Continue reading Closing Bell: A Strange Market Win Day (AIG, C, FRX, TGT)

Closing Bell: A Strange Market Win Day (AIG, C, FRX, TGT) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

From TheStreet.com Network

• Banks Get Regulators' OK on Capital Plans
• Dipping Into Financials With ETFs

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: The Chuck Prince Citi board has got to go

Cramer on BloggingStocks: The Chuck Prince Citi board has got to go originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Citigroup second quarter earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Why did Xerox add Chuck Prince to its board of directors? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• In what may trump a GBP1.6B bid from a private-equity led consortium consisting of The Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (NYSE: GS) Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Candover Investment (OTC: CDRIF), and Alpinvest, Expro International Group (OTC: EXPRF) said it received a GBP1.71B bid proposal from Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL), the Wall Street Journal reported. Expro said the proposal "does not amount to a firm intention to make an offer and is subject to certain preconditions."
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that the oil industry and some U.S. lawmakers are looking to end long-standing bans on domestic drilling put in place to protect areas that are environmentally-sensitive, fueled by concerns about global energy.
• In an interview with the Financial Times, Citigroup Incorporated's (NYSE: C) former chairman and CEO Sandy Weill acknowledged that choosing Chuck Prince as his successor in 2003 turned out not to be the "right thing" for the company and was flawed. Instead of handing the job to Prince, Weill said the board should have fostered competition among the bank's top managers for the job.

• According to the Washington Post, MedImmune, a unit of drug giant AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE: AZN),settled with Genentech Inc (NYSE: DNA) a lawsuit over a patented component of its best-selling drug Synagis, which is aimed at preventing respiratory infections in infants. No details of the settlement were provided.

Newspaper wrap-up: Former Citigroup CEO admits flaw in succession plan originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 May 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

My first reaction to the news today that Citigroup (NYSE:C) has settled claims by Enron creditors to the tune of $1.66 billion due to their responsibility in Enron's downfall, was that the two firms were meant for each other.

According to the Reuters report: " The largest U.S. bank is also giving up $4.25 billion of claims against Enron, while Enron is releasing all claims against Citi. The bank said in a statement that it denies wrongdoing, and agreed to the settlements solely to avoid the expense and uncertainty of litigation."

Uh huh. No wrongdoing. Just like it bears no responsibility in the whole subprime mess? Why is it that shareholders are the ones always left holding the bag? Investors in Citi have lost over 60% of their money over the last year. That hasn't stopped the board from paying huge bonuses to senior executives, and sending off former CEO Chuck Prince with a huge parting gift.

Enron didn't take any responsibility, Citigroup won't take any responsibility. Who are the ones who end up taking responsibility? Once again it's the little guy who is left holding the bag.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer's fund has no position in any stock mentioned, as of 3/26/08

Citigroup and Enron were made for each other originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Spitzer's men couldn't put it back together again

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Spitzer's men couldn't put it back together again originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Real estate slump didn't hit ex-Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It seems like everybody loves to whine about how much CEOs earn, especially when they bank after screwing up big time. Some recent examples include E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC)'s Mitchell Caplan securing $11 million, Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC)'s Angelo Mozilo corralling $110 million, Citigroup (NYSE: C)'s Chuck Prince snagging $140 million and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER)'s Stanley O'Neal pocketing a cool $161 million. Boo hoo, what about the poor shareholders?

Forget the shareholders, I say more power to these CEOs! That's right, quit your whining and accept it -- Wall Street is all about taking as much as you can, there's no compassion involved and anybody who thinks differently is in for a big surprise.

Maybe you should be congratulating these executives on their ability to get to the top and get paid for their efforts. So what if their stocks drop and all their plans go up in flames -- why shouldn't they be compensated for all their hard work and the sacrifices they've made over the years? Over the past two decades, you lazy buy-and-hold shareholders have been spoiled with excess returns, and now that you're losing, you're angry that not everyone is down in the pits with you.

