Next week is sure to be filled with fun and volatile market conditions. The highlight will be the Fed decision on key rates, due on Wednesday, April 30, following a two-day meeting. Anytime the Fed has the floor, the markets listen. Tuesday and Wednesday will be filled with speculation up until the time of the announcement of a cut or pause.

There are many possible outcomes for this meeting, as we have seen a substantial change in investor sentiment regarding the potential need for further rate cuts. The buzz on the street is for a cut of 25 basis points and then a wait-and-see attitude from there. I think that is the most likely direction.

There has been a great deal of concern that all the recent rate cuts have not provided the benefit to consumers the economy needs. Clearly, there is a fatty clog within our financial circulatory system. Traditionally, the Fed likes to see how its actions trickle into the economy before it continues too far down one path, which would argue for a pause now. Plus, the Fed does not want to run out of ammunition by cutting rates too far too fast. But there is no question that we are dealing with a more aggressive Fed than we have seen in decades, so I think we will see another small rate cut.

Continue reading The Week in Preview: All eyes on the Fed

The Week in Preview: All eyes on the Fed originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of the more difficult tasks associated with corporate management is the evaluation of business risks. When firms decide to seek a little help along that line, there is an outfit in Minneapolis that gets a lot of calls.

Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE: FIC) provides statistics-based predictive tools and services for the consumer credit and general financial industries. Leading products include decision management programs for marketing, account origination, customer management, fraud, collections, mortgage lending, and review of medical bills. The firm also develops FICO scores that are used to evaluate credit applicants and offers a variety of business strategy consultation services. Fair Isaac serves banks, credit reporting businesses, credit card processing concerns, insurers, retailers, healthcare companies and government agencies. Clients include American International Group (NYSE: AIG), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE).

Continue reading Fair Isaac Corporation (FIC) shares defining 'bullish flag' consolidation

Fair Isaac Corporation (FIC) shares defining 'bullish flag' consolidation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Friedman Billings upgraded Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA) to Outperform from Market Perform following Teva's better-than-expected Q3 report and guidance.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) to Buy from Neutral based on positive expectations for Ph I/IIa pandemic influenza data, the start of clinical trials for seasonal influenza, and expected announcement of a vaccine product candidate in Q4.
  
• Corinthian Colleges (NASDAQ: COCO) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill following its better-than-expected Q1 report and guidance.
  
• Citigroup upgraded of Fair Isaac (NYSE: FIC) to Buy from Hold shares to reflect the company's strong Q4 results and improved outlook.
  
• Tenneco (NYSE: TEN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia based on valuation and revenue opportunities in commercial truck market.

• Energizer Holdings (NYSE: ENR) was upgraded at Bear Stearns to Peer Perform from Underperform.
  
• Key Banc upgraded Post Properties (NYSE: PPS) to Hold from Underweight.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded MetroPCS (NYSE: PCS) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• William Blair upgraded LECG Corporation (NASDAQ: XPRT) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst upgrades: TEVA, NVAX, COCO, FIC and TEN originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The practice that involves people "renting" credit history to improve their own credit score will come to an end, according to Fair Issac Corp (NYSE: FIC), the company responsible for FICO credit scores. The change will occur in a new version of its credit score system, the sixth generation, this September.

The move ends the ability for a consumer with poor credit to be placed as an authorized user of another person's credit card, who has great credit. This person would then benefit from having the payment history of the primary cardholder on their own credit report and improve their credit scores.

The practice has grown more common with internet companies popping up offering money to people with good credit to take on those with bad credit as an authorized user, then collecting fees from those consumers for the act.

This is fraud people; plain and simple.

It's hard to believe this practice still exists in the world we live in today. In a nation where state attorney offices and the U.S. attorney's office go after anyone and everyone who looks like they participate in fraud, including UBS Financial Services, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and the one that started it all, the Enron case.

This was considered the "first great scam of the new millennium" by Terry Savage of TheStreet.com. She highlighted that people with poor credit could "borrow" good credit for 60 days and then apply for a mortgage at a lower rate. Maybe that's one of the many reasons why this month's
foreclosure rates rose a whopping 90% year-over-year.

What do you think of this new move from Fair Issac? Do you think this is fair to the people with poor credit? What's your opinion?

Piggybacking stops now, says Fair Issac Corp originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Motley Fool's Dan Caplinger takes a look at the issue of credit piggybacking, and what the industry is looking to do about it. Basically, someone with a low credit score can pay someone with a better score to add them to their accounts as an authorized user, without actually using the account. There are companies that offer this "service" and, needless to say, the credit card companies aren't happy about it because it distorts credit. It allows completely irresponsible people to buy good FICO scores. It's no different than buying SAT scores from someone else to get into a good college.

While it's hard to have too much sympathy for the credit card companies, they have a right to be upset here. Fair Isaac (NYSE: FIC) has simply elected to stop considering authorized users when calculating credit scores, which seems like a logical step.

A crackdown on piggybacking could also lead to the demise of one of the easiest ways for parents to build credit histories for their children: adding them as authorized users. I'd like to see this end as well because the principle is the same. People should not get credit for stuff they had nothing to do with. It also reeks of nepotism, and seems unfair to kids whose parents don't have good credit. Do we really need to give rich kids another advantage? By piggybacking off their parents credit, kids with responsible parents can have great credit scores without ever having a credit card. Kids with less fortunate parents don't have that opportunity, and that's wrong.

There's no intelligent reason that piggybacking on credit should be allowed, and it will probably be stopped soon.

Piggybacking for credit and the industry's crackdown originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Jun 2007 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.