Analysis Topic: Companies Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
How to Profit from the Fannie and Freddie Bailout / Companies / Nationalization
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes: The second of two parts analyzing the upside and downside of the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bailout. Part I appeared yesterday (Tuesday).]
Between the U.S. Treasury Department's weekend bailout of Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae ( FNM ) and Freddie Mac ( FRE ) – and Monday's bullish market reaction – you'd think the $5.4 trillion deal had no downside risk at all.
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Thoughts On Credit Default Swaps / Companies / Corporate Bonds
By: Mike_Shedlock
Credit Default Swaps (CDS) on Lehman (LEH) and Washington Mutual(WM) were soaring on Tuesday. This should not be surprising given that both stocks were hammered today. Lehman was down a whopping 45% and Washington Mutual was down 20%. Also of note, Wachovia (WB) was down 14%. For more on Lehman, please see Lehman Worth A Big Zero?
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Lehman Brothers Worth A Big Fat ZERO? / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Mike_Shedlock
Lehman is getting crushed today. It may not be long for this world. Bloomberg is reporting Lehman Shares Fall After Talks With Korean Bank End . Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fell 35 percent in New York trading after talks about a capital infusion from Korea Development Bank ended. The Wall Street firm is continuing to negotiate with other potential investors, a person briefed on the matter said.
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Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Investors Hit by Fannie/Freddie “Rescue” Plan / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Money_Morning
Keith Fitz-Gerald writes: Many of the largest financial institutions - including banks, insurance companies and mutual funds - own huge blocks of Fannie Mae ( FNM ) and Freddie Mac ( FRE ) shares.
Still, millions of investors who thought they were "safe" from this whole bailout mess because they didn't own Fannie or Freddie directly might get blindsided anyway. The reason: These investors may have indirect ownership in one or both of the two mortgage miscreants, thanks to shares held in their mutual funds, 401(k) plans, pension funds or annuities.
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Sunday, September 07, 2008
US Tax Payer Takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, The Mother of All Bailouts / Companies / Nationalization
By: Chris_Ciovacco
The text below is taken directly from the government's announcement.
The Good News For Taxpayers:
"With this agreement, Treasury receives senior preferred equity shares and warrants that protect taxpayers. Additionally, under the terms of the agreement, common and preferred shareholders bear losses ahead of the new government senior preferred shares."Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, September 07, 2008
GSEs and Other Financial Institutions Overstate Capital Base / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Mike_Shedlock
In an easily believable story the New York Times is reporting Loan Giant Overstated the Size of Its Capital Base . The government's planned takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, expected to be announced on Sunday, came together after advisers poring over the companies' books for the Treasury Department concluded that Freddie's accounting methods had overstated its capital cushion, according to regulatory officials briefed on the matter.
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Saturday, September 06, 2008
Forces Driving the Credit Crunch / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Money_and_Markets
Mike Larson writes: The credit crunch. We all know it's here, and that it's impacting virtually every corner of the financial markets. But a lot of investors don't really understand how a crunch really works ... why it's so insidious ... and why the Feds' efforts to ease the logjam have been largely ineffective.
So let me try to get at the heart of the matter today. It boils down to two key forces ...
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Friday, September 05, 2008
Three Top Asian Energy Companies / Companies / Energy Resources
By: Money_and_Markets
Larry Edelson writes: I'm writing this while on a short holiday in Macau, Asia's booming Las Vegas. And let me tell you (again) — judging by what I'm seeing in Macau, there are very few signs of a slowdown in Asia!
More than 1.5 million international visitors arrived in Macau in the first six months of 2008 — UP 47% over the same period last year.
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Thursday, September 04, 2008
National City Bank Pays Customers To Cancel Home Equity Accounts / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Mike_Shedlock
National City Bank is desperate for capital. Evidence can be found in the Financial Times story National City offers cash to cut equity lines .
National City (NCC), the US bank that has been among the hardest hit by the subprime crisis, is trying to reduce its exposure to the riskiest category of home loans by offering customers cash to close their untapped home equity lines. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, September 04, 2008
GM, Ford, Chrysler on Sales Collapse Risk Bankruptcy / Companies / US Auto's
By: Mike_Shedlock
The Wall Street Journal is reporting Auto Sales Tumble, But Industry Sees Signs of Hope . Sales of cars and light trucks fell 15.5% to 1.25 million last month, down from 1.48 million a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. The closely watched seasonally adjusted annualized selling rate was 13.7 million vehicles, up from 12.55 million in July, but down from 16.3 million in August 2007, Autodata said.
