians, and regulators sounding the trumpets that our latest bout with recession is likely behind us, central banks and Treasury Departments around the world are looking forward at the daunting task of removing the various forms of stimulus -- which, in the estimation of former Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg, have contributed 100% of global economic growth this year. See "Staying Neutral on Inflation vs. Deflation."
European Central Bank Chief Jean-Claude Trichet even took out space in the Financial Times to lay out his vision for the eventual withdrawal of “enhanced credit support,” which helped prop up local, and indeed global, financial markets.
Here at home, Bernanke’s much maligned predecessor, Alan Greenspan, is voicing concern that Congress could complicate the Fed’s already delicate task of keeping the economy grinding ahead without waking the sleeping giant of inflation.
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Posted
Oct 05 2009, 08:23 AM
by
Jim Van Meerten
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Over the weekend, McClatchy Newspapers had two powerful articles entitled "Help with mortgages is difficult to come by" and "Some firms with spotty pasts get tax dollars." The articles expose how firms like Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C) and Morgan Stanley (MS) -- firms who were bailed out from the brink of bankruptcy by TARP with billions of taxpayer dollars -- are now abusing mortgage borrowers who are in trouble. The Treasury is doing little, if anything to monitor the situation.
In one case, Ronnie Fruia was about to lose his home when he, his mother and son were all hospitalized. He was recovering from a stroke and couldn't talk, but CitiFinancial sent someone to his hospital room to sign modification papers that didn't even cut his interest rate. State regulators had to step in to get his rate changed from 11.5% to a reasonable 5%.
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Posted
Oct 06 2009, 01:48 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This article is written by Minyanville's Megan Barnett This week has seen yet another round in the battle between Goldman Sachs (GS) and the Rest of the World. See also, Goldman Sachs Lightning Bolt Sparks Rally. On Monday, Goldman Sachs analysts Richard Ramsden and Brian Foran upgraded their outlook for big banks from neutral to attractive. The news sent shares of JPMorgan (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), and Wells Fargo (WFC) sharply higher. And yes, even Goldman Sachs shareholders benefited from the news, as its shares jumped nearly 4%.
The upgrade baffled many banking analysts and it came against a backdrop of negative opinions. And these aren't just slightly bearish views -- they're downright scary outlooks that suggest some of the worst still lies ahead for banks and the rest of the economy. Here's a sampling:
Meredith Whitney, the analyst who made her name as a banking bear at the start of the credit crisis, penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal last week in which she predicted that small businesses will become the next victims of the crisis since their access to credit is being denied by banks and other lenders. She believes “we are only in the early stages of the second half of this credit cycle."
George Soros reiterated his gloom for a roomful of global financial policy wonks in Istanbul yesterday, saying that the US economic recovery will be extremely slow thanks to the “basically bankrupt” banking system at its core.
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