The financial crisis, employment market and social media explosion have converged, providing a new level of clarity into what is happening in the world around us. Where was ground zero for this financial catastrophe? Well, according to the LinkedIn blog, five companies have shown the most action: Barclays (BCS), Credit Suisse (CS), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM). Interestingly, Goldman Sachs (GS), among the biggest winners now that we're pulling out from the recession, didn't see as much play.

Continue reading Financial Crisis Didn't Push Bankers from Industry, LinkedIn Reports

Financial Crisis Didn't Push Bankers from Industry, LinkedIn Reports originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Pensions Consider Insurance Securitization Finance Because You Refuse to Die

Pensions Consider Insurance Securitization Finance Because You Refuse to Die originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Actually Better Than It Looks (LEN, GE, GME, BBBY, SHLD, QCOM, BA, BAC)

Closing Bell: Actually Better Than It Looks (LEN, GE, GME, BBBY, SHLD, QCOM, BA, BAC) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In other Sprint news this morning, Sprint shares were upped from "neutral" to "outperform" at Credit Suisse. Analyst Jonathan Chaplin set his price target at $6, asserting that the company will benefit from cost cutting, stronger sales of prepaid service, and improved customer retention trends. Sprint's stock settled Friday at $3.10, so Chaplin's price target implies expected upside of nearly 94%.

Continue reading Sprint Nextel scores upgrade, pays off $1B loan

Sprint Nextel scores upgrade, pays off $1B loan originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) closed at $64.23. DB September option implied volatility is at 49, October is at 51; below its 26-week average of 66, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) closed at $47.94. CS October option implied volatility of 47 is below its 26-week average of 62 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

UBS AG (NYSE: UBS), Switzerland's biggest bank, closed at $17.02. UBS September option implied volatility is at 54, October is at 56; below its 26-week average of 70, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: European money center's volatility low originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Saks (SKS) and Nordstrom (JWN) out of fashion at Credit Suisse

Saks (SKS) and Nordstrom (JWN) out of fashion at Credit Suisse originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 May 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT), Host Hotels (NYSE: HST) and Marriott (NYSE: MAR) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and indications that negative sentiment has reached a bottom.
• Citigroup upgraded Torchmark (NYSE: TMK) to Buy from Hold as they find the valuation attractive and think management can grow earnings and book value in 2009/2010. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered their target price to $37 from $45.
• ASM International (NASDAQ: ASMI) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
• Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) was upgraded at Natixis to Buy from Hold.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: HOT, GOOG, WPI, LYG ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: HOT, GOOG, WPI, LYG ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) warned of a loss of about 4.8 billion euros in Q4. DB is recently trading at $28.36 in pre-open trading, below its close of at $31.90. DB January option implied volatility of 91 is above its 26-week average of 71, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) closed at $25.20. CS option implied volatility of 87 is above its 26-week average of 72 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

UBS AG (NYSE: UBS), Switzerland's biggest bank, closed at $13.43. UBS February option implied volatility of 81 is near its 26-week average of 78, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) closed at $8.67. STD was cut to Sell from Neutral at UBS Warburg. STD overall option implied volatility of 63 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Options Update: Deutsche Bank volatility elevated at 91 into Q4 warning originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Credit Suisse hands out illiquid junk for bonuses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I have to hand it to Brady Dougan, CEO of Credit Suisse. He has shown some fiendishly clever imagination in paying bonuses to his managing directors. Instead of giving them multimillion dollar cash bonuses this year, he's paying them in the very thing that has brought Wall Street to its knees -- $5 billion of its leveraged loans and commercial mortgage-backed debt.

This move alone demonstrates that Credit Suisse is using its brain. By doing this, Dougan keeps the future losses of $5 billion worth of its toxic waste from cutting into Credit Suisse's earnings. Since the alternative was giving them no bonus at all, those managing directors will have a chance to share the emotions of all the people to whom they sold that toxic waste.

Not only that, but it will be much harder to get the general public angry at Credit Suisse for paying bonuses in toxic waste than other firms that are actually paying cash to their employees. Credit Suisse took $2.8 billion in losses in October and November, but it has not received any government money, unlike its peers. But the cleverest part of all is the accounting for the $5 billion in bonuses.

Continue reading Credit Suisse eats its own dog food

Credit Suisse eats its own dog food originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is the #2 bank in Switzerland. And, it's getting smaller.

Today, the company announced layoffs of 3,300 jobs (or 11% of the workforce). Something else: some senior executives will say bye-bye to bonuses.

Yes, this action seems late. But, for the most part, it looks like the annual cost savings will amount to 2 billion francs or so.

The big sweet-spot for the cuts is in investment banking (with an emphasis on the US operation). No doubt, this business has evaporated (and investment bankers can be pretty expensive to keep on).

Credit Suisse is also avoiding complex proprietary trading activities, which should help reduce the overall risk levels. Instead, there will be more focus on wealth management, which apparently is doing quite well right now.

Interestingly enough, Credit Suisse hasn't sought out governmental assistance, unlike UBS (NYSE: UBS). Rather, the firm was able to raise 10 billion francs from sovereign wealth funds and the liquidity position looks fine, especially in light of the new cuts.

Besides, Credit Suisse should be more aligned with the current environment, which should help profitability. And investors seem to agree, as the shares increased 5.59% to $24.76 in today's trading.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

Credit Suisse slashes away originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

UBS AG (NYSE: UBS), Switzerland's biggest bank, was forced into a $59.2 billion government bailout. UBS closed at $16.65. UBS over all option implied volatility of 96 was above its 26-week average of 59 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) closed at $37.59. CS will tap about $8.8 billion in private fund to boost its capital and pursue growth opportunities. CS over all option implied volatility of 92 is above its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options: VIX at 69.25; 10-day moving average is 56.69.

