Archive for December, 2009
Meredith Whitney Lowers Profit Estimates for Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)
Banking analyst Meredith Whitney lowered her profit estimates for investment banks Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs (GS). Shares of both banks fell following the announcement. On Thursday, shares of Goldman fell $4.06, to $160.93. Shares of Morgan Stanley were down $1.22 to $29.12. Both firms have come under increased scrutiny and criticism for their executive [...]
SunTrust Inc. (NYSE: STI) Expands Live Solid Initiative with Budgeting Application for Facebook
SunTrust Banks, Inc. (STI) has launched Daily Dollar on Facebook. It’s the bank’s latest application in support of its Live Solid initiative. Daily Dollar taps into two complementary cultural shifts – a desire to rebalance priorities and take control of our finances, and the popularity of social networking as a way of announcing and promoting [...]
HSBC Holdings (LSE: HSBA.L) Looking to Emerging Markets for Growth, Business in U.S. “Winding Down”
Mocked by shareholders in the pre-bubble years, HSBC Holdings’ (LSE: HSBA.L) group finance director Douglas Flint is now having the last laugh, as the huge bank performed magnificently while their competitive rabble around them begged their respective governments in order to cover up their gross incompetence. I do use the term ‘competitive’ loosely here. Much [...]
Treasury Department Can’t Afford to Sell Citigroup (NYSE:C) Shares
After announced plans to work with Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) to pay back the funds it received from taxpayers via the TARP program, the Treasury Department in a humiliating move had to back out of the deal to sell up to $5 billion of stock it has in the company on behalf of taxpayers because they [...]
Senate Banking Committee Confirms Bernanke for Second Term, Goes to Senate Floor for Full Vote
While it’s not certain Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will be confirmed for a second term by the Senate, he has taken one more step toward that probably being the case, as the Senate Banking Committee voted 16-7 to give the beleaguered Bernanke another four-year stint at the Federal Reserve helm. As usual, Senator Jim [...]
Prudential (NYSE: PRU) To Sell Wachovia Securities Stake To Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Net $1.5 Billion
In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU) stated on Wednesday that it expects to gain about $1.5 billion from the sales of its minority stake in Wachovia Securities. The financial services and insurance firm is selling the stake to Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) for approximately [...]
Lending Club Forum, Stats and Wiki: Where to Get Additional Information about Lending Club
With the most recent recession, investors have become more painfully aware of the roller coaster ride that the stock market can take them on than ever. As a result, people are looking to find alternative investments that provide more consistent rates of return to put their money into. One such alternative investment is peer-to-peer lending. [...]
Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) Shares Drop 7% as Treasury Holds On to Shares
In a somewhat surprising move late Wednesday, the Treasury Department backed away from an initial plan to sell some of its shares in Citigroup Inc. (C). Shortly after the announcement, shares in Citigroup, Inc dropped almost 7% to $3.22 on heavy volume. Citigroup said late Wednesday that Treasury decided not to sell any of its [...]
Reinstating Glass-Steagall Act Receives Mixed Responses
It was probably inevitable that the Glass-Steagall Act would be revisited in response to the banking crisis, and Senators John McCain and Maria Cantwell have now brought the proposition forward, whereby commercial banking and investment banking wouldn’t be allowed under the same financial roof, something many politicians believe will help protect a financial crisis like [...]
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) Report Growth in 15-Year Mortgage Market
As more homeowners look to refinance, Wells Fargo (WFC) and JP Morgan Chase (JPM) are seeing surprisingly substantial increases in the origination of 15-year mortgages. Through November, Wells Fargo saw 15-year mortgage originations increase by 55% from a year earlier. Although still a small percentage of the overall market, the recent rock-bottom interest rates are [...]
Credit Suisse (SIX: CSGN) Fined $536 Million for Violation of U.S. Sanctions Against Iran, Other Countries
It’s getting expensive to do business in the U.S. if it means you have to cater to its every whim in its interactions with the world. Credit Suisse (SIX: CSGN) is the latest to learn that lesson as they have agreed to pay a fine of $536 million for its part in doing business with clients [...]
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Names Brian Moynihan as New CEO
After a humiliating and failed attempt to draw a quality candidate from outside the company to run its troubled affairs, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), as expected, after Bank of New York Mellon Corp Chief Executive Robert Kelly rejected the position, refocused to within the company for its new CEO, and decided on 51-year-old Brian Moynihan, [...]
Indecision of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Board Key to Robert Kelly Withdrawing as CEO Candidate
The inability of the Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to fully support CEO candidate for the firm, Robert Kelly, seems to be the major reason why Kelly withdrew his name from the pool of candidates for the position. Insiders said Kelly didn’t want to have to battle to bring the disparate factions together to support his [...]
TIME Chooses Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke As 2009 Person Of The Year
After much consideration, TIME Magazine announced that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been names its 2009 Person of the Year. According to TIME managing editor Richard Stengel, Bernanke edged out General Stanley McChyrstal, who heads up the U.S. troops in Afghanistan. While appearing on the TODAY show Wednesday morning, Stengel said Bernanke received the [...]
FDIC Postpones Capital Requirements for Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)
Blaming former rules which allowed banks to effectively keep assets and liabilities off of their books and look stronger than they actually were, the Financial Accounting Standards Board changed that to where billions of assets and liabilities would now be forced to be listed on the books of banks like Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Citigroup Inc. [...]
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