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Victhom
53 Comments
Alternative Buyers for Lehman (and Not Just the Usual Suspects)
Capitch...LOL
Alternative Buyers for Lehman (and Not Just the Usual Suspects)
Lehman Gets Bids From Bain, Clayton for Asset-Management Unit
By Jason Kelly and Jonathan Keehner
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. received bids for its asset-management unit from private- equity firms including Bain Capital LLC and Clayton Dubilier & Rice Inc., said people familiar with the situation.
The bids value the unit, which includes the Neuberger Berman fund business, private-equity funds and a brokerage firm serving wealthy individuals, at about $5 billion, said the people, who asked not to be named because the auction is private. KKR & Co. LP, which was weighing an offer, hadn't made a bid by the 5 p.m. deadline, the buyout firm told people involved in the process.
Lehman said Sept. 10 it would sell 55 percent of the investment unit, part of Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld's plan to keep the 158-year-old firm independent. After its shares dropped 53 percent in the next two days, Fuld, 62, began talks with companies including Bank of America Corp. to sell all of Lehman, potentially derailing the investment-management auction.
``It's still going to be a premier property,'' said Eric Weber, a managing director of Freeman & Co., a New York-based financial-services consulting firm. ``Three years from now, you can take it public, if you can get your hands on it.''
Hellman & Friedman LLC, the San Francisco-based buyout firm started by Warren Hellman, may also have submitted a bid, according to the people. Representatives for Lehman and the private-equity firms declined to comment.
Revenue of $2.3 Billion
The buyout companies are angling to own a business with assets of $273 billion headed by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker George Walker, 39. The New York-based firm proceeded with the auction because the private-equity firms continued to express interest in a deal, according to the people. While Lehman aimed to complete the sale by late next month, the process may be disrupted by a takeover of the company, perhaps as soon as this weekend.
The private-equity firms may get the investment business at a discount. Lehman's asset-management unit earned $361 million on $2.3 billion of revenue this year through August, according to a Sanford Bernstein research note at that time. The report valued the unit at $7 billion, including stakes in hedge-funds not included in the sale.
Lehman announced on Sept. 10 a $3.9 billion loss, the biggest in its history, after $5.6 billion of writedowns on real-estate loans and mortgages. The stock has fallen more than 94 percent this year and is valued below $3 billion, less than St. Petersburg, Florida-based Raymond James Financial Inc., the largest regional brokerage firm.
Private-equity firms including Blackstone Group LP and Carlyle Group had weighed bids for the investment unit and opted to stay out of the auction, according to people familiar with the process.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jason Kelly in New York at jkelly14@bloomberg.net... Jonathan Keehner in New York at jkeehner@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: September 13, 2008 00:01 EDT
Canadian Banks Stocks: Will the Rally Continue?
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Annals of Deckchair Reorganization, Citigroup Asia Edition
Stryker: Diversify into Healthcare
VHB is trade on TSX (Toronto) only $9M market cap
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Four Reasons to Invest in TD Bank
RBC (RY on TSX and NYSE) is Canada's largest bank as measured by assets and market capitalization and one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies. In the United States, RBC provides personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, corporate and investment banking and transaction processing services to about two million clients through RBC Centura, RBC Insurance, RBC Liberty Insurance, RBC Wealth Management and RBC Capital Markets. The company employs approximately 70,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 15 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients throughout offices in North America and 36 countries around the world. For more information, please visit rbc.com.
SOURCE RBC
Four Reasons to Invest in TD Bank
Wrong the Retail leading bank in Canada is ROYAL BANK OF Canada (RBC GROUP) RY-Toronto and RBC is just loading up caribean banks and now moving to Chile..London..India..... US...not bad...
www.rbc.com/aboutus/in...
What are the Ramifications of the Fed's Bailout of Bear Stearns?
March consumer confidence down, outlook grim
By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch
Last update: 11:35 a.m. EDT March 25, 2008Print E-mail RSS Disable Live Quotes
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. consumer confidence fell in March, while expectations hit a 35-year low on pessimistic views of the business climate, job market and personal income, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.
The March consumer confidence index fell to 64.5 from a revised reading of 76.4 in February. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a March reading of 73.3. Consumer confidence is at its lowest since the Iraq War in 2003.
The Conference Board's expectations index, meanwhile, hit its second-lowest level ever, falling to 47.9 in March from 58.0 in February. In December 1973, expectations were at 45.2.
