Archives: September 2008

Free fallin' -- only four out of 500 in S&P 500 holding gains

Posted by: Aaron Pressman on September 29

It's an across-the-board massacre in the stock market after the House of Representatives voted down the Paulsen bailout plan. I just took a spin through all 500 components of the...

The New Wachovia

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 29

Talk about fast transformations. It was only a week ago when Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley shed their investment banking skins to become commercial banks in a bid to stem...

Community Reinvestment Act had nothing to do with subprime crisis

Posted by: Aaron Pressman on September 29

Fresh off the false and politicized attack on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, today we're hearing the know-nothings blame the subprime crisis on the Community Reinvestment Act -- a 30-year-old...

Oakmark Boots WaMu: Too Late?

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 26

This item was written by Lewis Braham, who recently authored a piece on focused funds for BusinessWeek In a surprisingly anti-climactic turn of events Oakmark Funds' manager Bill Nygren issued...

Another Way To Rejigger Your Portfolio

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 26

In this week's issue of BusinessWeek, we asked top financial advisers how they would invest $250,000 for moderate growth over the next five to seven years. We didn't have space...

Look Out for Bloody Tuesday

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 26

There’s no relief these days for stock investors, who’ve already seen their portfolios get pounded by the fallout from the now 13-month long credit crisis. Now there’s a new worry...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were victims, not culprits

Posted by: Aaron Pressman on September 26

There's a dangerous -- and misleading -- argument making the rounds about the causes of our current credit crisis. It's emanating from Washington where politicians are engaging in the usual...

Stan O'Neal's Hedge Fund Return?

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 25

When E. Stanley O’Neal ran Merrill Lynch, the big Wall Street brokerage started to resemble a giant hedge fund--juicing its returns with a big bet on tens of billions of...

Wall Street Executives Paid to Fail

Posted by: Emily Thornton on September 25

Politicians want the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street to curb the compensation of the CEOs of financial services companies who participate. Given the massive scale of the financial crisis,...

Warren Buffett v. Uncle Sam: Who got the better deal?

Posted by: Ben Levisohn on September 25

Sure, AIG's an overextended insurance company on the brink, while Goldman is a profitable investment bank forced to raise cash and reduce leverage. Of course, the Oracle of Omaha made...

Stock Buybacks Retreat 44% in Second Quarter; Cash holdings goes up

Posted by: Howard Silverblatt on September 23

As uncertainty grew and commitment to significant cash outflows for purchases declined, buybacks pulled back from their record highs. S&P 500 stock buyback activity slowed considerably during Q2,’08, posting its...

Big Bailout Isn't a Slam Dunk

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 21

Late last week investors cheered the news that the federal government was racing to put together a massive $700 billion bailout package for the financial system. A huge two-day rally...

It's Not the Shorts

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 19

Let's be honest, short sellers will never win any popularity contests on Wall Street. It's hard to warm-up to traders who make a killing when stock prices tumble. So that's...

The Credit Crunch Hits Money Funds (Again)

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 18

Will the credit crunch decimate money-market funds next? Money-market funds are considered one of the safest places to park cash. But that, like everything else in this wild market, is...

Morgan Stanley's John Mack Swings Into Action

Posted by: Emily Thornton on September 17

As Morgan Stanley's stock price spiraled downward one day after the firm announced the strongest profits on Wall Street on Tuesday, CEO John J. Mack swung into action. Mack made...

BACK IN THE USA

Posted by: Howard Silverblatt on September 17

While U.S. markets are down, they are doing significantly better than the other 51 global markets, with the U.S. posting the best return (lowest loss) for the MTD and QTD....

Merrill's AIG Problem

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 16

John Thain may have struck a deal to sell Merrill Lynch to Bank of America at just the right time, and for a whopping 70% premium to boot. That’s because...

More Concerns About Lehman's Board

Posted by: Emily Thornton on September 15

I see Dennis Berman shares the concerns I noted (see: Where Was Lehman's Board?) last week about Lehman Brothers -- here's his take in WSJ.com's Deal Journal. What's yours?...

Credit Crunch: What the Pros Are Telling Nervous Investors

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 15

Here's a round up of questions posed to top money managers, financial advisers, and economists about the market meltdown on Monday: Mohamed El-Erian, co-CEO, Pimco, and author of When Markets...

