Observers are pointing to a number of factors that are causing yields to rise. Some market participants are viewing this development as an indicator that investors are beginning to price in more robust growth going into 2011. This would be a good thing. If this is in fact the case, a major stock market move could occur in very short order.

Continue reading Bonds to Bounce Back?

Bonds to Bounce Back? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is quite short, yet very important. For the first time, the Fed is conducting "Reverse repos."

Why is this so significant? For the past year the Fed has been doing "repos." A repo is when the Fed steps in and buys Treasury securities. The effect is to create a credit on bank balance sheets and consequently give them more lending power.

Continue reading Federal Reserve conducts 'reverse repos'

Federal Reserve conducts 'reverse repos' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Pequot Capital Management is coming to an end, closing the book on two decades of hedge fund history. Arthur Samberg, at one point the biggest hedge fund manager in the world, is closing the company as a result of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) insider trading investigation.

At its peak in 2001, Pequot had $15 million in assets under management. By November 2008, it was only $4.3 billion ... and $3.47 billion as of May 15, 2009, according to a regulatory filing.

Continue reading Insider trading probe to shut Pequot Capital Management

Insider trading probe to shut Pequot Capital Management originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 May 2009 08:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Disgruntled former Enron shareholders looking to recoup some of their losses have been dealt a major blow by the Supreme Court, which declined to review their lawsuit against the investment banks that helped Enron CFO Andrew Fastow enter into sham transactions designed to hide debt and inflate the company's profits.

The Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case is, frankly, insane. Major investment banks entered into deals with Enron that clearly served no economic purpose other than to inflate the company's financial statements.

For instance, some of the transactions involved things like selling a barge to a consortium of investors and then buying it back for more money during the next quarter. What could these sophisticated investment bankers possibly have thought was going on?

In effect, the investment banks served as maitre d's renting out hotel rooms in 15-minute slots to leggy blondes who signed with names like "Crystal Divinity" and men who signed "John Doe." And now they're trying to claim that they didn't know there was any kind of scheme.

These investment banks willingly helped Enron conspire to defraud investors, and now they're being shielded from civil liability for the scheme that they were an integral part of. That's wrong.

Supreme Court gives securities fraudsters a helping hand originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Smart money? University endowments see opportunity in sub-prime

Smart money? University endowments see opportunity in sub-prime originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Jun 2007 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dendreon

Option update 4-27-07: MSFT option implied volatility Collapses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This morning, Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) announced in an SEC Filing that it is commencing an offering of debt securities with 5, 10, and 30 year maturities. The net proceeds from the debt issuance will be used to repay a portion of its outstanding bank debt and for general corporate purposes.

Unfortunately, because the debt amounts are not specified and since these are unregistered, we probably won't really know how much was sold until the next quarter's results are out in July.

These debt sales are not for retail clients as they fall under the Rule 144A, which usually has $100,000 minimums and they are not required to be registered. These securities are actually the first security sales under filing for the cable entity since it became a separate entity from Time Warner, Inc. (NYSE: TWX).

The cable subsidiaries Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P. and TW NY Cable Holding Inc. are the listed guarantors of the debt securities.

Time Warner Cable's first independent securities sale originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.