Forgive me if I stray slightly, but I could not help thinking about how ironic it would be if someone leaked information as to the whereabouts of Wikileaks founder and "fearless leader" Julian Assange -- who is in hiding!

It would be even more ironic if a CIA operative who had his cover blown by Wikileaks decides what goes around comes around. Let's face it, in its own way Wikileaks has become a rogue nation, so why wouldn't the CIA get involved?

In the mean time, this has probably helped world markets as it has overtaken everything else as the big story of the past 48 hours. In a bizarre way, Assange may have achieved one of his goals by bringing the world closer together, sort of.

Continue reading Serious Money: Does BAC Have Anything to Fear from Wikileaks?

Serious Money: Does BAC Have Anything to Fear from Wikileaks? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Banks could face another mortgage crisis, according to Barron's, if they are forced to buy back subprime, Alt-A and options adjusted home mortgage securities they've sold prior to the financial crisis, mostly as mortgage-backed securities. Already some buyers, like Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC), have enjoyed some success returning defective mortgages. And this could be just the beginning.

The banks, of course, are fighting vigorously to fend off these demands. As usual, the courts will have to settle the matter. The focus of the debate seems to be founded on the issue of representations and warranties that may or may not have been violated.

There are no surprises among the 11 banks mentioned. It is the conspicuous absence of names you might expect to find that is.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Banks, Barron's and Buffett

Chasing Value: Banks, Barron's and Buffett originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares of Goldman Sachs Group (GS) have been struggling lately, with the stock underperforming the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by roughly 15 percentage points during the past 40 sessions. The equity's swoon has been highlighted by resistance from its 10-day and 32-day moving averages; this trendline duo hasn't been toppled on a daily closing basis since April 16.

However, with GS testing support in the $135 region, one options player decided to pull the trigger on a bullish spread. On Wednesday, the speculator constructed a long call spread by buying to open 1,500 contracts of the stock's July 150 call, and simultaneously selling 1,500 contracts of GS' July 160 call. The spread was initiated for a net debit of $2.04, which is the trader's maximum potential loss on the strategy.

Continue reading Spread Player Bets on a Rebound for Goldman Sachs

Spread Player Bets on a Rebound for Goldman Sachs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Goldman Sachs Group (GS) was targeted by a bearish options trader on Wednesday, with the speculator initiating a synthetic short position on the banking behemoth.

Specifically, the trader simultaneously sold to open 1,200 contracts of Goldman's June 145 call, and bought to open 1,200 contracts of the June 145 put. By so doing, the options player has effectively mimicked the risk/reward profile of a short sale.

Continue reading Option Bear Synthetically Shorts Goldman Sachs

Option Bear Synthetically Shorts Goldman Sachs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 May 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading How Much Further Can Goldman Sachs Drop?

How Much Further Can Goldman Sachs Drop? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 May 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Goldman Sachs Shares Dirt Cheap

Serious Money: Goldman Sachs Shares Dirt Cheap originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Goldman Sachs Fraud Charge Creates Opportunity

Chasing Value: Goldman Sachs Fraud Charge Creates Opportunity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Catastrophe bond capacity is maturing, and not much of it is coming back. In the first quarter, $1.8 billion in cat bond risk capital matured, and only $508 million returned in the form of new issuances, according to Thomson Reuters. This quarter, $2.77 billion is maturing, and the absence of first-time issuers makes it unlikely that the market will replace it all. More than a billion of it was from State Farm's Merna Re transaction. The successor to it has already been issued, cleverly named Merna Re II, at only a fraction of the previous bond.

Continue reading Catastrophe Bond Issuance Gap Is upon Us

Catastrophe Bond Issuance Gap Is upon Us originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading AIG Derivative Exit Costs $2 Billion

AIG Derivative Exit Costs $2 Billion originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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.

Nine catastrophe bonds have matured so far in the first quarter of 2010, removing $1.8 billion in risk-transfer capacity, according to data from Reuters. The insurance industry has compensated with $508 million in new cat bond risk capital, with the busy fourth quarter helping to absorb what is maturing now. Only one cat bond has closed so far this year, The Hartford's (HIG) $180 million Foundation Re III. But, the first quarter is usually a quiet one for the cat bond market.

It partly replaces the $105 million in protection that Foundation Re D afforded. Swiss Re (SWCEY) and SCOR (SCRYY) are also among the insurance companies with bonds maturing that have at least partial coverage from new cat bond issuances. Another four bonds have matured, however, with no new related issuance, affecting Munich Re (MURGY), AXA (AXA) and others.

Continue reading Cat Bond Market Shift Favors Goldman Sachs

Cat Bond Market Shift Favors Goldman Sachs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) wanted a piece of what could be the most interesting insurance IPO of the year, but it won't get a taste.