Continue reading Don't whine about CEO pay, learn from these Cynical Exaggerating Opportunists (CEOs)

Don't whine about CEO pay, learn from these Cynical Exaggerating Opportunists (CEOs) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Is it better to invest in a company whose CEO is a star or a company that breeds generations of outstanding CEOs? If you think a star CEO is better, I have two stocks to consider -- but also one to avoid. And if you think a CEO breeding ground is better, one stock comes to mind.

Today, I appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box this morning with Yale's Jeff Sonnenfeld to give my picks for the three best and worst CEOs of 2007. Here are the three best CEOs along with the name of the company, the stock price performance over the last year, and my reasons:

• Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) +144%. Successful iPhone introduction with a million units sold in its first 74 days (some estimate Apple will announce it's sold five million in mid-January) plus outstanding performance of Apple retail stores -- they account for 20% of Apple revenue and those revenues have grown 42% in the last year while the stores earn $4,000 per square foot -- much more than competitors. At a Price/Earnings to Growth (PEG) of 1.8 it remains to be seen whether Apple can grow enough to justify its P/E of 50.
• Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) +28%. Berkshire's stock had a great year -- it has not done as well since 1998 when it rose 52%. Berkshire's return on equity is up from 11% in 2006 to almost 16% as of September. Berkshire is a safe haven stock and Buffett continues to find places to invest his $47 billion in cash. One caution -- Barron's thinks that Berkshire stock is 10% overvalued.
• Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) +6%. Only firm to make money while peers lost billions -- its short position of the ABX index--which represents a basket of credit default swaps on mortgage-backed securities- yielded $4 billion in profit -- offsetting a $2 billion loss in its $10 billion CDO portfolios. I was impressed by the way Blankfein carried Goldman's culture of encouraging intellectual debate between lower-level traders and top executives to arrive at the best decisions. Goldman trades at a P/E of 8.6 and its earnings are expected to grow 4% next year. But that forecast is a real toss up so if you buy the stock, take a long term view.

Gallery: 2007's Best and Worst CEOs

Continue reading 2007's three best and worst CEOs

2007's three best and worst CEOs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 31 Dec 2007 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

BloggingStocks readers and AOL Money & Finance visitors have spoken, and below are the Best & Worst of 2007. (See the individual posts for full results.)

Company of the Year: Google, internet search provider turned diversified services giant, received 51% of the vote, beating such strong contenders as Apple and Coca-Cola.

Hottest Gadget of the Year: After all the hoopla surrounding the launch of the iPhone, it's no big surprise that it tops this category, with 47% of the vote, besting second place finisher the Nintendo Wii.

Dumbest Celebrity Feud: Rosie O'Donnell's squabbles with Donald Trump (and also with Elizabeth Hasselbeck) garnered 66% of the vote, easily beating out the back-and-forth between Britney Spears and her ex, Kevin Federline.

Hottest Car of the Year: The Cadillac CTS led with 43% of the vote, easily beating the BMW M3 and others in this category.

Dumbest Moment in Business: JetBlue's stranding of passengers on a cramped, grounded airliner for hours netted 51% of the vote.

Continue reading Best & Worst of 2007: Final results

Best & Worst of 2007: Final results originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Its been a tough year for Chuck Prince, whose four-year reign as CEO of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) finally came to an end in November.

Right from the beginning of the year, there were calls for Prince's resignation and for Citigroup to be broken up. Prince did step up and clean house at Citi in the spring, in a move that many thought was draconian. But the effort to make things more effcient seemed to be working when Citi reported good second quarter results in July.

However, Citi couldn't avoid the mortgage meltdown, and things took a turn for the worse for Citi in later summer. By the time the dismal third quarter results were released, there were more calls for Prince's ouster, even though all the big banks had been hit hard as well. There was a management shakeup in October, but Prince held on to his position at the top.

