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in focus posts

Before the bell: Investors cautious amid earnings bonanza

Posted Oct 21st 2009 7:21AM by David Schepp (RSS feed)

Stocks are poised to head lower as investors continue to digest news out Tuesday about the nation's flagging housing market. While in recent months optimism had crept into builder stocks in anticipation of recovery, a report from the Commerce Department showed new-home construction flat last month.

The news sent the three major U.S. stock indexes lower in trading yesterday, and futures this morning show the Nasdaq Composite Index and the S&P 500 each lower by a half percent, along with the Dow Jones industrial average, which could be trading back under the 10,000 level.

Continue reading Before the bell: Investors cautious amid earnings bonanza

Portfolio Alert: Watch out for a Fed ease-up on Treasury buying

Posted Sep 4th 2009 5:00PM by John Jagerson (RSS feed)
Filed under: Federal Reserve

The most recent data released from the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meetings show that the Fed remains relatively positive, albeit cautious, about an economic recovery in the U.S. This means that the Fed can start planning to wind down some of its debt buying programs including the its current program to purchase $300 billion in Treasury debt.

While the data was just released on Wednesday, the meetings actually took place on August 11th and 12th. But the results still merit scrutiny, especially for investors who may wonder what this could mean for their portfolios. Let's take a look.

Continue reading Portfolio Alert: Watch out for a Fed ease-up on Treasury buying

U.S. government sitting on $11 billion profit from Citigroup stake

Posted Aug 24th 2009 8:20AM by Zac Bissonnette (RSS feed)
Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C)

The Financial Times reports that the U.S. government "is sitting on a paper profit of almost $11bn on its 34 percent shareholding in Citigroup (NYSE: C), its only direct stake in a large financial institution."

How'd that happen? The Treasury Department converted $25 billion worth of preferred stock into common equity at the end of July. Over the past four weeks, shares of Citi are up a mind-blowing 70%.

Continue reading U.S. government sitting on $11 billion profit from Citigroup stake