American International Group's (AIG) Asian life insurance unit, American International Association, is going to go public in Hong Kong for an estimated $10 billion, and JPMorgan isn't being allowed to play, insiders say, because of a sour relationship that stretches back to the September 2008 financial crisis. As a result, it will be the only major investment bank not being admitted to the party.

Continue reading AIG Skips JPMorgan for Asian IPO

AIG Skips JPMorgan for Asian IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Did the Federal Reserve gag American International Group (AIG)? Emails first reported by Bloomberg News show that the insurer wanted to disclose information about the payments it made to such banks as Goldman Sachs (GS) and Deutsche Bank (DB) to cancel some financial deals. But, lawyers for the New York Fed, which was led by Timothy Geithner at the time, told AIG to pull that information out of a report it was going to issue.

The AIG bailout is being questioned by watchdogs, which accuse the Fed of doling out billions of dollars to banks that weren't necessary -- especially now that big bonuses are piling on.

Continue reading NY Fed Told AIG to Limit Disclosure of Bank Payments

NY Fed Told AIG to Limit Disclosure of Bank Payments originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The end of a year means a rush of data from the insurance and reinsurance industries, as treaties are renewed for the coming year. Catastrophe bonds are a part of this annual orgy of data production, as a flurry of activity occurs in December, with the industry's commitment to this form of alternative property-catastrophe risk-transfer setting the tone for the year to come. The cat bond market isn't big enough to push reinsurance rates, but you can generally get a sense of what the coming year will look like for cat bonds based on pricing for traditional reinsurance.

Continue reading Catastrophe Bond Market Hits Target, Records Possible in 2010

Catastrophe Bond Market Hits Target, Records Possible in 2010 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Look, 2009 was a "flush" year. Market rallies were constrained by the low baseline set at the end of 2008, unemployment was high and caution defined nearly every corporate decision. The travel market sucked. The art market sucked. The financial industry labored on with the support of taxpayer money while 140 banks were forced to call it quits. So, we turn to the new year, as yet undefined, for excitement of the type we want ... and it seems likely to deliver. As Nero played from the rooftops, the social media industry inched forward to the climax we hope to see this year -- the initial public offering.

The action hasn't really begun, and the signals emitted are open to various interpretations. Nonetheless, Facebook's new dual-class stock structure is hard to miss, as it would protect the influence of early entrants to the company -- either as investors or options-compensated employees in the event that the 350 million-strong social networking site brings ownership opportunities to the public.

Continue reading Social IPO? Hype Accumulates for 2010 Offerings

Social IPO? Hype Accumulates for 2010 Offerings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Insurance companies just bought themselves a year. Claiming that a proposed tax on health insurance would force them to charge higher premiums, carriers were able to convince senators to defer this particular measure for a year.

This comes as a benefit to UnitedHealth Group (UNH), WellPoint (WLP) and smaller companies writing health insurance policies. Manufacturers of medical devices have won some relief, as well, though the drug business didn't. An earlier plan to tax cosmetic medical procedures was also scrapped.

Continue reading Health Insurers Get Brief Relief on Proposed Tax

Health Insurers Get Brief Relief on Proposed Tax originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Nobody expected bonus season to be comfortable, even with the financial crisis more than a year in the rear-view mirror. Yet, Goldman Sachs (GS) is getting sued over its compensation package, under which key executives are only compensated in long-term stock. In the latest development, John Mack, CEO of Morgan Stanley (MS), is skipping his bonus for the third year in a row, according to Reuters.

Mack isn't the first banking CEO to go sans bonus this year. Kenneth Lewis, top dog over at Bank of America (BAC) is getting neither a salary nor a bonus for 2009. Both plan to step down at the end of the year, though Mack will stick around Morgan Stanley as chairman. The last time Mack got a bonus was in 2006: he picked up $36.2 million in restricted shares.

Continue reading Morgan Stanley's CEO skips bonus -- again

Morgan Stanley's CEO skips bonus -- again originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Look for a LinkedIn IPO, but not in the near future. Company co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman has revealed his (and his investors') exit strategy, even if it could take a while to get there. Any social media company IPO would take a while to get off the ground in this market, since companies are being incredibly cautious. So, "not anytime soon" could coincide with a change in market conditions ... but Hoffman stopped well short of that.

At an event in London to celebrate LinkedIn's hitting the 3 million user mark in Britain, Hoffman said about the company's IPO prospects, "Probably at some point a balance will occur when that's the right thing. That will not occur in the near term." Worldwide, LinkedIn has 53 million members.

Continue reading Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)

Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There's a chill in the air and a slight up-tick in confidence. Holiday discounts are coming a bit earlier, too. For retailers, this has been a great combination, leading to the second consecutive month in which retail sales increased.

This follows more than a year of drops. Consumers aren't going crazy, but they are loosening their wallets a little bit. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the U.S. economy, and the coming holiday season is where the action is -- for the retail sector and, consequently, for everyone else.

Continue reading Retail sales: Signs of life, but not yet a rising tide

Retail sales: Signs of life, but not yet a rising tide originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.