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Posted
Oct 31 2008, 04:30 AM
by
Andrew Horowitz
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 As if the economic bailout by U.S. taxpayers isn't enough to make you sick to your stomach, new information has come to light that several banks are planning to pay billions of dollars in year-end bonuses from the bailout funds they received. Investigations are beginning into the nine banks that took in the first $125 billion -- the same $125 billion that was supposed to be used to unclog the credit system which was preventing banks from providing much needed funds for individuals and businesses.
There are many feathers in a ruffle over this and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and several congressmen are furious that over $20 billion has already been earmarked as bonus funds for management and employees. Unbelievably, that is just the estimates from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. There are six more banks that are also working on similar heists.
Here is their rationale for using that money:
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Posted
Sep 16 2008, 03:15 PM
by
Andrew Horowitz
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Since when do we rely on government to intervene in every case of a failing business? If anyone wonders why we have such a mess on our hands, look no further than our boneheaded government that has obviously forgotten its way. Think of this week's action within the financial markets as a result, not the cause of our problems.
AIG is in a battle for its very existence, Merrill has been absorbed and Lehman is bankrupt. And we're only part way through the week. What's next?
These days, many people are wondering what our government will do to stop the insanity. Yet, in a capitalistic society that relies on a free market system, we should only look to the government to guide and regulate against fraud and the manipulation of the system. Sometimes known as a laissez-faire philosophy, the government has a role, but it
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Posted
Dec 12 2008, 03:12 AM
by
Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site The Big Money.
So much for a speedy bailout. The $14 billion emergency financing deal for General Motors and Chrysler ran out of gas on the floor of the Senate Thursday night, raising, as the New York Times writes, "a specter of financial collapse" for the troubled automakers. The deal's derailment, continues Business Week, creates "the real possibility that General Motors and Chrysler will face bankruptcy in a matter of weeks, unless the Treasury Dept. acts to prevent it." In any event, lawmakers will likely not take up the matter of an auto bailout again until January, and who knows then what shape two of the Big 3 will be in. "It's over with," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Wall Street Journal. The automakers, though, are still holding out hope that the White House will relent and hive off some of the $700 billion TARP fund to keep them afloat for the time being, the newspaper adds.
Why did the deal fail? It came down to pay cuts, Business Week says. United Auto Workers, headed by Ron Gettelfinger, would not budge on a deal to lower union wages and benefits to the level paid to workers at Toyota and Honda by next year. That was the deal-killer, the magazine writes. Amid the finger-pointing, Reid was looking ahead, reluctantly. "I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It's not going to be a pleasant sight," he commented
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Posted
Oct 07 2008, 08:28 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Americans sure are in a gloomy mood. A recent poll finds that 60% of us believe that a full-blown depression is somewhat or very likely.
Since a depression has no official qualities (besides being worse than recession), the pollsters cited a few economic measures from the 1930s during their survey: A 25% unemployment rate, widespread bank failures, and millions of people homeless and unable to afford basic necessities. Other measures of consumer sentiment corroborate these findings.
Before you blow all this off as the irrational rumblings of an unhappy electorate, know that Wall Street's economists are starting to see a similarly dour picture.
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Posted
Oct 10 2008, 07:46 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Shhh. Can you hear it?
Remove your ear from the ground. It's no longer a murmur. The shifting social mood has bubbled to the surface: Americans are starting to fight back.
Our 401(k)s are evaporating before our eyes. Elected officials trumpet power grabs that moonlight as rescue packages. Talking heads mention in passing that General Motors may not be around next year.
And while some are content to sit, mouth agape, staring at a screen, watching flickering symbols drop in value and bank accounts dwindle, others have had enough and are doing something about it
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Posted
Sep 15 2008, 03:38 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Merrill Lynch is gone, sold to Bank of America for $44 billion. That's $29 a share, well below its 52-week high of $79, but above the $17 close on Friday.
Merrill would have opened below $10 -- the schizophenia caused by the current credit crisis is that great. The brokerage may well have had a balance sheet that could have allowed it to remain independent, but with Lehman gone, the doubt was spreading to the next company on the list. Short-sellers would have swamped over the company like leeches.
The word is that Paulson at the Treasury encouraged the deal. He didn't want another beggar at his door if the financial community wanted him to back
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Posted
Apr 14 2008, 02:58 PM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Early indications from companies like Wachovia and General Electric show that the last half of March may have been tougher on bank earnings than Wall Street expects. Bloomberg recently reported that Citigroup, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo could all miss consensus estimates. But by how much?
A look at the spread of Q1 estimates gives some hint about how far off actual numbers could be compared with investor expectations. At Citigroup, among 15 analysts polled by First Call the average EPS estimate is a loss of $.95. But, the lowest estimate is a loss of $2.24. At JP Morgan, the average figure from fourteen analysts is $.66, but the worst case is a loss of $.11. For Wells Fargo, twenty-three analysts have an average forecast of Q1 EPS at $.57, but the low number is $.45.
The huge discrepancy among the numbers should be troubling to shareholders because recent information would argue that share prices for most banks and brokerages may still be way too high.
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Posted
Mar 25 2008, 03:58 PM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
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."
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Posted
Jan 15 2009, 02:51 AM
by
Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site The Big Money.
The cost (to us) of Bank of America's Merrill Lynch acquisition keeps on climbing. The Wall Street Journal writes that the Treasury Department is set to "give billions in additional aid" to BoA to help close the deal because of the stricken securities firm's "larger-than-expected losses in the fourth quarter." BoA got $25 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program back in October and its need for more money at this point illustrates a "deepening fragility among the nation’s largest banks," writes the New York Times. That's the view from Treasury anyhow. It worries that if the deal falls through it will further undermine the stability of U.S. financial markets, adds the WSJ. The fourth quarter wasn't kind to Deutsche Bank (DB), which warns that heavy trading losses will force it to take a $6.3 billion loss on the back of the global financial meltdown. Meanwhile JPMorgan's (JPM) chief executive has been looking forward and -- surprise -- 2009 looks pretty bleak.
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Posted
Jun 26 2008, 01:18 AM
by
Jon Markman
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
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
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