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Closing Bell: DOW, NASDAQ, and S&P up, however massive run leaves some in dust

Today and yesterday will go down in the history books as THE BAILOUT DAYS. The market was up sharply on record volume and short squeezes almost everywhere after the government bailout plans and the ban on short selling financial stocks. As the advance-decline line was massive with 85% NYSE stocks and 71% of NASDAQ stocks up on last look today, we wanted to mostly cover some of the ones which failed to chase the market. Here are today's unofficial closing bell averages:
DJIA 11,385.51 +365.82; +3.32%
NASDAQ 2,264.83 +65.73; +2.99%
S&P500 1,250.90 +44.39; +3.68%
10YR T-Bond 3.769% +0.332%
52-week lows
Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

The biggest winner of the troubled financial stocks in today's final minutes was American International Group (NYSE: AIG). There was no news from the company, it was all the bailout and barring of short sales in the stock. Its shares were up more than 57% at $4.24 in today's final minutes before the close.

As we wanted to focus on the stocks that lagged today, here is that list of key stocks....

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) was down 4% at $20.02 in the final minutes before the close but shares had been down as low as $19.27 today. Its loss of search market share again hurt the stock and day traders pounded it early on.

Continue reading Closing Bell: DOW, NASDAQ, and S&P up, however massive run leaves some in dust

First Marblehead down 42% -- are student loans the new subprime?

Reuters reports that First Marblehead Corporation (NYSE: FMD) -- a student loan securitizer -- is in deep yogurt and the stock market is not happy, knocking 42% out of its stock. The reason? The Education Resources Institute Inc (TERI), which claims to be the largest not-for-profit guarantor of U.S. private education loans, filed Monday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Thanks to borrower defaults and credit market problems, its liquidity was "damaged."

People have asked me what would be the next shoe to drop after subprime. The $85 billion student loan market is one where the supposed alchemy of securitization is turning lead into toxic waste rather than gold. Securitization was supposed to eliminate the risk of loss by bundling enough good loans with bad ones so the security would offer attractive returns. While the securitizers got big fees, the losses are turning out to be larger than expected.

Continue reading First Marblehead down 42% -- are student loans the new subprime?

Cramer on BloggingStocks: More lenders on life support

Jim Cramer on BloggingStocks TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the fresh troubles for IndyMac make it more imperative for the Fed to act.

We keep coming close to losing these companies that are fighting for their lives.

Yesterday we had First Marblehead (NYSE: FMD) (Cramer's Take) on student loans.

Is CIT (NYSE: CIT) (Cramer's Take) next with its student loan portfolio (as opposed to its mobile home portfolio and its subprime portfolio...sheesh!)?

We obviously had a giant problem with MBIA (NYSE: MBI) (Cramer's Take) over the amount of capital it needs to raise. Will it have to raise capital and cut the dividend?

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: More lenders on life support

Option update: YHOO near 36-month low into Jerry Yang's first 100 days

Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) volatility elevated as YHOO trades near 36-month low. YHOO, however, is recently up $0.81 to $23.54 following positive analyst comments. Bear Stearns says "there are several catalysts that could drive YHOO's shares, including: 1) success from branding initiatives, 2) good results from Panama, 3) takeover / strategic partnership talks, 4) the Alibaba IPO, and 5) a material share repurchase." YHOO overall option implied volatility of 38 is above its 26-week average of 35 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

First Marblehead (NYSE: FMD) volatility was low prior to announcing Subpoena from NY AG. FMD, a provider of outsourcing services for private and non-governmental education lending, closed at $40.70. FMD announced on 8/31/07 it received a subpoena on 8/22/07 from the New York Attorney General's investigation of lending, educational, and nonprofit institutions. FBRC say's "facing wider spreads, downsizing-reiterating underperform." FMD over all option implied volatility of 41 is below its 26-week average of 45 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movements.


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

This week's rumor round-up: Will Amazon overpay for Netflix?

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX)

Amazing. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), that big online retailer, sees the flix for the net. The shares keep rising for the online DVD rental company-up about 15%, highest since January-- even if their discs do come a little scratched. More than that though is while new subscribers are coming on; it's not exactly going gangbusters. Still, 6.8M is a whole lot of subscribers. Will Amazon, or someone else, overpay?

Rackable Systems Inc (NASDAQ: RACK)

Which came first: The ongoing takeover rumors or the higher stock price? Or was it that Dell Inc (NASDAQ: DELL) is said to be after Rackable, a provider of servers and storage products for high density data center deployments. Rack it up.

Feldman Mall Properties Inc (NYSE: FMP)

Word is that this real estate investment trust will look for a sale, combo or merger. They said the venerable firm of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. will help them "explore strategic alternatives." Then the stock went up.

STILL FLYING AROUND

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc (NASDAQ: TRMP)


Dennis Gomes, whose name surfaced in March, is a one time gaming exec and regulator. He's signed a confidentiality agreement to have a look see at the firm's Atlantic City casinos. Separately, Las Vegas' Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) has also been mentioned as a possible contender.

YRC Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ: YRCW)

The CEO of this Kansas-based transportation service provider has been quoted as saying that a takeover is possible. An LBO is likely. This week the shares have actively been trading up.

Dollar Tree Stores Inc (NASDAQ: DLTR)

Imagine a dollar tree where the stock keeps going up, up, up. Well, here it is, once again, a subject of takeover talk.

BUZZ

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X): Russia's Severstal may be prowling around...Plains Exploration & Production Company (NYSE: PXP): Takeover candidate's stock is sharply higher... Micron Technology Inc (NYSE: MU): Blackstone has interest...Ameristar Casinos Inc (NASDAQ: ASCA): A hot stock and takeover rumors abound...Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA): Remains an LBO candidate...The First Marblehead Corporation (NYSE: FMD): The student loan business is booming and earnings growth is strong, but who would buy it?...Marriott International Inc (NYSE: MAR): A target? But where's the movement?...Oakley Inc (NYSE: OO) as a target has been around and around, and now some say it will be bought by Luxottica Group (NYSE: LUX).

Analyst initiations 5-10-07: COGO, IM, MRVL, RRGB and XLNX

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Xilinx, Inc (XLNX), Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc (RRGB), Ingram Micro Inc (IM), Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) and Comtech Group, Inc (COGO) were today's more noteworthy initiations:
  • Deutsche Bank believes upside remains on Xilinx Inc's (NASDQ: XLNX) margins and tax rates, initiating shares with a Buy rating and $38 target.
  • JP Morgan waits for improved new unit volumes and better earnings visibility before getting more constructive on Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc (NASDAQ: RRGB) and initiated shares with a Neutral rating.
  • Given the lack of catalysts to improve margins above their peers, JP Morgan doesn't expect multiple expansions from Ingram Micro (NYSE: IM) in the near-term, assuming shares with a Neutral rating.
  • Deutsche Bank expects Silicon Labratories (NASDAQ:: SLAB) multiples to expand with operating margins, starting shares with a Buy rating and $40 target.
  • Needham believes Comtech Group Inc (NASDAQ: COGO) is uniquely leveraged to benefit from the growth of manufacturing in China and started shares with a Buy rating and $21 target...
OTHER INITIATIONS:
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+203.5210,226.94
NASDAQ+41.622,154.06
S&P 500+23.781,093.08

Last updated: November 10, 2009: 06:37 AM

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