Jefferies (JEF) Can't Get Off its Back Despite Reassurances

November 17, 2011 12:48 PM EST
Shares of Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) are trading at new 52-week low levels Thursday as fears continue to surround the investment bank with inaccurate comparisons to defunct MF Global (OTC: MFGLQ) dominating markets.

The downdraft comes despite unprecedented disclosure from the company about its European debt exposure and reassurance from the CEO Richard Handler that the aggressive sell-off in its stock and debt will ease.

"It is not surprising that our bonds are under pressure after the assault on our company over the past two weeks," Handler said in an e-mail statement as noted by Bloomberg. "Some bond investors sell first and ask questions later. We expect the market to return to normal pricing once we move beyond the ripple effect of the inaccuracies others have recently disseminated and once investors digest all the information."

Despite questions about its short-term funding needs, Handler said they have no need to access the debt markets at this time.

Jefferies said it has more than $2 billion in cash and another $2 billion of available lines of credit.

Despite all the reassurances the fears mongering remains. Shares of Jefferies last traded down 7 percent to $9.60 in mid-day action.


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