Market Currents

• Monday, December 21, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: CHTT +33%. TEX +9%. BUCY +8%. INCY +6%. CTIC +5%. BCRX +4%. ABK +4%. AA +4%. CAG +4%.
  Losers: OGXI -21%. IRE -9%. GIGM -7%. AIB -6%. LYG -5%. Comment!

• Friday, December 18, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: RIMM +11%. TTWO +11%. CELG +7%. DEER +7%. KMX +6%. ORCL +5%. CTIC +5%. DAN +5%. RYAAY +4%.
  Losers: PALM -10%. LDK -10%. AIB -7%. BCR -7%. CATY -4%. SID -4%. LYG -4%. Comment!

• Thursday, December 17, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: FUN +24%. APWR +7%. DPTR +5%. PIR +4%.
  Losers; YONG -10%. C -9%. HOV -8%. SQNM -7%. LYG -7%. BQI -6%. EZCH -6%. FRE -6%. PCS -5%. AIB -5%. BCS -5%. FNM -5%. HOG -5%. LDK -4%. AEM -4%. CNO -4%. AU -4%. FDX -4%. DB -4%. Comment!

• Tuesday, December 1, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: GSIT +14%. GES +9%. MBT +8%. SOMX +8%. CPST +6%. AIG +6%. TGB +6%. SPWRA +5%. CTIC +5%. ALTR +5%. NVAX +4%. SEED +4%. MPEL +4%. ABK +4%. AU +4%. LPL +4%. HL +4%. RTP +4%.
  Losers: OVTI -10%. PLX -9%. SD -6%. AGO -5%. AIB -4%. LYG -4%. Comment!

• Monday, November 30, 2009

• 09:56 AM John Waples says Lloyds (LYG) is a bust bank being propped up by the U.K.: "Meryvn King, governor of the Bank of England, revealed for the first time last week that at the time of buying HBOS, it was being propped up by an emergency £25B loan... What he failed to say was that the Bank is still providing loans, possibly as high as £100B - and without it, Lloyds cannot exist." Shares -4.2%. 1 Comment
• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: CLRT +13%. RTK +10%. DPTR +6%. NVAX +6%. KERX +5%. OCNF +4%. SEED +4%.
  Losers: LYG -5%. UNG -4%. AIG -3%. 1 Comment

• Friday, November 27, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: Short ETFs (EDZ, DTO, SCO, TZA, FXP, EEV, FAZ, SPXU BGZ, VXX, TWM, SMN...)
  Losers: ING -18%. LYG -11%. CBAK -8%. MGM -8%. NG -8%. SQNM -8%. MBI -7%. AIB -7%. HBC -7%. BCS -7%. RBS -7%. TS -7%. HL -7%. APWR -7%. RTK -7%. SNV -7%. MPEL -7%. CHLN -6%. PMI -6%. AEG -6%. DB -6%. KGC -6%. IAG -6%. NBG -6%. EGO -6%. ESLR -6%. AU -6%. NLST -6%. EGLE -6%. JASO -6%. EXM -6%. SOLF -6%. AUG -6%. 1 Comment

• Thursday, November 26, 2009

• 12:19 PM Banks with greatest exposure to the UAE: HSBC (HBC), $17B. Standard Chartered, $7.8B. Barclays (BCS), $3.6B. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), $2.2B. Citigroup (C), $1.9B. BNP Paribas, $1.7B. Lloyds (LYG), $1.6B. 3 Comments

• Tuesday, November 24, 2009

• 09:45 AM Lloyds (LYG +2.5%) prices its record £13.5B rights issue at 37p/share, vs. expectations of about 35p, as it battles to escape a costly state-backed insurance scheme for bad debts. The new shares will represent 57% of Lloyds' enlarged share capital. 1 Comment

• Thursday, November 12, 2009

• 09:44 AM Banks with large shipping portfolios, including Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds (LYG), could face meaningful writedowns as ship owners confront plummeting charter rates from a 25% drop in global trade. The pain could be particularly acute in Europe, where banks have stubbornly resisted writedowns on their shipping industry debt. 2 Comments

• Tuesday, November 10, 2009

• 09:53 AM Another 2,600 job cuts at Lloyds (LYG). Comment!

• Tuesday, November 3, 2009

• 09:42 AM Lloyds (LYG +2.2%) opts out of the expensive U.K. asset-protection scheme, saying it will raise £21B, including a £13.5B rights issue. Gov't to maintain its 43% stake in the bank. The move subjects Lloyds to more modest EU demands: Lloyds said it will dispose of "a retail banking business" with a 4.6% market share and about 19% of its mortgage portfolio; sell £180B in noncore assets; and limit acquisitions over the next 3-4 years. Comment!

• Thursday, October 29, 2009

• 14:21 PM Lloyds (LYG) confirms (.pdf) it's in advanced talks to exit the U.K.'s asset protection program, and says it's confident any terms imposed on it by the European Commission won't be material. The comments buoyed British bank stocks, allaying fears Lloyds would be forced into a massive restructuring similar to that imposed on ING Group (ING) earlier this week. LYG +10.4%. RBS +11.3%. BCS +7.5%. Comment!
• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: AMSC +15%. AIXG +12%. RBS +12%. PQ +11%. LYG +10%. AKAM +10%. MITI +10%. ING +9%. FNM +8%. ABK +8%. CTIC +8%. DB +8%. FITB +7%. FRE +7%. SWSI +7%. BCS +6%. MOT +6%. IRE +6%. ALU +6%. TCK +5%. RCL +5%. RTP +5%. CS +5%. HL +5%. ACGY +5%. MT +5%. GNW +5%. HGSI +5%. FAS +5%. GOLD +5%. LVS +5%. HIG +5%. MGM +4%. CNO +4%. ASML +4%. NCS +4%. LCC +4%. VALE +4%. PG +4%.
  Losers: FSLR -15%. BCRX +4%. FLS -4%. Comment!

• Monday, October 26, 2009

• 10:27 AM Lloyds' (LYG) private-equity arm LDC is reportedly in talks to acquire legal outsourcing company CPA Global for £400M ($652M). Lloyds is stepping up its buyout activity, aiming to become a dominant player in Britain's dwindling private-equity deal market. Comment!
• 08:15 AM Lloyds (LYG) will announce within days a plan to raise £23B to escape the U.K.'s costly insurance scheme, which would give the government a 60% stake in the bank. Under the plan, Lloyds will sell £12B in shares, including £5B from gov't, and raise another £11B from debt issues. Comment!