Market Currents

• Thursday, December 10, 2009

• 17:28 PM BlackRock (BLK) - freshly become the world's biggest asset manager - plans a fund giving wealthy American individuals access to hedge funds that target institutions. Eligible millionaires will be able to put $50,000 in to get a taste of funds that usually require multimillion-dollar commitments. 3 Comments

• Monday, December 7, 2009

• 18:05 PM More bad CRE news: NY developer Tishman Speyer defaults on a loan used to buy some of the Chicago towers that Blackstone Group (BX) flipped after its $39B buyout of Equity Office Properties in 2007. Privately held Tishman and partner BlackRock (BLK) are also under pressure from rent disputes at its $5.4B NYC Stuy Town property. Zero Hedge takes a building-by-building look at the next shoes to drop. Comment!

• Tuesday, December 1, 2009

• 15:40 PM BlackRock (BLK) completes its $15.2B acquisition of Barclays Global Investors (BCS), becoming the world's biggest asset manager, with $3.2T in AUM. The company will keep the iShares ETFs. CEO Laurence Fink answered some questions last week and recently became the top financial exec on Forbes' powerful-people list. 2 Comments

• Wednesday, November 25, 2009

• 14:13 PM A Q-and-A with Laurence Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock (BLK) - which has quadrupled in size in three years - on managing growth, why the firm is buying Barclays Global Investors, and more. Comment!

• Monday, November 23, 2009

• 10:16 AM Meanwhile, the co-head of BlackRock's (BLK) Global Bond Portfolio Team, Brian Weinstein, warns deflation may still be in the cards: CPI remains "very, very close to zero," he says. "If you have another slide down in the economy, you could have negative CPI in the middle of the second quarter and into the third quarter." 2 Comments

• Friday, November 13, 2009

• 09:49 AM Forbes' powerful-people list has the usual government suspects at the top (Obama, Hu Jintao, Vladimir Putin), but the top financial exec may be a bit of a surprise: No. 16 Laurence Fink of BlackRock (BLK) - which after completing a merger with Barclays Global Investors (BCS) will control nearly $3T in assets. 1 Comment

• Thursday, October 29, 2009

• 09:24 AM Mutual funds - including those run by T. Rowe Price (TROW) and BlackRock (BLK) - are using Fed financing to reap 15%-plus returns with limited risk. Using the Fed's TALF, investors can borrow up to 95% of the bonds' value by pledging the securities and some additional collateral, and have no obligation to repay the loan beyond the collateral. Comment!

• Tuesday, October 20, 2009

• 07:52 AM BlackRock (BLK): Q3 EPS of $2.10 beats by $0.17. Revenue of $1.14B (-13.2%) in-line. "Improving investor sentiment was the most important factor in third quarter results. Clients are putting money back to work in the markets, driving inflows in equities and bonds, and outflows in money market funds industry-wide." Shares +0.9% premarket. (PR) 1 Comment
• 00:05 AM Notable pre-market earnings: ALV, BK, BIIB, BLK, BTU, CAT, CMA, COH, DGX, DRH, DD, EAT, FRX, GAP, ITW, JEF, JRN, KO, LXK, LMT, MTB, PCP, PH, PFE, RF, SHW, STT, SVU, UAUA, UNH, UTX, WU Comment!

• Monday, October 19, 2009

• 11:49 AM Pimco may expand into stock funds for the first time, a source says, by hiring in a management team with an existing track record. The bond-fund leader offered their first ETF earlier this year and have been growing to keep up with competitors such as BlackRock (BLK). Comment!

• Wednesday, October 14, 2009

• 14:18 PM BlackRock (BLK) Chairman Laurence Fink says the Treasury's intervention in the mortgage markets is undermining the securitization market, and is "one of the biggest issues facing American capitalism." Saving banks from their own greed by trashing contracts has destroyed investor confidence, which must be repaired, he says. 4 Comments

• Tuesday, October 6, 2009

• 14:42 PM BlackRock (BLK) offers a slightly more bullish take than Bill Gross' expectation of 5% equity returns, saying the next several years will bring returns of 6-8% - but to get ready for a correction that could bring the S&P 500 to 950. Comment!

• Monday, October 5, 2009

• 07:56 AM The Treasury will announce today that AllianceBernstein (AB), BlackRock (BLK) and Wellington Management have raised a combined $1.94B to participate in PPIP. For their efforts, the Treasury will match the $1.94B dollar for dollar, and provide debt financing to double that, bringing their total purchasing power to $7.74B. 2 Comments

• Thursday, September 17, 2009

• 16:58 PM The dollar's still the place to protect wealth, says BlackRock (BLK) co-founder Laurence Fink, who will lead the world's biggest money manager after the firm completes its acquisition of Barclays Global Investors. But he argues that without action on deficits, a new reserve currency might emerge. Comment!

• Monday, September 14, 2009

• 07:56 AM BlackRock (BLK) is in the early stages of creating its own global trading platform, letting clients conduct deals with one another through internal trades that completely bypass Wall Street. The platform will likely start with stocks, followed by fixed income. 1 Comment

• Monday, August 17, 2009

• 11:30 AM NY Fed reduces the number of external investment managers for its agency mortgage-backed securities ((MBS)) purchase program to 2 from 4 - leaving Wellington and BlackRock (BLK) in place. "The agency MBS program has matured since it began in January, and the New York Fed has had time to further develop its internal analytical and operational expertise in this area," Fed says. Comment!