Another day, another Microsoft (MSFT) executive change. Andy Lees, once the head of the Windows Phone division, is now the head of corporate strategy and development. Lees is a 22-year company vet, and has also been the VP or marketing for the Server & Tools division. (Steven Sinofsky) [View news story]
Forget the low end of JPMorgan's (JPM) assertion of $0-$6B in possible losses from the FHFA lawsuit over $33B in MBS, writes Alison Frankel. A judge's Monday decision allowing the suit (and a similar one against Merrill Lynch) to go forward blew up nearly every argument made by the banks, including the key one that Frannie - being so sophisticated with MBS - should have known better. The banks don't want this is front of a jury. Look for a settlement before the summer 2014 trial date. [View news story]
The cost to the economy in lost bank lending will far exceed any losses sustained by these banks.
Hurricane Sandy caused as much as $20B in insured losses and $50B in economic losses, says disaster-modeling firm Eqecat, more than doubling the estimate the company made 2 days ago. [View news story]
October Nonfarm Payrolls: +171K vs. consensus +125K, Sept. revised to +148K from +114K. Unemployment rate 7.9% vs. consensus 7.9%, 7.8% previous. [View news story]
Believe these numbers or not, who thinks a gain of 171,000 new jobs contrasted with 350,000 of newly laid off job seekers in an ocean of over 10 million unemployed and under employed is a good sign?
Hurricane Sandy caused as much as $20B in insured losses and $50B in economic losses, says disaster-modeling firm Eqecat, more than doubling the estimate the company made 2 days ago. [View news story]
the US economy will slow even further in 2013 due to Sandy's impact, 60 million people in the highest income sector of the country are hunkered down for weeks if not months, insurance only covers a portion of flooding losses and the permitting process will be tedious leading to many many contractor scams, it will be a colossal mess for years
Citigroup (C), Deutsche Bank (DB), HSBC (HBC) and JPMorgan (JPM) will have to hold an extra 2.5% of Tier 1 Capital on top of the 7% minimum required under Basel III rules, regulators said yesterday. Barclays (BCS) and BNP Paribas will need an extra 2%, while eight banks, including BofA (BAC) and Goldman Sachs (GS), will need 1.5%. Overall, 28 banks are considered "global systemically important" and have to hold extra capital. Lloyds (LYG) has dropped off the list but BBVA (BBVA) and StanChart have joined it. [View news story]
this action, although it may be warranted, will further dampen the bank's interest in making real productive loans, long live the law of unintended consequences
Santander (SAN): Q3 net profit -94% to €100M vs consensus of €1.21B as bank sets aside €1.14B provisions for bad loans in Spain; has now covered 90% of the government requirements. Net interest income +3% to €7.5B. Bad loans 4.3% of total lending vs 4.1% in June, core capita ratio 10.38% vs 10.1%. Brazil profit -9% to €537M, U.K. -21% to €337M. (PR) [View news story]
Research shows that tax cuts for the top 5% have no effect on job creation in the subsequent two years but they do for the bottom 95%, says ex-Clinton economic adviser Laura D'Andrea Tyson along with Owen Zidar, also a former White House economist. Consumption goes up more following tax reductions for the latter group, which leads to increased demand - a "primary determinant" in companies' employment decisions. [View news story]
Statistics lie and liars use statistics to make their point.
While the conventional wisdom says that immigrants take jobs from Americans by undercutting them on wages, says Eduardo Porter in the NYT, research indicates that immigration has mostly not led to fewer jobs for American workers. In fact, it appears that immigrants help strengthen the economy in the long term, leading to increased profitability for companies and lower prices for some products and services. [View news story]
"(The) Fed has created - not a divorce - but a trial separation between stocks and earnings," says David Rosenberg, speaking at a conference. With the stock market the only place to get income, what's an investor to do? Rosenberg's favorite warning sign of a recession - the Y/Y change in the 3 month moving average of CAPEX orders - has begun flashing red. [View news story]
Note to David: No one is going to go out and spend for CapEx until the fiscal cliff has been survived or until the true costs of health care reform are known. The signs are already surfacing that these two events will generate significant downward pressure on the American economy. Keep your dry powder.
RadioShack catches an upgrade from Bank of America to Buy with an upped price target of $2.50. Analysts with the firm see an attractive buying point after a wave of negative news drove shares lower. They note that the electronics seller now trades at just 5X its inventory and accounts receivables total. RSH +10.1% to $2.29 premarket. [View news story]
What kind of investment measure is 5X inventory and accounts receivable? Without even looking at the actual financial statements that could be many time book value or cash flow. What I do know is that the value of inventory and accounts receivable is only $.50. This is a zero value comment from BAC.
Average pump prices in California hit a record $4.614/gallon yesterday vs. $4.145 a week earlier following refinery and pipeline outages, with one downtown LA station even selling regular grade at $5.49/gallon. Prices might now have peaked, as Exxon's Torrance refinery resumed normal ops on Friday after experiencing power problems. [View news story]
$3.50 per gallon is permanently in the rear view window $5.00 per gallon is the future. How else can the Administration drive Americans to buy the Chevy Volt? California is at the forefront of all significant changes in the US.
CEOs seeking a tax holiday on their overseas earnings send a not-so-subtle message to Congress: We can spend the money here or we can spend it over there. In a letter to be released today, the CEOs write that “the simple truth is that the longer we wait, the more money will be spent overseas." Among the signees are top execs from MSFT, ORCL, CSCO, PFE and AMGN. [View news story]
there is no guarantee that repatriation would in fact result in dividends otherwise i agree with the comment
After leaking out a bit earlier, it's now official that Starboard Value LP is the largest shareholder in Office Depot (ODP) with a new 13.3% stake. In its letter to management, Starboard stresses that the company should downsize to smaller store formats to drive higher operating margins. Shares of ODP +11.5% premarket. [View news story]
Does Starboard suggest bankruptcy as a means of voiding all of those leases for the big box locations?