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Wednesday, September 03, 2008
China CSRC Demands Higher Dividends from China Listed Companies / Companies / China Stocks
By: Money_and_Markets
Nilus Mattive writes: The China Securities Regulatory Commission — Beijing's equivalent of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — is pressing the country's listed companies to adopt more generous dividend policies.
Previously, China-listed companies that wanted to issue additional stock had to pay out at least 20% of their annual average profit for the past three consecutive years in the form of shareholder dividends (cash or stock).
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Monday, September 01, 2008
Fed Lending Going Berserk to Distressed Banks / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Money_and_Markets
Anthony lives in Tokyo — thirteen time zones and 7,400 miles away.
Typically, we talk via instant messenger or computer video-chat. And I must admit that's a lot better than snail mail or ham radio (the way Elisabeth and I often had to communicate 40 years ago).
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Monday, September 01, 2008
Credit Crunch Cancer Metastasizing / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Money_and_Markets
Martin Weiss writes: First, the subprime mess clobbered subprime lenders like Countrywide Financial.
Then, the cancer spread to America's largest banks that invested heavily in risky mortgage-backed securities.
Now, it's metastasizing again — spreading to regional and state banks as well.
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Sunday, August 31, 2008
Desperation at Washington Mutual (WaMu) Puts US Taxpayers at Risk / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Mike_Shedlock
Desperation is in the air at Washington Mutual (WM). That WaMu is offering 5% on CDs should be proof enough. From LastNightInVegas . If the 5% rate WaMu is offering on CDs isn't indication enough that there's trouble brewing, the fact that WaMu is promoting it with a hand drawn white board sign certainly clinches it.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Latest FDIC US Banking Systems Report Reads Like a Horror Novel / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Money_and_Markets
Mike Larson writes: Every three months the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) puts out "Quarterly Banking Profiles." Most investors have never heard of them. The mainstream press has largely ignored them. Even Wall Street traditionally pays them little heed.
But not me! The QBP provides a wealth of information about the state of the U.S. banking industry. It tells you about the credit quality of the loans on the books of U.S. banks, what's going on with bank earnings, how much money the FDIC has on hand to resolve failing institutions, and more.
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Saturday, August 30, 2008
Fannie and Freddie GSEs are Too Big to Survive / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Michael_Pento
Wall Street's recent mantra—emblematic of its support for bailouts, especially of financial firms—is that Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) are too big to fail. I've written before about the potential problems associated with the G.S.E.s, but it is now quite clear how much trouble these companies are in, so I thought it was time to write a follow-up.Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, August 30, 2008
The Greatest Government Bailout of All Time / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Money_and_Markets
We are now witnessing a rapid-fire 1-2-3 chain reaction of events that's leading to the greatest government bailout of all time ...
Event #1. In the mortgage market, where this crisis first erupted, nearly half of all subprime loans issued in 2006 are now delinquent ... late payments on mid-quality "Alt-A" mortgages have soared 41.5% ... and delinquencies on prime jumbo mortgages are up a staggering 55.2% in the past 6 months.
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Friday, August 29, 2008
Iraqi Bonds Safer than American Banks / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Mike_Shedlock
Bloomberg is reporting Iraq Safer Than Ohio Banks Stung by Credit Crisis . Iraq's bonds are delivering the biggest returns in emerging markets as oil export revenue bolsters government finances and violence declines.
The country's $2.7 billion of 5.8 percent bonds due 2028 gained 45 percent since August 2007, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. indexes. Investors demand 4.84 percentage points more in yield to own the debt instead of Treasuries, down from 7.26 percentage points a year ago. The spread is narrower than for notes of Ohio banks National City Corp. and KeyCorp, suggesting Baghdad may be safer for bond investors than Cleveland.
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Thursday, August 28, 2008
US Financial's and Auto's Dead Men Walking / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: John_Mauldin
Last Friday's letter was about the fact that it is not just Freddie and Fannie. There are other problems. The Weekend Edition and today's Wall Street Journal are filled with stories about the problems with Freddie and Fannie. The assumption in so many quarters is that they will soon need government assistance. The only questions seem to be when and in what form? Can this wait until a new president is in place? Congress is leaving town soon. Can it wait until the lame duck session?
As I have been writing for well over a year, the credit crisis is going to be deeper and take longer to correct than the main stream media and economists think. Losses at banks are going to be much larger, and they are going to bleed for a long time. That means we are going to see more banks failing.
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Thursday, August 28, 2008
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Defies Risk Suggesting Another Future Taxpayer Bailout / Companies / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Joe_Nicholson
At the heart of every financial transaction is risk. With few exceptions, the only way to increase what you have using investments is to shoulder some risk. This can work, growing your money and creating much more than id you had not done a thing. And if it doesn't work, you could lose all of the money you invested or just a portion.Read full article... Read full article...