Funds

Beneficiarse del Crecimiento Brasileño, con BNY Mellon Brazil Equity Fund

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:52:54 -0500

De las economías latinoamericanas, Brasil es sin duda la que ha mostrado un crecimiento más acelerado en los últimos años. El grado de confianza que en el país tienen los inversores extranjeros es un claro síntoma de que esta situación...[+]

The Price of TARP's Success

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:35:24 -0500

Tom Lindmark submits:

Brad Schaeffer, a conservative energy company executive, makes perhaps the most reasonable defense of TARP that I have seen. He compares the banking crisis to the fall of Enron and the panic that ensued in energy markets at that time and concludes that a private solution such as the one that rescued energy wouldn’t have worked with the financial services industry.

His argument is essentially a pragmatic one, that there existed no solution that was feasible without the use of the government’s balance sheet. He suggests that the alternative of letting the chips fall where they might have would have carried the seeds of potential disaster:

Complete Story »

MasterCard Swaps $2 Billion Credit Facility

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:35:20 -0500

Zacks.com submits:

This week, MasterCard Inc. (MA) entered into a new three-year credit facility worth $2.75 billion, thus replacing a prior $2.0 billion credit facility that was supposed to expire in April 2011. The new credit facility will expire on November 22, 2013. While the majority of credit facility lenders are customers or affiliates of customers of MasterCard International, the terms of the agreement remain undisclosed.

In April 2008, MasterCard’s unsecured revolving credit facility had been extended to April 2011. This facility, which had been initiated in April 2006, has now been replaced by the new one, with a revised expiration date of November 2013. The available funding under the previous credit facility was worth $2.5 billion through April

Buffett's Letter to Uncle Sam Disguises Real Reasons for Gratitude

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:35:17 -0500

Madhusudan Rao submits:

It comes as no surprise to me that Warren Buffett sent a Thank You note on November 16th to Uncle Sam. Unfortunately, his “Thank You” note seems to indicate that Uncle Sam actually bailed out the American Economy and not Warren Buffett’s investments. Mr. Buffett suggests that a lack of intervention would have brought the whole US Economy to a standstill. Sure, a lot of companies would have suffered and many Americans would have lost jobs. But the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) shareholders would have lost a lot too. And Buffett, rightly so, has acted in the best interests of the shareholders in thanking Uncle Sam for this benevolence, although he has disguised the real reasons. It is not just Berkshire Hathaway as a holding company that would have suffered, It is also the derivative contracts that would have caused a lot of losses. And these l

Janus Faces Insider Trading Probe

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:35:15 -0500

Zacks.com submits:

Janus Capital Group Inc. (JNS) has hogged the headlines for the wrong reason. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company has revealed that it has received an enquiry from the authorities in an insider trading investigation on Wall Street. While Janus has expressed willingness to fully cooperate with the SEC, it declined to provide any further details on the enquiry.

Insider trading is the trading of a corporation's stock or other securities, such as bonds or stock options, by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company. It refers to a practice in which an insider or a related party trades based on material non-public information obtained during the performance of the i

FDIC's Problem Bank List Increases to 860 Names

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:35:12 -0500

Zacks.com submits:

The number of banks on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) list of problem institutions in the third quarter grew to 860 from 829 in the previous quarter and 552 in the year-ago quarter, the organization said on Tuesday. This is the highest since the savings and loan crisis in the early 1990s.

Banks that feature on the problem list are most likely to fail, though some may survive and pull out of the crisis. As of now, only less than a quarter of banks on FDIC's problem list have actually failed. This ratio, however, is likely to change. While the list is increasing gradually, bank failures are snowballing.

Complete Story »

Upgrades / Downgrades: U.S. Regional Banks

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:35:12 -0500

Alacra Pulse Check Blog submits:

by Angus Robertson

The number of US banks on the FDIC’s Problem Banks list has grown to from 829 to 860, a fact reflected in recent analyst activity. There were 14 downgrades of regional banks by analysts tracked by Alacra Pulse in the last 30 days, exceeding the 9 upgrades during the same period. Of these banks, 6 have a positive rating , 2 are negative and the remaining 15 are neutral.

Complete Story »

Mutual Funds Touched by Insider Trading Probe

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:19:04 -0500

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The mutual fund business does not currently appear to be the focus of the government's investigation into insider trading, but that doesn't mean the $10 trillion industry won't be dealing with the fallout.

The investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is looking at whether third-party consultants called "expert networks" were passing nonpublic information to investment managers. The use of such information is considered a violation of the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, the primary law governing mutual funds.

"At this point it's very hard to say it's an active compliance issue for mutual funds," says Barry Barbash, a partner the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher and a former director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's investment management division. "But it will mean even more pressure on compliance, which has already been ratcheted up."

...

Click to view a price q

Number of Problem Banks Rises: What About Those Not on the List?

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:30:42 -0500

John M. Mason submits:

The number of problem banks, as listed by the FDIC, continued to rise in the third quarter of 2010. The number went from 829 at the end of the second quarter to 860 in the third quarter.

Forty-one banks failed in the third quarter, an average of about 3.2 banks per week. A total of 149 banks have been closed through the first three quarters of 2010, an average of 3.8 per week. Thus, the pace of bank closings has been relatively steady throughout the year, somewhere between 3 and 4 banks per week.

Complete Story »

Existing Home Sales and Housing: A Long Way From Normalcy

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:30:41 -0500

GC Mays submits:

The National Association of Realtors reported today that sales of existing homes slumped in October after rising in consecutive months. Existing home sales declined by 2.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million units. This is 25.9% below the 5.98 million units sold a year ago. Median home prices declined 0.9% from October 2009 to $170,500.

Higher Underwriting Standards

Complete Story »

Big Increase in Commercial Property Values: Don't Be Fooled

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:30:40 -0500

Brad Case submits:

The Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Index (CPPI) for September, released on 11/22, showed the largest monthly gain in the history of the index (back to January 2001) at 4.3%. That's misleading, though, because the small number of transactions gives a lot of turbulence to each month's reading. As Moody's noted,

The relatively large swings in the index in recent months are due in part to the uncertain macroeconomic environment and the low number of repeat-sale transactions.

Complete Story »

FDIC, JPM Willing to Blame Each Other for WaMu Mess

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:30:37 -0500

Karl Denninger submits:

Now we're starting to get into some interesting parts of the legal world, as the FDIC and J.P. Morgan (JPM) are pointing fingers at each other for WaMu's failure. As The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required):

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. traded barbs again this week over which entity should have to face a lawsuit over mortgage-backed securities owned by failed Washington Mutual Corp.

Complete Story »

Investment Guru Discusses Thesis for Owning Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:30:35 -0500

Arjun Rudra submits:

Today we are continuing on with Part 2 of our interview with Bruce Campbell of Campbell & Lee Investment Management. With the financial sector making up 28.95% of the S&P/TSX Composite, in the ensuing interview, you’ll find out Bruce’s thesis for owning CIBC also known as the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM).

Biography: Bruce Campbell is a widely respected professional money manager with over 35 years of experience in the investment industry. Bruce was a senior vice president with Royal Trust, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Royal

How to Restructure PIIGS Debt: A Modest Proposal

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:30:34 -0500

Sudden Debt submits: With Ireland in political turmoil over its application to receive bailout funds, it is becoming obvious that we are getting caught between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, markets (a euphemism for the unholy alliance of public pension money and the private money of the ultra-rich) are no longer willing to roll over the existing debt of the over-indebted, never mind increasing their exposure, at anything approaching reasonable interest rates. On the other, austerity programs attached to bailouts are causing high unemployment, pay and benefit cuts, tax increases and service cuts. How long can this go on before things get seriously crushed, resulting in one or more massive unplanned defaults by sovereign borrowers, or massive social upheavals -- or both? It is my opinion that time is running out. A solution must be found, and the sooner the better.

Let's lay

Bank of Ireland's New Shareholder: You?

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:30:34 -0500

Ian Wyatt submits:

The Bank of Ireland (IRE) is about to have a new majority shareholder. Ireland's government is expected to raise its stake in the Bank of Ireland from 36% to something constituting a majority. The Irish government is also expected to raise its stake in Allied Irish Bank (AIB) to, potentially, 99%.

If this sounds like Ireland is taking a page from the U.S. bank bailout strategy you're right. When you're facing the potential of a run on the banking system, the government is essentially the last entity that can step in and provide a backstop. I know many of you cringe at the thought of gove