"The world seems more uncertain today than at any other time in my life," writes Oaktree's Howard Marks, but it doesn't mean we should settle for assets deemed "safe." Dusting off an old book on corporate bonds, Marks takes comfort knowing the asset class performed well during periods encompassing the Great Depression and world wars. "Corporate investing represents an attractive strategy for uncertain times." [View news story]
Another day, another Microsoft (MSFT) executive change. Andy Lees, once the head of the Windows Phone division, is now the head of corporate strategy and development. Lees is a 22-year company vet, and has also been the VP or marketing for the Server & Tools division. (Steven Sinofsky) [View news story]
Forget the low end of JPMorgan's (JPM) assertion of $0-$6B in possible losses from the FHFA lawsuit over $33B in MBS, writes Alison Frankel. A judge's Monday decision allowing the suit (and a similar one against Merrill Lynch) to go forward blew up nearly every argument made by the banks, including the key one that Frannie - being so sophisticated with MBS - should have known better. The banks don't want this is front of a jury. Look for a settlement before the summer 2014 trial date. [View news story]
Hurricane Sandy caused as much as $20B in insured losses and $50B in economic losses, says disaster-modeling firm Eqecat, more than doubling the estimate the company made 2 days ago. [View news story]
October Nonfarm Payrolls: +171K vs. consensus +125K, Sept. revised to +148K from +114K. Unemployment rate 7.9% vs. consensus 7.9%, 7.8% previous. [View news story]
Hurricane Sandy caused as much as $20B in insured losses and $50B in economic losses, says disaster-modeling firm Eqecat, more than doubling the estimate the company made 2 days ago. [View news story]
Citigroup (C), Deutsche Bank (DB), HSBC (HBC) and JPMorgan (JPM) will have to hold an extra 2.5% of Tier 1 Capital on top of the 7% minimum required under Basel III rules, regulators said yesterday. Barclays (BCS) and BNP Paribas will need an extra 2%, while eight banks, including BofA (BAC) and Goldman Sachs (GS), will need 1.5%. Overall, 28 banks are considered "global systemically important" and have to hold extra capital. Lloyds (LYG) has dropped off the list but BBVA (BBVA) and StanChart have joined it. [View news story]
Santander (SAN): Q3 net profit -94% to €100M vs consensus of €1.21B as bank sets aside €1.14B provisions for bad loans in Spain; has now covered 90% of the government requirements. Net interest income +3% to €7.5B. Bad loans 4.3% of total lending vs 4.1% in June, core capita ratio 10.38% vs 10.1%. Brazil profit -9% to €537M, U.K. -21% to €337M. (PR) [View news story]
Research shows that tax cuts for the top 5% have no effect on job creation in the subsequent two years but they do for the bottom 95%, says ex-Clinton economic adviser Laura D'Andrea Tyson along with Owen Zidar, also a former White House economist. Consumption goes up more following tax reductions for the latter group, which leads to increased demand - a "primary determinant" in companies' employment decisions. [View news story]
While the conventional wisdom says that immigrants take jobs from Americans by undercutting them on wages, says Eduardo Porter in the NYT, research indicates that immigration has mostly not led to fewer jobs for American workers. In fact, it appears that immigrants help strengthen the economy in the long term, leading to increased profitability for companies and lower prices for some products and services. [View news story]
"(The) Fed has created - not a divorce - but a trial separation between stocks and earnings," says David Rosenberg, speaking at a conference. With the stock market the only place to get income, what's an investor to do? Rosenberg's favorite warning sign of a recession - the Y/Y change in the 3 month moving average of CAPEX orders - has begun flashing red. [View news story]
RadioShack catches an upgrade from Bank of America to Buy with an upped price target of $2.50. Analysts with the firm see an attractive buying point after a wave of negative news drove shares lower. They note that the electronics seller now trades at just 5X its inventory and accounts receivables total. RSH +10.1% to $2.29 premarket. [View news story]
Average pump prices in California hit a record $4.614/gallon yesterday vs. $4.145 a week earlier following refinery and pipeline outages, with one downtown LA station even selling regular grade at $5.49/gallon. Prices might now have peaked, as Exxon's Torrance refinery resumed normal ops on Friday after experiencing power problems. [View news story]
CEOs seeking a tax holiday on their overseas earnings send a not-so-subtle message to Congress: We can spend the money here or we can spend it over there. In a letter to be released today, the CEOs write that “the simple truth is that the longer we wait, the more money will be spent overseas." Among the signees are top execs from MSFT, ORCL, CSCO, PFE and AMGN. [View news story]
After leaking out a bit earlier, it's now official that Starboard Value LP is the largest shareholder in Office Depot (ODP) with a new 13.3% stake. In its letter to management, Starboard stresses that the company should downsize to smaller store formats to drive higher operating margins. Shares of ODP +11.5% premarket. [View news story]
"The world seems more uncertain today than at any other time in my life," writes Oaktree's Howard Marks, but it doesn't mean we should settle for assets deemed "safe." Dusting off an old book on corporate bonds, Marks takes comfort knowing the asset class performed well during periods encompassing the Great Depression and world wars. "Corporate investing represents an attractive strategy for uncertain times." [View news story]