Archives: November 2008

More Perspective on the Crisis

Posted by: Ben Steverman on November 26

Here are several interesting notes that came across my desk in the last 24 hours. (Sorry no links -- the full notes aren't available online.) They concern topic number one...

Bid Day in Bailout Land

Posted by: Ben Levisohn on November 25

Despite spending over $300 billion of the $700 billion allotted by Congress, the Treasury department's TARP program has done little to get banks lending. But fear not -- the FDIC...

C dividend, or not

Posted by: Howard Silverblatt on November 24

News is still breaking regarding C, with some reports of a restricted dividend rate. Currently C has a $0.64 annual rate ($0.16 quarterly). Its last dividend went Ex-div on 10/30...

Every Stock Mutual Fund Has Lost Money in 2008, Except One

Posted by: Lauren Young on November 21

Out of the 11,585 U.S. and international stock mutual funds tracked by Morningstar Inc., 11,584 have lost money in 2008, according to fund data through Nov. 20. In other words,...

Putnam Ends Mutual Fund Manager Teams

Posted by: Lauren Young on November 17

The Larry Lasser era has officially ended at Putnam Investments. Sure, Lasser left Boston-based Putnam way back in 2003. But the team-based mutual fund manager system he championed ended today...

Peter Schiff vs. the World, 2006 to 2007

Posted by: Ben Steverman on November 14

This video is fascinating for two reasons: 1. Watch as Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital -- in 2006 and 2007 -- describes with amazing precision the very crisis that...

Crocs: When a Growth Firm Starts Shrinking

Posted by: Ben Steverman on November 13

If you're an investor in Crocs (CROX), the faddish shoemaker, you're used to disappointment. But even by Crocs' low standards, today was a doozy. Crocs shares fell almost 45% to...

Sign of a Bear Market: Morningstar Picks Five Stocks Going to Zero

Posted by: Aaron Pressman on November 13

It seems more than a little quaint given the current state of the stock market that analyst "sell" ratings were once the center of so much controversy. Wall Street firms...

YOU CAN CHANGE THE RULES BUT THE CHECK BETTER CLEAR THE BANK

Posted by: Howard Silverblatt on November 12

A lobbying group has sent the U.S. Congress a letter (signed by 300 companies: public, private, business groups) asking that the funding requirements for Defined Pensions under the Pension Protection...

Live Blogging the Putnam Fixed Income Conference Call

Posted by: Ben Levisohn on November 11

Putnam Investments held its quarterly fixed income conference call today. With credit markets still under pressure, it should be of little surprise that the subtitle of the event was "Crisis,...

A little light shed on credit default swap market

Posted by: Ben Levisohn on November 04

Phew. Just when I was starting to get worried, new data suggests that the total value of credit default swaps outstanding is smaller -- much smaller -- than we've been...

6 day 18.3% rally; but will we keep it

Posted by: Howard Silverblatt on November 04

The market has rallied 18.3% since the October 27th close, including the 10.8% October 28 gain. The fact that we have been able to hold on to it is...

The Alaska Permanent Fund Loses $10 billion

Posted by: Ben Levisohn on November 04

On Sunday, the Anchorage Daily News reported that the Alaska Permanent Fund, formerly home to $40.4 billion in investments, fell to $33 billion in the 3rd quarter, before losing another...

Election Prediction Markets Bet on Obama

Posted by: Ben Steverman on November 03

Here's one rare investment that, at least so far, has paid off handsomely in 2008: Barack Obama. Various election futures markets allow traders to make bets on politics. On Nov....