Dear Citigroup: Vikram Pandit Assures Employees

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 15

Here's an item from associate editor Mara Derhovanesian In a move to bolster morale and head off negative sentiment in the markets, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit shot off an email...

Where Was Lehman's Board?

Posted by: Emily Thornton on September 12

As Lehman’s stock continued to spiral downward to close on Friday at $3.60 -- a level the company has not seen for over a decade -- more investors started to...

Lehman Endgame Looks Ugly

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 12

It’s looking like Lehman Brothers may not be able to count on the federal government for any help in its hour of need and that has all of Wall Street...

Don’t Read If You’re Under 50 or Have Less Than 30 Years in the Business

Posted by: Howard Silverblatt on September 12

I have a picture of my son and daughter, when they were 8 and 10, in front of Delmonico’s in downtown NY. It goes along with the picture of me,...

Lehman Needs a Friend

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 11

updated at 4:20 p.m. ET Lehman Brothers appears to be coming around to the conclusion that it can't make it alone. Wall Street was abuzz with speculation Thursday that the...

Lehman's Swaps Reach Bear's Levels

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 11

This was written by Ben Levisohn, a staff editor at BusinessWeek Yesterday, Lehman Brothers tried to defuse massive talk of its imminent demise as an independent firm by disclosing plans...

Is it time for Lehman to go private?

Posted by: Emily Thornton on September 10

Here’s a thought: At its current price, should Lehman Bros. go private? As Lehman Brothers’ stock sunk 7% on Sept. 10, investors in some corners of Wall Street began to...

Lehman's Fuld Goes Begging

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 10

Richard Fuld used to be one of Wall Street’s titans. But the Lehman Brothers CEO now finds himself in desperate straits; essentially begging investors and clients to give him more...

S&P 500: -$378B today, +$223B Monday, -$333B Thursday,... $3.1T off Oct,'07 high

Posted by: Howard Silverblatt on September 09

The index declined 3.41% (preliminary), losing $378B in market value, and suffering its worst day since Feb 27, 2007, when it declined 3.47% (-3.52% on 3/24/03, -4.15% on 9/2/02). The...

Lehman Souvenirs

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 09

Talk about gallows humor. With Wall Street buzzing Tuesday over what will happen to Lehman Brothers, sources say pens with the Lehman name printed on them were a hot commodity...

Legg Mason Value Trust Rises Briefly

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 09

It could have been worse. Legg Mason fund manager Bill Miller, who is known for quirky and contrarian picks, bet heavily on Freddie Mac earlier this year, and with the...

Time Isn't Lehman's Friend

Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on September 08

Updated 1:28 PM (EDT) The clock is ticking for Lehman Brothers. Lehman shares plunged more than 15% in early afternoon trading, as investors began worrying anew about the firm’s ability...

What Does the Fannie/Freddie Takeover Mean for You?

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 08

The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNM), nicknamed Fannie Mae, was a depression-era institution created to make homeownership affordable for the working-class. Freddie Mac (FRE) was created in 1970 to provide...

Bill Gross Wants a Housing Bailout

Posted by: Ben Steverman on September 04

PIMCO 'Bond King' Bill Gross' monthly investment outlooks are entertaining and widely read, and today's September note might even have contributed to today's 3% drop in the stock market. Gross'...

Stocks Plummet, But Don't Get Rattled

Posted by: Ben Steverman on September 04

The Dow Jones Industrial Average just closed down almost 350 points, and the Dow and S&P 500 both lost 3% today. Panicking? There are plenty of reasons to worry, surely....

Take a Load Off Fannie (Mae)

Posted by: Ben Steverman on September 03

On July 14, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson sought authority to pump unlimited amounts of capital into Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) in an emergency. Since then, Fannie Mae's...

Looking for IPOs in a quiet market

Posted by: Aaron Pressman on September 03

As noted the other day, the IPO market has gotten as quiet as its been since the 2001 to 2003 post-bubble drought years. But that doesn't mean it's time for...

Worries Mounting Over Corporate Debt

Posted by: Ben Steverman on September 02

By Emily Thornton The pain from Corporate America's debt binge over the last several years appears to be far from over, judging from a report put out today by Diane...