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• Surprising stocks top best of 2008 list

  Posted Jun 26 2008, 01:18 AM by Jon Markman
  Filed under: Investing, Merrill Lynch, Investment Banking, Motorola, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Bros, Valero, stocks, economy, Jon Markman
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  It’s easy to imagine that the 25 best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index this year are all oil and gas producers, and the 25 worst-performing stocks are all banks and brokers. Yet as we near the halfway mark in 2008, it turns out that there are quite a few surprises in the mix of best and worst.

  For instance, the No. 1 stock in the benchmark index this year isn’t an oil producer, but a coal miner, Massey Energy.  It’s up 155% so far, rising to $89 from $35 as coal prices have soared in the wake of booming demand in China and India. The No. 2 stock is actually a discount retailer, Big Lots. It’s up 100%, from $15 to $30, as investors speculate it will get a big share of tax-rebate money from low-income Americans.

  Most of the rest of the next best 15 gainers   Read More...

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• Maybe the dumbest deal ever

  Posted Mar 25 2008, 03:58 PM by Charley Blaine
  Filed under: Investing, Merrill Lynch, Investment Banking, Banking
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  Al Copeland died on Sunday. You might not know the name. In Louisiana and certainly around New Orleans, he was about as well known as anybody both for the chicken you can get at Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken, the chain he started, and for his lavish, complicated and exuberant lifestyle.

  He liked getting married. But all four of his marriages ended in divorce -- often acrimoniously. He liked Christmas. His house along Lake Pontchartrain in Kenner, La., was so lit up with lights at the holidays that airline pilots would use it to line up their approaches to the airport.

  He liked fast cars and fast boats. He carried on a fun feud over the decor of one of his restaurants with no less than Anne Rice, the author of "Interview with the Vampire."   Read More...

  Discuss ( 62 comments) 84,622 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• What's wrong with Merrill Lynch's losses

  Posted Oct 08 2007, 11:38 AM by Matt Koppenheffer
  Filed under: Investing, Merrill Lynch, Investment Banking
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  In the ongoing fessing-up process on Wall Street, Bank of America and JPMorgan are expected to join the parade of firms disclosing write-downs on mortgage and leveraged loans.  At an estimated $2 billion-plus for JPMorgan and $1 billion for Bank of America, the losses are certainly not insignificant.  However, for a $230 billion company like Bank of America the losses are relatively small, particularly when we look at some of the other firms that have been reporting.
  
  I am still stuck on the losses reported at Merrill Lynch.  Well in excess of $5 billion, these losses are quite significant for a $64 billion company.  As I mentioned previously, the market seemed to digest these huge losses in part because it had been preparing itself for them for a while now.
  
  Could losses like these really come out of the blue for Merrill?  Well, the market didn't seem to doubt they were on the way -- Merrill's stock price dropped 19% between the firm's second quarter earnings release and early August despite the fact that Merrill beat analysts' second quarter earnings estimates.  So how was Merrill itself out of the loop here?   Read More...

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