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Posted
Oct 14 2009, 03:53 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
American International Group (AIG) is a meritocracy. One of the firm’s best kitchen workers got a $7,700 retention bonus as part of the firm’s plan to keep key employees. According to the FT, the payment was made in March.
Kenneth Feinberg, the government’s pay czar, is asking that AIG retention bonuses be cut by $198 million for 2010 and that the company “claw back” $45 million from last year.
The trouble with the plan is that some of the retention programs were probably part of written agreements with employees, and the federal government may not want to be seen as violating contracts. It would raise the issue of whether employment agreements at firms which have still not repaid government loans are any good at all.
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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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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
Sep 01 2009, 01:25 PM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
In a dramatic shift, investors are shying away from the riskiest assets and the most speculative stocks. The huge rise in the likes of AIG (AIG) and Citigroup (C) had the trappings of a short-covering bull rally on its last legs. Now, the financial sector appears to losing the market leadership role that powered the broad market higher.
After regrouping and counting casualties, the bears are on the counterattack. AIG is down 24.3% over the last two days while Citigroup has lost 10.1%. Government controlled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are down 19.1% and 17.9% respectively.
The catalyst appears to be a downgrade of AIG by a Sanford C. Bernstein analyst and downgrades of Fannie and Freddie by FBR Capital Markets analysts. But the signs of an impending turnaround have been building for weeks.
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Posted
Aug 28 2009, 11:03 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Check out American International Group's (AIG) one-month chart (pictured). It's red hot right now, and no one knows why.
"Who would want to buy a stock that's still 80% owned by the government?" an equity analyst asked The New York Times. Good question. The stock price is up to $50. Just one month ago, it was under $15. Here are a few events that have happened at AIG lately, although none would seem to justify the spike in price: - There's a new chief executive, Robert Benmosche, who hails from Metlife.
- Benmosche has said AIG will repay the government for its numerous massive bailouts.
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Posted
Aug 28 2009, 01:12 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Over the last few days stocks have been careening wildly, either tumbling towards oblivion or feigning a move higher. But in the end, the major indices settle gently near the unchanged line by the closing bell.
Take Thursday's session: The S&P 500 fell hard at the open, dropping as much as 1.2% before rebounding for a 0.3% gain. Or look at Tuesday: A gain of 1.2% brought the index to a new high for the year, but this was quickly reduced to a gain of just two-tenths of a percent.
Bing: More on 'Gravestone Doji'
Traders have clearly reached a point of indecision after the huge rise out of the March low: The S&P 500 is up 52% while the Russell 2000 is up a whopping 70%. Chart watchers have a name for the formation stocks are drawing out: It's called the "Gravestone Doji" pattern. And as you'd expect from its grim sounding name, this behavior normally precedes a market decline.
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Posted
Aug 27 2009, 07:20 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 This article is written by Minyanville's Andrew Jeffery
After four years of searing pain, the U.S. housing market is finally showing signs of life. And even as the causes and relative sustainability of this nascent “recovery” are being hotly debated, traditional buyers and investors alike are jumping into the market for homes with both feet. It now appears that the biggest, baddest investor of them all, the one with infinitely deep pockets, is wading into the fray: Uncle Sam. According to HousingWire, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, is giving state and local governments a total of $50 million to help deal with the onslaught of foreclosed homes, many of which lie vacant and blighted, ripe for vandalism, squatting, or worse. HUD has allocated chunks of cash to national development groups and local community organizations hoping to plug holes left by the private real estate investment market. Bing: US Housing Market
Funds are being distributed through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was established by former President George Bush in Economic Stimulus part one and expanded by President Barack Obama earlier this year.
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Posted
Aug 24 2009, 04:02 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Steve Jobs worked at Apple (AAPL) for $1 a year in 2000, just before the launch of the iPod, which completely changed the company’s fortunes and made him astonishingly wealthy. Lee Iaccoca worked for $1 in 1978 when he took charge of crippled Chrysler.
The dollar-a-year tradition has fallen on hard times. The most recent apostle of the practice was Edward Liddy who took the chief executive’s job at American International Group (AIG) when it was deeply troubled. He had been the head of Allstate (ALL), so he probably did not need to make several million dollars. Liddy took the job as a public service, an action which seems to be both anachronistic and idealistic. Liddy worked hard to restructure the insurance company, but was derided mercilessly by Congress because AIG executives received large pay packages on his watch. The irony of this issue was that Liddy had nothing to do with the compensation agreements. Liddy was replaced by Robert Benmosche, the former chief executive of MetLife (MET). Benmosche presumably is wealthy enough to work for nothing, but insisted on being paid $7 million. The taxpayers who own 85% of AIG are appropriately enraged that AIG let Liddy leave.
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Posted
Aug 18 2009, 03:48 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
American International Group (AIG) has already taken $180 billion of taxpayer money and there is absolutely no reason to believe that most of it will be returned. The insurance company is still losing money, and its efforts to sell off units to raise capital have been pathetic.
Ed Liddy, former chief executive of Allstate (ALL), was AIG’s chief for the last year. He was brought in by the government to help work out the mess. He was repaid by regular beatings from Congress over AIG management compensation set before he arrived. He worked for $1 a year.
AIG’s new CEO will not be so generous. After making tens of millions of dollars at MetLife (MET), where he was chief executive, he will now make at least $7 million over the next year running the ruined financial firm. Robert Benmosche clearly does not have a community-minded bone in his body.
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Posted
Aug 05 2009, 10:27 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 American International Group (AIG) is tired of dealing with all those analysts and their pesky questions. So it's not going to give them a chance to ask.
The company will not hold a conference call with analysts this week to present its second-quarter results. That's a pretty bold move, considering there's still a whole lot to be discussed -- like whether this company can ever pay back its $182 billion taxpayer bailout (the answer is no). It was only two quarters ago that AIG reported the worst quarterly loss in U.S. history -- and even then it held a conference call. So what are we in for on Friday, when the company drops its bomb but skips the earnings presentation and question-and-answer session?
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