Top 10 News Items 8/25-8/29: Oil/Nat Gas See Volatile Trading on Gustav Concerns; Fannie/Freddie Nearly Double; FDIC Banking Profile Shows Worst Quarter Since '91

August 29, 2008 2:50 PM EDT

StreetInsider.com Top 10 News Items of the Week August 25 - August 29. This is a recap of this week's major news on Wall Street.

1. After selling-off about $5 from as high as $119 on last Friday, crude oil started this week at around $114. As Tropical Storm Gustav approached the U.S. Gulf coast, and investors got word that the storm would likely become a hurricane over the weekend and hit land somewhere between south-east Texas and west Florida, with the heart of the storm likely around New Orleans, crude and natural gas prices began surging. Crude oil broke the $120 level, only to give back gains throughout the week and closed the week around $115. Natural gas rose more than 6% on Tuesday, but closed the week around $7.95.

2. Shares of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) had an excellent week on Wall Street as investors felt a renewed sense that the government would not need to bail out the GSE's. Additionally, Fannie Mae announced several management changes on Wednesday and investors may have viewed this as a way to shake-up management. Shares of Freddie nearly doubled, while Fannie rose about 60% from Monday to Thursday, but the stocks came back down about 9% to close the week on Friday.

3. The FDIC released its quarterly banking profile update on Tuesday. On an earnings basis, the report showed an industry gain of only $5 billion, the lowest quarter since 1991. At the same time, the FDIC increased its amount of problem banks from 90 in Q1 to 117 this quarter.

4. S&P/Case-Shiller Index for June showed annual declines of 15.9% for the 20-City Composite. However, the report noted that the acceleration in decline was only moderate from May, which showed annual declines of 15.8%. While the reported signaled that there is currently "no national turnaround in residential real estate prices, it is possible that we are seeing some regions struggling to come back, which has resulted in some moderation in price declines at the national level," as David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee said.

5. Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) reported Q2 EPS below the Street, but sales that were better than the Street estimate. The stock sunk more than 10% on the earnings shortfall and lower gross margins. Dell also warned that conservatism in IT spending is spreading to Western Europe and Asia.

6. Tuesday after the close, the FDA issued an alert on Amylin (Nasdaq: AMLN) and Eli Lilly's (NYSE: LLY) Byetta drug: an additional 4 deaths could be related to the drug. Shares of Amylin fell more than 25% on the news the next day. Notably, shares of Amylin were down more than 20% last week when the FDA initially reported reported 6 cases of pancreatits related to Byetta.

7. Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) reported strong Q2 earnings and raised its FY09 EPS guidance on Thursday morning. Shares have risen from $39.60 prior to the results to over $44.50 today, marking a 12% gain on the earnings.

8. J. Crew Group (NYSE: JCG) reported Q2 earnings Tuesday after the close. The company missed on both EPS and sales and also lowered its guidance for Q3 and FY09. The stock gapped 7% lower to start Wednesday's trading session, but over the last 3 trading sessions has taken back gains and the stock is now at the same level it was prior to the results.

9. On Tuesday of this week, Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) set a bearish tone for the entire restaurant sector when it issued Q1 and FY09 guidance that was below the Street estimates. The stock plunged more than 13% on the news, but has slightly gained since.

10. Ricoh Company offered IKON Office Solutions (NYSE: IKN) a 10% premium from the previous days close when it issued a $17.25 per share bid to buy the company. The deal is being valued at $1.6 billion.

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