Diversified Investments
(CME) CME Group Misses Earnings Expectations
CME Group Inc. (CME) reported fourth quarter earnings of $3.37 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.44. However, including an impairment charge on investment in DME of $24 million and net favorable impacts to net income of $2 million related to the ERP settlement,...
5Feb2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Wall Street’s Stock Oversights: How to Profit With This Unconventional Investment Strategy
by Marc Lichtenfeld, Advisory Panelist Wednesday, February 3, 2010: Issue #1189 When I was an analyst at the uber-contrarian Avalon Research Group, we only initiated coverage on a stock if our opinion went against the consensus, or it was barely (or not at all) followed by...
3Feb2010 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(GS) The Federal Reserve Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged
The Federal Reserve decided to leave the Fed Funds rate unchanged at a range of 0 to 25 basis points, just like everyone expected them to do. Below are the current statement and the December statement, along with my analysis of the changes and commentary interspersed. “Information...
27Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Goldman Sachs Group Caps UK Compensation
On Monday, anonymous sources at Forbes and Reuters reported that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) has finally capped the compensation of its 100 partners in the UK at £1 million ($1.6 million) each. The ceiling on total compensation comprises all salaries and bonuses. The decision...
26Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($GS) Goldman Sachs Reports Huge Earnings Beat
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s (GS) fourth quarter 2009 earnings of $8.20 per share were significantly ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.18. Results reflected strong performance in investment banking and increased inflows which offset the weak performance in the trading...
21Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MS) Morgan Stanley Misses Consensus Estimates
Morgan Stanley (MS) reported fourth-quarter 2009 net income of $413 million or 14 cents per share, compared to net income of $498 million or 48 cents per share in the prior quarter and net loss of $10.5 million or $10.92 per share a year ago. The results missed the Zacks Consensus...
20Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($GS) Goldman Sachs Group Postpones UK Bonuses
Mulling over the new UK tax issues laid on executive bonus payments, according to a report in this morning’s The Daily Telegraph, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) has reportedly deferred the announcement. According to the paper, Goldman Sachs was supposed to announce the structure...
19Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Obama Administration Reveals Plan for Bank Tax
On Thursday, the Obama Administration unveiled its proposal of imposing a tax on about 50 of the nation’s largest financial firms in order to recover the losses incurred by the government on its $700 billion bailout program to rescue the financial system. On approval of...
15Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Goldman Sachs Group to Sell Shanghai Property?
In a bid to contract the size of its property holdings in China, on Monday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) was reported by unnamed sources at Reuters to be in final stages of making a sale agreement of its Shanghai property with Shanghai Forte Land Co. Ltd. (Forte), a Chinese...
12Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(LPHI) Life Partners Holdings Matches Estimates
Life Partners Holdings Inc. (LPHI) reported fiscal 2010 third quarter results on Monday. The company’s net income grew 15.8% to $8.4 million, compared to $7.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share of 57 cents easily surpassed the year-ago result of 49 cents, though...
12Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MS) Morgan Stanley Analysts Initiate Coverage at Neutral
We recently initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley (MS) with a Neutral recommendation. The company’s third-quarter earnings of 38 cents per share was substantially ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 30 cents per share. Net revenues for the quarter were $8.7 billion, up...
11Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to Buyback $1.1B Shares From Goldman Sachs Group
Tokyo-based Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (SMFG) recently announced that it will buyback its preferred share capital worth about $1.1 billion from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) to convert into common stock. SMFG has offered the conversion to Goldman Sachs in the wake of...
11Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MS) Morgan Stanley Picks EnerNOC to Save Energy
In line with its constant energy saving efforts, on Thursday Morgan Stanley (MS) announced the purchase of Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx), an energy efficiency software application from EnerNOC Inc. (ENOC). The MBCx application will be installed in the company’s headquarters...
8Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Goldman Sachs Group is Sued by Pension Fund
On Thursday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) was sued by the Central Laborers’ Pension Fund in Illinois, who had bought some Goldman stock in Jan, 2009. As an active investor the pension fund charged Goldman of distributing $22 billion to its employees as bonus payments for...
8Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($MS) Morgan Stanley Wins Lawsuit Against Discover Financial Services
Morgan Stanley (MS) recently announced that it has won a legal case for breach of contract against its former subsidiary, Discover Financial Services (DFS) along with a compensation amount of about $800 million that the latter owed to Morgan Stanley. The case was filed by Morgan...
7Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($GS) Goldman Sachs Group Keeps UK Options Open
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) recently announced its serious consideration of various alternatives to prevent the UK’s new 50% super-tax on bonus payments of companies in a report published in London’s Daily Telegraph. One such alternative would be “entire departments...
5Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($MS) Morgan Stanley Indicted for Collateralized-Debt Obligation Fraud
On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley (MS) was reportedly accused by the Employees’ Retirement System of the Virgin Islands of swindling its investors by promoting $1.2 billion of risky low-quality mortgage-related notes in 2007 that it had already perceived to be non-profitable. The...
1Jan2010 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MS) Morgan Stanley to Revamp Bonuses
Working on its strategy to defer the major part of bonus payment to longer term, Morgan Stanley (MS) on Monday announced its plans to revamp its bonus payout structure for the company’s top executives. The company charted out a compensation plan according to which the top...
29Dec2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Goldman Sachs Group Sued for Bonuses
After the bailout repayment, it’s the bonus payouts that are making Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) uneasy. On Monday, Goldman was reportedly pulled up by one of its institutional investors who alleged that the bank is planning to make unseemly bonus payments. The lawsuit against...
15Dec2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MS) Morgan Stanley Shuffles Management
Ahead of James Gorman’s takeover of the CEO position on Jan 1, 2010, Morgan Stanley (MS) on Tuesday shuffled its top management roles. The change includes naming of heads of its core securities business and a new finance chief. Colm Kelleher, CFO and head of global markets,...
9Dec2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ACAS) American Capital Restructures Debt
Last week, American Capital (ACAS) announced its debt restructuring deal. Pursuant to the agreement, the company has reached a deal with lenders to restructure its revolving line of credit, which would provide for restructuring all of its $2.4 billion worth of unsecured debt...
11Nov2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NYX) NYSE Euronext Seeks China Market Listing
NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYX) is keen on gaining a listing in China as the country is gearing up to allow such listings. NYSE Euronext is awaiting final confirmation from China’s securities regulator, which is working on setting up a board in Shanghai for listing of firms across...
10Nov2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ACAS) American Capital’s Earnings Report Lags by a Penny
American Capital’s (ACAS) third quarter operating income of 12 cents per share was a penny short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Last year, the company had reported earnings of 74 cents per share. The results were negatively affected due to interest expense for “make-whole”...
9Nov2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NDAQ) Nasdaq OMX Group Reports In-Line With Forecasts
Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) has reported third-quarter results. The company swung to a GAAP net income of $60 million or 28 cents per share compared to $69 million or 33 cents in the prior quarter and $58 million or 27 cents in the year-ago period. Results included one-time...
8Nov2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Goldman Sachs Group Mulls Fannie Mae Tax Credits
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is contemplating buying tax credits from Fannie Mae (FNM). However, it may be reasonable to assume that the U.S. Treasury may not approve of the deal. Goldman hopes to receive approval this week for $1 billion worth of tax credits. Tax credits are...
2Nov2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(NYX) NYSE Euronext Beats Consensus by 18%
NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYX) reported third-quarter results on Friday. The company swung to a GAAP net income of $125 million or 44 cents per share from a GAAP net loss of $182 million in the prior quarter and a net income of $174 million or 66 cents in the year-ago period. Results...
2Nov2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued($GS) Look Who Just Showed Up to the Takeover Party
by Robert Williams, Publisher Don’t look now, but mergers and acquisitions are back in a big way. September saw roughly $50 billion worth of deals announced involving U.S. companies – an 84% increase over August. In fairness, we’ve only seen $12 billion worth of private...
22Oct2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(MS) Morgan Stanley Finally Turns Out Profits
Morgan Stanley (MS) reported third-quarter 2009 income of $498 million this morning or 38 cents per share, compared with a loss of $159 million or $1.37 per share in the prior quarter and an income of $7.7 billion, or $7.38 per share a year ago. The results were much ahead of...
21Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Wise Words from Across the Pond
Meryn King, the British counterpart to U.S. Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, had this to say in a speech yesterday: “The United Kingdom faces two fundamental long-run challenges. First, to rebalance the economy, with more resources allocated to business investment and net exports and...
21Oct2009 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(GS) Five Ways to Play Emerging Market ETFs
Tony Daltorio, Investment U Research Crises have a way of overturning the established order. And as the recent G20 meeting in my native Pittsburgh reminded me, the continuing financial and economic crisis is no exception. The very fact that the group has expanded from the...
21Oct2009 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued