Archive for December, 2010
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) Expect U.S. Muni Debt Sales to Drop in 2011
During 2011, the Build America Bond program will come to an end. In addition, the Republicans will be gaining control of state legislatures, and expecting to cut government spending in the process. Combining these variables has led JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) to expect municipal bond issuances to fall next year. [...]
Goldman Sachs’ (NYSE: GS) Sze to Start Hedge Fund
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is losing a star manager. It has recently been reported that Morgan Sze is trying to raise more than $1 billion to start his own hedge fund. The effort, which if successful would mark the largest hedge fund launch since the credit crisis, could be an important indicator into [...]
First Horizon National Corp (NYSE: FHN) Reveals TARP Repayment Plan, But Will Other Regional Banks Follow?
First Horizon National Corp (FHN) said it is selling debt and equity to pay off $867 million of TARP aid. First Horizon’s shares rose as investors cheered its move to shed government support. Analysts said the repayment plan could be the first of another wave of TARP repayments, and suggest that the U.S. banking system [...]
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Changes Course and Begins Settlement Discussions with Mortgage Investors
The Wall St. Journal is reporting that Bank of America Corp. (BAC), after vowing to fight requests that it repurchase certain loans, has begun potential settlement discussions with some of its largest mortgage investors. The 17-member group now in talks with the nation’s largest bank as measured by assets includes the Federal Reserve Bank of [...]
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) Restructures Oil Trading Desk
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) restructured its Oil Trading team last week, after the $1.7 billion acquisition of RBS Sempra Commodities LLP units. In that shake up, oil trader Ira Eisenstein also left the firm. In a telephone interview yesterday Eisenstein commented “I am no longer there. A number of other people left at [...]
Citigroup (NYSE: C) Unveils New Branch Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Citigroup (NYSE: C) will be opening a new, high-tech branch in New York City on Thursday, in an effort to woo more business from wealthy, urban customers. Although Citigroup is the third largest bank in the United States, their retail branch network is relatively small comparatively. While they have roughly 1000 US bank branches, [...]
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Shuffles Exec Positions
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) announced that they will move executive Kathleen Brown, who runs the West Coast municipal finance team to a newly created post in Chicago. Recently, her brother Jerry Brown was electedCalifornia’s next Governor. Goldman Sachs, the most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history, lent the state $1.5 billion in [...]
Capture the Digital Consumer in 3 Steps
This is a guest post by Sanat Rao – Global Head of Sales – Finacle, Infosys Technologies Ltd. ‘I tweet, therefore I am.’ This already-done-to-death adage seems to sum up today’s consumer – technophillic, independent, vociferous, participative and a real networker! I remember reading sometime ago that if Facebook were a country, it would be [...]
Re-Engineered Citi (NYSE: C) Pays Back Treasury – Poised For Growth
A recent blog post from Zacks shows that the reports of Citigroup Inc.’s (C) demise, were premature at best. The optimism surrounding Citi’s recovery goes well beyond finalizing its final sale of all bailout funds received from the U.S. Treasury. The company is now focused on inducting strategic initiatives to improve its profitability in [...]
Auriga Boosts Price Target on Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) to $18.00
Equities research analysts at Auriga boosted their price target on shares of Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research note to clients and investors on Friday. The analysts currently have a “hold” rating on the stock. Separately, analysts at UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) raised their price target on shares of Ciena [...]
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) invests $200K in Builders of Hope
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) will donate $200,000 to Builders of Hope to support homeownership and affordable rental opportunities in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood in Charlotte. The grant from Wells Fargo is part of the company’s Leading the Way Home Priority Markets program, a nationwide effort to increase the availability of affordable housing and stabilize [...]
Polonia Bankcorp (PBCP) Appointed to Assume Deposits and Assets From Earthstar Bank
The Street is reporting that state regulators appointed Polonia Bancorp to assume the deposits and assets of Earthstar Bank. The Pennsylvania bank brought the total number of bank failures in 2010 to 151. Pennsylvania regulators closed Earthstar Bank of Southampton, Pa., which had $112.6 million in assets and $104.5 million in deposits. The FDIC was [...]
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Downgrades 3M (NYSE: MMM) On Falling Optical Film Demand
The 3M Corporation (NYSE: MMM) is in a variety of business lines, and have moved far beyond a business model predicated simply on tape and post-its. In fact, one of it’s booming business lines has been in the production of optical film used in LCD displays. However, this very market has now turned on them [...]
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Seeks to Expand Online Brokerage Business of Merrill Lynch
The new breed of investors are an interesting lot. They’re technologically savvy, social, and distrusting in many ways. This has led many to the ‘self service’ type models, where they can seemingly choose and invest on their own. While this market has been dominated by smaller firms and discount brokers, there may be a new [...]
Citigroup (NYSE: C) Still Too Big To Fail, Chairman Says
Citigroup (NYSE: C) is interwoven in the fabric of global finance, according to Citi Chairman Richard Parsons. Earlier this week the government announced plans to shed it’s remaining stake in the mammoth bank, which was as high as $45 billion when the bank teetered on the brink of disaster during the financial crisis. Thanks to [...]
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