Roberm73's Comments Roberm73's Comments RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.comuser/219750/comments Consumer bankruptcy filings hit 135,913 in October, an 8.9% jump from September, and 27.9% higher than a year ago. "The debt overhang from literally a decade or more of really high consumer spending and low savings rates has put families in a particularly vulnerable spot," Samuel Gerdano of the American Bankruptcy Institute said. The rise outpaced a 7% M/M increase in business filings. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/35832?source=feed#comment-744857 744857 doomisnigh.blogspot.co...
Looks like the consumer is not the only story.]]> Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:59:13 -0500 doomisnigh.blogspot.co...
Looks like the consumer is not the only story.]]> House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says lawmakers are considering levying a windfall profits tax on health insurers to help finance reform. The revenue would help make up for a proposed tax on high-income Americans, which is being scaled back. (earlier) http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/33897?source=feed#comment-709251 709251 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:57:49 -0400 AP's upsetting but not surprising revelation from Tim Geithner's calendar: "Even during his most frenzied days, when Congress is demanding answers or the president himself is calling, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner makes time to talk to a select group of powerful Wall Street bankers." And Simon Johnson wonders how anyone can build an accurate picture of a crisis by chatting with a few top bankers. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/33867?source=feed#comment-708944 708944 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:24:43 -0400 Alcoa (AA): Q3 EPS ex-items of $0.04 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $4.6B (-34%) in-line. First-half measures making "strong positive impact on our cash position and profitability." Shares halted. (PR) Updated 4:40 p.m.: Shares resume trading, up 6.3% AH. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/33821?source=feed#comment-707563 707563 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:37:01 -0400 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) gets another 22 government orders for its H1N1 swine flu vaccine, taking the total number of doses ordered to 440M, worth $3.5B. "The market may look through GSK's pandemic sales as being a one-off," Citigroup says in a note this morning. "However, we believe that pandemic sales will lead to potential earnings surprises..." http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/33691?source=feed#comment-704858 704858 www.biota.com.au/
Well worth picking up if you think pandemic protection is the wave of the future]]> Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:18:54 -0400 www.biota.com.au/
Well worth picking up if you think pandemic protection is the wave of the future]]> FDIC releases Q2 stats: 'Problem banks' jumped to 416 from 305 in Q1, the highest in 15 years. Deposit insurance fund fell to $10.4B from $13B in Q1 (protecting more than $4.5T). Bank loan loss provisions rose to $66.9B from $60.8B. U.S. banking industry had a net loss of $3.7B from profit of $7.6B in Q1. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/31385?source=feed#comment-648803 648803 Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:31:09 -0400 U.S. bank deposits swell by $500B to a record $7.5T, a sign customers feel the system is working. But large institutions say they're frustrated by a recent trend that sees big customers spreading themselves across multiple banks, in part to sidestep the $250K limit on government insurance. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/30985?source=feed#comment-638685 638685 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:34:14 -0400 Dick Bove on Citigroup (C), up 8.7% today: "People are buying it now in expectation of the triple [that shares will be worth three times as much in three years] because they made the decision that all of the negatives that could happen don't mean anything." http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/30973?source=feed#comment-638619 638619 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:56:50 -0400 JetBlue's (JBLU +2.4%) $599 all-you-can-fly pass for Sept. 8-Oct. 8 sells out ahead of schedule on "overwhelming demand." Future offerings of a similar program will depend on just how frequent those fliers are. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/30987?source=feed#comment-638605 638605 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:52:01 -0400 Susquehanna cuts Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF -2.2%) to Neutral, citing "a combination of what we deem to be fair valuation and remaining headwinds facing luxury positioned brands." Firm says diehard customers remain satisfied, but is worried ANF's higher-priced merchandise will continue to pressure transaction size. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/30843?source=feed#comment-636474 636474 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:12:31 -0400 Twitter backlash: According to Gartner's Hype Cycle report, Twitter has already peaked "and will soon experience disillusionment among corporate users." Meanwhile Doug McIntyre wonders who would miss Twitter if it simply disappeared. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/30384?source=feed#comment-626657 626657 Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:14:11 -0400 NYSE says that its Web site is unaffected by what look like coordinated denial of service attacks over the weekend against Nyse.com, Nasdaq.com, and sites including FAA, DoD and Homeland Security as well as the Washington Post and South Korean sites. The State Department says attacks are ongoing. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/27533?source=feed#comment-579302 579302 Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:44:16 -0400 Economist Robert Frank discovers a Ph.D-powered economic perpetual motion machine. Mark Steyn explains: "The stimulus will work because enough economists are saying it will work that their prestigious postnominal credentials will impress enough of the masses into thinking it will work, which in turn will make it work." (via) http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/27526?source=feed#comment-579206 579206 Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:55:46 -0400 After its downgrade of California's bond rating on June 25, Fitch has further demoted the state to BBB - one grade above junk. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/27337?source=feed#comment-576158 576158 There are 5 other states right now in without budgets. Either they fix it soon or they will default.]]> Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:43:59 -0400 There are 5 other states right now in without budgets. Either they fix it soon or they will default.]]> Now that Bank of America (BAC) will assess overdraft fees 10 times a day instead of five, Felix Salmon takes on the scandal of the charges, which are raking in $30B for the banks: The median amount triggering overdrafts is $36, meaning implicit "loan" interest in the thousands of percent, resulting in an unconscionable "tax on poverty." http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/27213?source=feed#comment-571956 571956 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:42:24 -0400 Petroleum Inventories: Crude -3.7M barrels vs. consensus of +2M. Gasoline +2.3M vs. +2M. Distillate +2.9M vs. +1.5M. Aug. crude futures, strangely, move lower, but are still +1.8% to $71.15. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/27090?source=feed#comment-570220 570220 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:28:48 -0400 Crude retakes $70 in stride, now +2.7% to $70.50, answering this question. So here's the new question: What comes first, $60 or $80? http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/26740?source=feed#comment-562499 562499 Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:51:42 -0400 Despite being one of the recession's few success stories, Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings thinks his core business of mailing DVDs is doomed. He hopes to transition NFLX into growth areas like online video, but concedes the reinvention is fraught with risk: "Almost no companies succeed at what we're doing." http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/26531?source=feed#comment-559444 559444 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:01:02 -0400 eBay's (EBAY) turnaround strategy is causing a corporate identity crisis; the e-commerce giant is struggling to find a balance between being an online auction site and a bargain basement offering fixed-price goods in bulk. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/24876?source=feed#comment-518365 518365 Tue, 26 May 2009 15:25:31 -0400 UAW = U Are Whole http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/153397-michael-terry/5797-uaw-u-are-whole?source=feed#comment-518332 518332 Tue, 26 May 2009 14:57:59 -0400 Retail investors betting on a rise in oil prices via ETFs are paying a steep price for going long too early. The cost of rolling positions forward in a contango market is wiping out any gains they are likely to make - even if prices eventually rally. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/23956?source=feed#comment-498929 498929 Mon, 11 May 2009 10:49:41 -0400 Treasury sells (.pdf) $14B in 30-year bonds in a messy auction at a high yield of 4.288% (vs. expected 4.19% - 57.15% of bids were at the high). Bid to cover ratio: 2.14. Primary dealers took $8.8B; indirect bidders took $4.61B. 30-year Tsys fall off a cliff, now -1.66% to 120-10. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/23773?source=feed#comment-494148 494148 Thu, 07 May 2009 13:35:51 -0400 Reports of Bank of America (BAC) needing an additional $34B may not be as frightening as initially assumed, CNBC's Steve Liesman says. According to a report in the NY Times, the $34B cushion required is well below the $45B the bank has already received from the gov't, and "the bank will now start looking at ways of repaying the $11B difference over time." BAC, which was down more than 11%, is now +2.5% premarket. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/23565?source=feed#comment-493532 493532 Thu, 07 May 2009 09:13:50 -0400 China Infrastructure Smallcaps Worth a Long Look http://seekingalpha.com/article/134809-china-infrastructure-smallcaps-worth-a-long-look?source=feed#comment-488956 488956 Mon, 04 May 2009 13:24:00 -0400 Three great reads for lunchtime: 1) The IMF and the panic of 2008 2) The trouble with the 'millionaire tax' 3) Led astray by libertarianism http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/22786?source=feed#comment-481193 481193 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:16:53 -0400 "Leaked" stress test results show 16 of the nation's top 19 banks are already technically insolvent - any two of which could take down the FDIC. Update: Treasury says it doesn't even have the results yet, which Karl Denninger calls a lie. Zero Hedge, and others, question the veracity of the leak and its source's agenda. http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_currents/post/22064?source=feed#comment-469838 469838 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:16:11 -0400 Treasury Directs GM to Get Ready for Bankruptcy http://seekingalpha.com/article/130665-treasury-directs-gm-to-get-ready-for-bankruptcy?source=feed#comment-461952 461952 Just to think that this is the best of the solutions on the table.]]> Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:17:35 -0400 Just to think that this is the best of the solutions on the table.]]> Market Death Spiral Continues http://seekingalpha.com/article/123375-market-death-spiral-continues?source=feed#comment-407758 407758 Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:03:50 -0500 AIG: Countdown to Annihilation http://seekingalpha.com/article/122312-aig-countdown-to-annihilation?source=feed#comment-401858 401858 doomisnigh.blogspot.co...
If you not read the time story about AIG If the first paragraph to be down right scary.

"Management at AIG has calculated exactly how much money the Treasury and Fed will have access to after all of the TARP, financial stimulus, and mortgage bailout projects have been funded. The insurance company then plans to ask for whatever is left to fund its deficits so that it can stay in business, effectively making the federal government insolvent. "
]]> Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:04:00 -0500 doomisnigh.blogspot.co...
If you not read the time story about AIG If the first paragraph to be down right scary.

"Management at AIG has calculated exactly how much money the Treasury and Fed will have access to after all of the TARP, financial stimulus, and mortgage bailout projects have been funded. The insurance company then plans to ask for whatever is left to fund its deficits so that it can stay in business, effectively making the federal government insolvent. "
]]> Eight Reasons Bank of America Is Going to $20 http://seekingalpha.com/article/121694-eight-reasons-bank-of-america-is-going-to-20?source=feed#comment-400684 400684 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:08:50 -0500