But things have gotten volatile lately. Consider that last year Wall Street analyst Meredith Whitney predicted a large number of muni defaults. Even though there was much skepticism, the prices on bonds fell hard.

Continue reading $100 Billion in Muni Bond Defaults?

$100 Billion in Muni Bond Defaults? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Meredith Whitney, of the Meredith Whitney Group, told Bloomberg News that she expects that securities firms around the world will cut 80,000 jobs. This would be about 10% from current levels. The cuts would begin after 2010 compensation payments.

Since the crash, Wall Street firms have been undergoing structural changes. The first wave saw cuts of 330,000 jobs around the world. Some firms have hired some personnel back; however, these small hires do not come close to the jobs lost.

Continue reading Whitney: Wall Street to Cut 80,000 Jobs

Whitney: Wall Street to Cut 80,000 Jobs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Mixed Day After Great 2010 Kick-Off (GOOG, AAPL, CIEN, NOK, F, GS, APC)

Closing Bell: Mixed Day After Great 2010 Kick-Off (GOOG, AAPL, CIEN, NOK, F, GS, APC) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The headline consensus on Wall Street is that the banks are stable and no markets are melting down. In short, things are returning to normal.

But we've seen a $1.5 trillion reduction in consumer credit during the past 18 months, and another $1 trillion (at least) is likely to be pulled back in the coming year, according to uber-analyst Meredith Whitney -- someone I wouldn't bet against. And almost no one is getting a home equity line.

Continue reading Lie #6: The Credit Crunch Is Easing

Lie #6: The Credit Crunch Is Easing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Market Finishes Up Slightly (JPM, PALM, NKE, FNM, V, RIMM, ORCL)

Closing Bell: Market Finishes Up Slightly (JPM, PALM, NKE, FNM, V, RIMM, ORCL) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

From TheStreet.com Network

• Goldman Cut to 'Neutral' by Analyst Whitney
• Regional Banks on Slow Road to Recovery

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: All hail the Goldman downgrade!

Cramer on BloggingStocks: All hail the Goldman downgrade! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University, was one of the first to predict the collapse of the U.S. banking system and the current financial crisis. Well, he's back in the news with his forecasts.

What does he see in our future? More bad news. The bear market is not over, says Roubini. The stimulus package will slow the rate of contraction, but that will take time. Macro news, earnings reports and financial shocks will be worse than expected.

Continue reading Roubini the bear is forecasting more of the same, banking shocks and bad news

Roubini the bear is forecasting more of the same, banking shocks and bad news originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Techs decide to participate with St. Patrick's Day in rally (AA, AAPL, CSCO, DELL, DD, GS, TGT)

Closing Bell: Techs decide to participate with St. Patrick's Day in rally (AA, AAPL, CSCO, DELL, DD, GS, TGT) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney -- one of the handful of people to predict the current mess -- says that allowing banks to move "toxic" mortgages off their balance sheets is only part of the solution to the current mess.

Ms. Whitney told Fortune that a "bad bank" plan would help banks improve their balances sheets but that the more serious problems would still be there: The declining economy will cause an ever-increasing percentage of good assets to go bad while simultaneously killing demand for the other services banks offer.

Continue reading Meredith Whitney tells banks to 'deal with it'

Meredith Whitney tells banks to 'deal with it' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The banks are a wreck and now the pieces are beginning to fly apart, with Citigroup (NYSE: C) struggling the most and beginning to dismember itself.

Meredith Whitney, the uber-analyst who has been right about everything in banking for more than two years, said there were $2.4 trillion in asset downgrades at the end of last year by the credit agencies. This will really whack the banks' critical Tier 1 capital.

And even if you forget earnings problems, the banks will continue to have no money to lend, which will strangle businesses and the economy.

Be sure to read all 7 reasons the stock market isn't going up any time soon.

Michael Shulman is a contributor to OptionsZone.com.

Seven reasons the market is not going up any time soon: #4 The banks are falling apart originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Banking analyst Meredith Whitney is credited with questioning assets on bank balance sheets given the collapse in the real estate market.

Taking advantage of a complete lack of information, Ms. Whitney triggered a massive collapse of trust in an industry by claiming that mortgage-backed securities were worth far less than what the market had perceived.

While she may have had a basis for her claims, her assessment was more sensational than factual. Mortgage-backed securities are quite complex instruments whereby loans are sliced, diced and packaged for sale to a global market.

With maturities extending 30 years into the future, it is unreasonable and unfair to assume that paybacks, even with high default rates will amount to what is currently priced into the market.

The lack of understanding of the underlying security or loans at the individual level has created uncertainty that has yet to be resolved.

For fans of the original "Star Wars" movie, think of the weakness in terms of attacking the Death Star. That one hole was exploited (we can debate the merits of doing so later) by Ms. Whitney and those like her.

Continue reading Next target for fear mongers: Credit cards

Next target for fear mongers: Credit cards originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Stock traders finally love the oil ticker

Closing Bell: Stock traders finally love the oil ticker originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

News that financial services giant Citigroup (NYSE: C) is selling shares of common stock to raise capital is disturbing. According to a report in Bloomberg: "The company announced plans to sell $3 billion of stock to increase capital depleted by writedowns on subprime-related mortgages and bonds."

To dilute investors even more is just plain "Chutzpah." Shareholders over the last year or so have already lost more than 50% on their City shares; there has got to be a better way for the company to increase capital. Instead of diluting investors why not try and unlock some value for shareholders? It's not like the company has no assets. It could spin off the credit cards division, separate domestic and global consumer banking, spin off the capital markets division, and so on. It could generate a lot more than a measly $3 billion, and actually make shareholders happy!

Commenting on the move, as reported by Bloomberg, "Super Analyst" Meredith Whitney, who basically has been correct each step of the way as the banking crisis has worsened, said, "The fact that the company raised such a small amount of capital at this time confounds us. We believe Citi needs to raise an additional $10-$15 billion or sell several hundreds of billions worth of assets in order to truly shore up its capital position.''

It's time for Citi to be broken up, so that investors can finally reap some rewards.

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 4/30/08

Hey Citi: Instead of diluting investors how about providing value? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TimesOnline reports that Meredith Whitney, a CIBC analyst, has received death threats. Whitney who is married to the former World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) champion Death Mask, downgraded Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) on Thursday -- citing its need to raise a $30 billion capital cushion. Her "underperform" rating of Citigroup helped send its shares down 7% -- leading her to receive several death threats from Citigroup investors.

Whitney married the wrestler Death Mask, also known as John Charles Layfield, 2½ years ago after they met on a TV set. Layfield credits Whitney with helping to make him more sophisticated -- he noted: "She took a country boy like me and kind of refined me. I know what fork to use now at the dinner table, and I drink my beer from a glass." This has not stopped the brave Whitney from earning rave reviews as an analyst -- Forbes ranked her second-best stock picker for 2007.

In a free society, people should be able to express their opinions without fear of bodily harm. For those Citigroup investors who don't like what she wrote, you should be happy that her downgrade may have helped push Citigroup's board to replace Chuck Prince. It remains to be seen whether Prince's replacement can do a better job of boosting its share price.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns Citigroup stock and has no financial interest in WWE.

Citigroup downgrade analyst, wife of WWE wrestler, gets death threats originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.