When Stan O'Neal, CEO of rival Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) was forced out, it appeared that the writing was on the wall for Prince. That proved to be the case, but, like O'Neal, Prince went out with a nice severance ($140 million) despite his failures. That didn't save him from being included in a suit filed by Citi shareholders, however. The share price has fallen from more than $55 at the begining of the year to a three-year low of $29.50 at the end of November.

So it's probably no surprise that Prince was recently voted one of the best CEO departures of the year by BloggingStocks readers.

Be sure to check out other Money Losers of 2007.

Money Losers of 2007: Chuck Prince finally goes down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 22 Dec 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As expected, Citigroup names Vikram Pandit CEO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The New York Times reports that Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is considering charisma as a test for its next CEO. And Vikram Pandit, the PhD in Finance and former professor, is thought to lack charisma -- thus lowering his attractiveness as a choice.

I have limited enthusiasm for Pandit because he has no experience managing a consumer bank, but I don't understand why charisma is a concern. Did Chuck Prince have charisma? If charisma is so important to Citigroup's board, why not hire George Clooney or Brad Pitt? Why not Angelina Jolie or Julia Roberts?

The fact that Citigroup is having so much trouble filling its CEO position tells me that the concept of Citigroup -- as it's currently organized -- is fraught with more peril than opportunity. The most capable potential candidates -- such as Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson who oversaw a great run at Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) -- must be put off by the black hole of unknown financial problems and the complexity of managing Citigroup's warring fiefdoms.

The suggestion that Citigroup is considering charisma in its decision makes me think it needs a board overhaul.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns Citigroup shares and has no financial interest in Goldman Sachs.

Should Citigroup hire George Clooney or Brad Pitt as its next CEO? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Vikram Pandit the front-runner to be Citigroup's CEO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We recently took a look at the Best & Worst of 2007 in sixteen categories and asked you to vote for your favorites, as well as sharing the reasons for your picks and any other contenders we may have overlooked. And voting is off to a strong start, with more than 100,000 votes in each category so far.

Some categories have shaped up to be close races. Chuck Prince, Bill Ford, and Bob Nardelli each have a little less than a third of the vote for Best CEO Departure of the Year. Britney Spears and Michael Vick are neck and neck as the Celebrity Most Likely to Lose It All, while Lindsey Lohan's relatively low profile recently has garnered her just 6 percent of that vote. In the Most Shameless Attempt at Cashing in on '15 Minutes', Sanjaya Malakar has a slim lead over Howard K. Stern/Larry Birkhead, but poor Chris "Leave Britney Alone!" Crocker has gotten no respect with a mere 6 percent of the vote. McDonald's has a small lead as the Hottest Chain Restaurant, thought Chipotle isn't far behind with more than a quarter of the vote. And while the iPhone has the lead now as the Hottest Gadget of the Year, it and the Nintendo Wii have been trading places as the front runner.

Continue reading Best & Worst of 2007: Early voting results

Best & Worst of 2007: Early voting results originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post was part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2007. Voting has now closed and, in a close race, readers have chosen Chuck Prince as the best CEO departure of the year. Let us know in the comments if you are pleased with this result.

When looking back at 2007, there were some larger-than-life CEO departures that semi-rocked the business world and brought some investors to the realization of over-the-top compensation yet again. Let's look at a few and then you can decide the winner. Sound good?

First up comes Bill Ford, Jr., from the automotive industry. Under Ford's leadership, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) lost its way in terms of correctly forecasting what kind of vehicles customers actually wanted, in addition to becoming horribly leveraged. As soon as gas prices began shooting up, Ford Motor started spiraling down. Long-time Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) executive Alan Mulally was brought in to replace Ford as the automaker's CEO just in the nick of time. Ford Motor's expected profitability date with Ford now gone: 2009.

How about Bob Nardelli, formerly CEO of Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD)? Nardelli made global headlines by making tens of millions while leading Home Depot shares to the basement and apparently making all kinds of bad decisions that finally led to his ouster this year. On top of that, his severance package made a Brad Pitt paycheck seem like pennies, and Home Depot shareholders paid for it. Did Home Depot stakeholders get a voice in this corporate travesty? A small one, perhaps.