Those expecting business conditions to worsen over the next six months rose to 25.4% in March from 21.6% in February. Those expecting fewer jobs rose to 29.0% from 28.0%. And those expecting greater incomes fell to 14.9% from 18.0%.
"Looking ahead, consumers' outlook for business conditions, the job market and their income prospects is quite pessimistic and suggests further weakening may be on the horizon," said Lynn Franco, director of consumer research at the private Conference Board.
Expectations for the inflation rate in 12 months rose to 6.1% from 5.4%.
Consumers' views of present-day conditions declined to 89.2 in March from 104.0 in February. Those claiming business conditions are bad rose to 25.4% from 21.3%. Those saying jobs are "hard to get" rose to 25.1% from 23.4%, and those saying jobs are "plentiful" fell to 18.8% from 21.5%.
Elsewhere Tuesday, the Case-Shiller home price index showed U.S. housing prices in 20 major cities declined by a record 2.4% in January, falling for the 18th month in a row and bringing down prices by a record 10.7% over the past year. See full story.
Buying plans impacted
Data show consumers' buying plans have also been impacted, according to the Conference Board.
Consumers with plans to buy an automobile within six months fell to 5.1% in March from 5.4% in February. Those with plans to buy major appliances in coming months fell to 28.2% from 32.1%.
Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, sees consumer spending dropping to an on-year rate of negative 2% in the near future, if current consumer confidence levels are sustained.
"If spending does weaken to that degree, an outright recession will be unavoidable and a severe recession will be very likely," Shepherdson wrote. "In short, this is one of the most alarming economic reports we have seen in this cycle so far."
Chain-store sales for the week ended March 22 rose 1% from the year-ago period, but were down 0.4% on a week-over-week basis, according to a survey released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities. See full story.
The year-over-year result is "disturbingly weak," given that Easter was the earliest in 30 years, according to Ried Thunberg ICAP.
"Perhaps flooding in the Midwest dampened sales in that region of the country, but even so, sales are poor even considering the state of the economy with falling home and stock prices, high energy prices, turmoil in the financial market, low level of confidence, or -- in a word -- that the country is in recession," Thunberg said.
In contrast, those with plans to buy a home within six months gained to 3.3% in March from 2.9% in February. On Monday, the National Association of Realtors reported that the U.S. housing market showed signs of stability in February, as sales of existing homes rose modestly, boosted by a record decline in prices. See full story.
Ruth Mantell is a MarketWatch reporter based in Washington.
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OH the news is bad so lets focus on rate cuts------
OH my gosh---only 2.25% left------tick, tick, tick, BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- ken2
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JP Morgan Rolls the Fed of New York (and BSC)
By Riley McDermid
Last update: 9:34 a.m. EDT March 25, 2008Print RSS Disable Live Quotes
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - J.P. Morgan Chase's (JPM:JPMorgan Chase & Co
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Last: 45.36-1.19-2.56%
11:43am 03/25/2008
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JPM 45.36, -1.19, -2.6%) increased bid of $10 a share for troubled brokerage Bear Stearns Co. works out to the bank paying about $65 a share after all costs and debt is absorbed, Punk Ziegel analyst Dick Bove wrote in a research note Tuesday. Bove said the total transaction cost of $3.44 billion added to the original Bear shares offered and the 12-month loss of $6 billion J.P Morgan will pay to combine the two companies, plus the purchase price, will have the bank paying around $65 per original Bear share. "This is approximately the same as Bear Stearns opening price on March 12," Bove said, making it no bargain for J.P. Morgan investors. "Investors believe that J.P. Morgan is underbidding for Bear Stearns and getting it at a bargain price. I do not," Bove said. "Bear Stearns is a deeply troubled company which would have no value if the Federal Reserve had not stepped in to bail it out."
Desjardins Analyst: Now is the Time to Buy Canadian Banks
TOP Bank in Canada is:
#1 RY
#2 TD
#3 BNS
Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! 2/7/08: Prudential's Prudence
Manulife Financial and Royal Bank buyback shares – Insiders
Posted: February 08, 2008, 10:00 AM by Jonathan Ratner
Market Call, SEDI
Astral Media, Manulife Financial, Royal Bank, Stantec and TransCanada are included in this report.
Insider transactions filed on Feb. 7, 2008
Source: SEDI
Astral Media Inc. bought back 286,100 shares between Jan. 16 and Jan. 31, 2008, bringing its holdings to 5,451,039 shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. bought back and cancelled 2,896,300 shares between Jan. 4 and Jan. 31, 2008.
Royal Bank of Canada bought back and cancelled 11,020,000 shares between Jan. 3 and Jan. 16, 2008.
www.rbc.ca
Is Now the Right Time to Buy Canadian Banks?
my first pick is RY because RBC is the strongest with over $300B cash and RBC would be wize to boost market share in Asia....India and US....during the storm...I guess Nixxon is a smart CEO and will bring RBC to a new level.....The only thing we ned in Canada is remove regulation that preventing Merger between our banks and Insurances companies....Imagine MFC with CIBC or RY or PWF with MFC or RY with BMO....or CIBC with NA...etc...
10 large financials insititution for a market of 25M is a bit too much right Mr Flaherty???
Is Now the Right Time to Buy Canadian Banks?
Manulife Financial and Royal Bank buyback shares – Insiders
Posted: February 08, 2008, 10:00 AM by Jonathan Ratner
Market Call, SEDI
Astral Media, Manulife Financial, Royal Bank, Stantec and TransCanada are included in this report.
Insider transactions filed on Feb. 7, 2008
Source: SEDI
Astral Media Inc. bought back 286,100 shares between Jan. 16 and Jan. 31, 2008, bringing its holdings to 5,451,039 shares.
Manulife Financial Corp. bought back and cancelled 2,896,300 shares between Jan. 4 and Jan. 31, 2008.
Royal Bank of Canada bought back and cancelled 11,020,000 shares between Jan. 3 and Jan. 16, 2008.
Stantec Inc. bought back and cancelled 112,400 shares between Jan. 17 and Jan. 24, 2008.
Sean McMaster, executive vice president at TransCanada Corp., exercised 33,000 options for company shares at prices ranging from $20.58 to $22.33 on Feb. 7, 2008. He sold these shares the same day for prices ranging from $39.25 to $39.72, bringing his holdings back to 3,950 shares.
Is Now the Right Time to Buy Canadian Banks?
ALLAN ROBINSON
Globe and Mail Update
February 4, 2008 at 8:07 AM EST
Canadian stock markets have gotten off to a slow start this year, but it might be time to look for a recovery, especially if the U.S. recession is mild.
One of the places to start could be the Canadian banks, strategists say.
WHAT ARE THE EXPECTATIONS?
"Picking up banks is not aggressive," said Andrew Pyle, an investment executive at Scotia Capital Inc. "It's simply getting back to a sense of normal."
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The domestic banks are being tarred with the same brush as U.S. banks, Mr. Pyle said. "The bulk of the hit has been psychological. The fundamentals in Canada are not that bad."
National Bank Financial Inc. recently lifted its weighting on the Canadian financials to "market weight" from "underweight.&quo... The group has declined 12 per cent since the U.S. stock market peaked in October, which is a pullback almost equal to their typical loss in U.S. recessions.
"This development, coupled with the fact that Canadian bank dividend yields are now above 10-year government bond yields for the first time in at least 35 years, leads us to lift our underweight," wrote Clément Gignac, chief economist and strategist for National Bank and Pierre Lapointe, assistant market strategist, in a report to clients.
The yield on 10-year Canadian government bonds was 3.81 per cent late last week. The yields on the Canadian banks (dividends also have an income tax advantage over interest) were 3.9 per cent for Royal Bank of Canada, 3.3 per cent for Toronto-Dominion Bank, 3.9 per cent for Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.85 per cent for Bank of Montreal and 4.8 per cent for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Catching the bottom can be profitable. "In seven of the last eight [U.S.] recessions, the best time to buy stocks was just as the economic data were at their worst," said Robert Kavcic, an economist with BMO Nesbitt Burns.
Jim Cramer's Mad Money Lightning Round, 2/6/08: Chimera is for Real
Read...
Rescue Plans Won't Prevent Downgrades
By Karen Richardson, Liam Pleven and Carrick Mollenkamp
Word Count: 931 | Companies Featured in This Article: MBIA, Financial Guaranty Insurance, Credit Agricole, UBS, Citigroup, Barclays, Security Capital Assurance
Rescue plans are starting to take shape for struggling bond insurers, but they aren't likely to prevent further ratings downgrades for many of the companies.
At least one such company isn't waiting around. In an effort to raise capital, MBIA Inc. yesterday said it would issue $750 million of common stock, a bigger offering than the $500 million issue it had initially planned.
The company also said it will revise its fourth-quarter loss of $2.3 billion, cutting it by $65 million. MBIA also added $100 million to its loss reserve, bringing the total special addition to $200 million