Volatility Index NASDAQ 100: VXN at 72.93; 10-day moving average is 61.36.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Option Update: UBS and Credit Suisse volatility up into capital infusions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The New York Times reports that two Credit Suisse brokers took Auction Rate Securities (ARS) fraud to a new level. They fabricated an ARS-issuing agency -- a made up student loan securitizer -- as they sold investors their most toxic Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) backed by subprime mortgages and mobile home loans. Their deception is not new in concept -- evidence of ARS fraud has already emerged -- but the scope of the fraud is noteworthy.

Since I first began writing about the $330 billion ARS market -- long-term securities whose rates were reset in weekly auctions until they failed -- 6,162 comments have appeared from people trying to get their money back. And many of the issuers have announced settlements with authorities because investigators have found evidence that many of them were actively trying to dump the ARS from their own books into those of unsuspecting individual investors by telling them the ARS were safe and offered slightly higher-than-money-market yields.

But this Credit Suisse fraud reaches a different level. According to the Times, "Eric Butler, [who] sold customers some of the most toxic investments of the subprime age - [CDOs] - in what federal prosecutors characterize as a $1 billion bait-and-switch -- told those investors that they were getting "securities [that] were as safe as cash." The Times wrote that Butler "claimed, [that] the outfit that issued them, Glacier Education Loan, bought student loans guaranteed by the federal government. The problem: there is no such thing as Glacier Education Loan."

Continue reading Credit Suisse brokers take Auction Rate Securities fraud to new depths

Credit Suisse brokers take Auction Rate Securities fraud to new depths originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Dow pops up, and the bulls are eating bear meat this weekend

Closing Bell: Dow pops up, and the bulls are eating bear meat this weekend originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the $330 billion auction rate securities (ARS) scandal, which since February has frozen the funds of investors who thought they were getting a low risk place to park their cash, has finally generated its first criminal probe. The charge is that two Credit Suisse brokers lied "to investors about how they placed their money into short-term securities."

I have been following the ARS scandal since February when I first became aware of the situation. Since then, my post has generated 5,036 comments from people whose money has been frozen thanks to the collapse of the weekly auctions that were intended to set the yields on these municipal bonds. These commenters are trying to team up to figure out how best to get back their money.

The Journal reports that the Justice Department's U.S. attorney's office for New York's Eastern District, represents the first known criminal matter stemming from the crumbling ARS market. Up until then, the lawsuits were of a civil nature -- seeking class-action status and more than 80 individual arbitration claims. But a criminal probe based on lying could result in cash damages and jail terms for these brokers.

Continue reading Auction rate securities scandal yields its first criminal probe

Auction rate securities scandal yields its first criminal probe originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) closed at $46.63 Thursday. CS overall option implied volatility of 40 is above its 26-week average of 34 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) closed at $23.09 Thursday. UBS July option implied volatility of 53 is above its 26-week average of 42, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Option Update: Credit Suisse and UBS AG volatility elevated originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With the super-growth in emerging economies - especially in India and China - there is likely going to be a secular trend for infrastructure. In fact, this should be the case in mature economies as well, even the US, as the infrastructure is getting fairly old and needs to be replaced.

To deal with the growing infrastructure needs, there will also be a need for substantial amounts of capital. To this end, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) announced it has formed an infrastructure fund, raising $4 billion for the fund.

Meanwhile, General Electric (NYSE: GE) has teamed up with Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) to create its own fund - with $5.6 billion.

Basically, these funds will focus on things like toll roads, ports, water systems, airports, parking lots and other income-generating platforms. While the upfront costs can be tough, the long-term cash flow characteristics look bright. Perhaps that's why - despite the credit crunch - these funds had little trouble getting started.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Wall Street rushes into infrastructure originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 May 2008 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bear upgraded Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) to Peer Perform from Underperform as they believe the company's balance sheet will stabilize and the company's Private Banking business is holding up well in difficult conditions. Goldman, which raised shares to Neutral from Sell, believes the worst is over regarding the market downturn.
• Citigroup upgraded Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ: MASI) to Buy from Hold citing expectations of a strong Q1 report, expected FDA approval for hemoglobin monitoring in 2H08, and valuation.
• Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ: MRVL) was raised at Friedman Billings to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and improved business conditions.

• Goldman raised LM Ericsson Telephone Company (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Neutral from Sell.
• JP Morgan upgraded Big Lots Inc (NYSE: BIG) to Overweight from Neutral.
• Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) was upgraded at CIBC to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer.

Analyst upgrades: CS, ERIC, MASI and MRVL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Credit Suisse (CS) loses $2.1 billion in first quarter

Credit Suisse (CS) loses $2.1 billion in first quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS downgraded Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) to Neutral from Buy to reflect the company's higher-than-expected write-downs in Q1.
  
• Merrill cut Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to Sell from Neutral and lowered their estimates to reflect a higher credit loss outlook as they now estimate Bank of America's loan provision will rise to $15B in 2008 from $8.4B in 2007.
  
• Sandler O'Neil downgraded Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) to Sell from Hold citing share premium to deal value of $10.00.

• Citigroup lowered Gap (NYSE: GPS) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) to Neutral from Overweight.

Analyst downgrades: CS, BAC, BSC, TIF, PHG and GPS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.