Continue reading Best & Worst of 2007: Best CEO departure of 2007

Best & Worst of 2007: Best CEO departure of 2007 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Citigroup (NYSE: C)'s (Cramer's Take) to blame for so much that is wrong right now that it seems imperative that someone step in and renounce most of the actions that Chuck Prince put into place and bail out the other parts swiftly to become a plain old bank (POB?) as soon as possible.

We are quick -- depending upon political orientation or sensibilities -- to blame either the aggressive lenders or the irresponsible borrowers. I don't even care any more. What matters is capital, raising capital fast and Citigroup must quickly dismantle the acquisitions Prince made, including the disastrous Japan incursion, and then start selling off businesses and get the government to help bail it out by injecting itself into the structured investment vehicle process. The time has long since passed to worry about moral hazard. The action in Citigroup is critical right now because of a series of horrible decisions made by Prince to get much bigger in mortgages right at the end of the boom.

It must sell its mortgage servicing portfolio, too, agreeing to give some guarantees for some amount of money owed to the buyer as servicing rights can be a lucrative business. The fact that Treasury seems "somewhat" engaged (my quotes) is not enough. The problem at this bank is too big to be ignored by the U.S. government. Put simply, if Citigroup goes, we all go.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: The clock's running on Citigroup

Cramer on BloggingStocks: The clock's running on Citigroup originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With all the bad PR surrounding the departure of Citigroup's (NYSE: C) CEO Chuck Prince, along with Merrill Lynch's (NYSE: MER) CEO Stanley O'Neill, not to mention their huge severance packages, it's refreshing to see a company where the CEO actually puts his money where his mouth is and invests in the stock of the company he runs.

News that Wachovia (NYSE: WB) CEO Ken Thompson bought 100,000 shares this past Friday, to go along with the 37,000 he bought earlier last week, is a telling sign that not only does he pay lip service to his company's stock being undervalued, but has actually invested millions of his own dollars to back it up.

With the debate over executive compensation heating up, and investor cynicism towards CEOs at an all time high, this move buy Thompson is commendable. How many stories have we read about CEOs making large salaries, getting enormous bonuses and the stock price continues to drop?

Kudos to Thompson, and may his large investment pay off.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. Disclosure: Writer holds no position in any stock mentioned as of 11/21/07.

Some CEOs (WB) actually believe in their own company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's (NYSE: JPM) CEO, would be a great replacement for Citigroup Inc.'s (NYSE: C) recently retired CEO Chuck Prince. The only problem is that Dimon already has a job.

But Dimon -- who was Citi ex-CEO Sandy Weill's right hand man until Weill fired him for not giving his daughter a good enough job -- would probably enjoy running a combined Citi-JPMorgan Chase. After all, after he left Citi, he took over Bank One which merged with JPMorgan Chase. And then Dimon took over from its former CEO, Bill Harrison. But a Citi-JPMorgan Chase combination could land Dimon in Sandy Weill's old slot once such a deal closed.

Such a merger would probably be couched as a merger of equals. JPMorgan Chase's market capitalization of $140 billion is currently less than Citi's ($160 billion). But at the rate Citi is falling, that valuation gap probably won't last long. Then there's the little matter of the deposit cap -- no bank can control more than 10% of U.S. deposits. With combined deposits of $1.5 trillion -- which includes Citi's international deposits -- the combined banks would probably control more than 10% of the U.S.'s $7.5 trillion (as of January 2007) in deposits.

So the merged companies would need to divest some branches if they wanted the deal to go through and Dimon would not be able to take over officially until after the merger closed. But these seem like small prices to pay to get a good CEO for Citi.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns Citigroup shares and has no financial interest in JPMorgan Chase.

Is a Citigroup-JPMorgan Chase merger the quickest way to replace Prince? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.