Merrill Lynch
Is a Bad Bank a Good Thing?
Stocks rallied strongly yesterday on the buzz that the Obama administration would soon announce a “bad bank” structure as the latest effort to put an end to the banking and credit crisis. Financial stocks soared with many bank stocks blasting higher by 30% or more and the major indices cut through their respective 10-day moving averages like a hot knife through butter. The action pushed the Dow to a gain of +2.46% while the rest of the major indices all enjoyed gains of +3.4% or more.
If you will recall, the original idea of the TARP was to buy up the toxic assets from banks so as to get them off bank balance sheets. The thinking was that banks would undoubtedly start lending money again if they didn’t have to worry about plunging values and illiquid assets. So, the plan was to get ...
Trimble (Nasdaq: TRMB) 10.4% LOWER; revises its Q4 sales guidance to a range of $268-$269 million, versus the consensus of $313.16 million. EPS for the quarter move to $0.22-$0.24, versus the Street estimate of $0.33.
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) 6% LOWER; famed CEO Steve Jobs announced that he will be taking a medical leave of absence until June as his health concerns are much ...
Here’s a link to listen to an Audio Version of the report:
http://PlayAudioMessage.com/play.asp?m=531272&f=NBVWMM&ps=13&c=FFFFFF&pm=2&h=25
Adjective Overload
As I sit here this morning attempting to find the right words to describe the events of yesterday, I find myself experiencing an overload of adjectives. Embarrassing, dumb, disgusting, naïve, mind boggling, disappointing, moronic, and frustrating are some of the first words to come to mind when thinking about the House of Representatives ‘just saying no’ the Paulson Plan.
In short, the USofA looked foolish yesterday as political grandstanding and partisan politicking by lawmakers up for reelection took the place of service to country. It would be very easy for me to go on for pages about the stupidity of the decisions made by some of our elected officials, who are supposedly elected to act on their constituents’ behalf. I could spend a great deal of time yammering on about how some politicians simply embarrassed ...
StreetInsider.com Notable Analyst Rating Changes:
UPGRADES:
Goldman Sachs upgrades Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) from Neutral to Buy.
Goldman Sachs upgrades Comp Vale Do Rio (NYSE: RIO) from Neutral to Buy with a $42 price target, citing valuation and expectations the company will outperform peers.
Keefe, Bruyette, and Woods ...
