Strong earnings (subscription required) from Research In Motion (RIMM) after the close yesterday and news that Merrill Lynch (MER) is in discussions with Singapore for a $5 billion investment (subscription required) provided the excuse today for the much anticipated Santa Claus Rally:…
A lot of important earnings news affecting the market today: Oracle (ORCL), Nike (NKE), Bear Stearns (BSC), Federal Express (FDX) and Winnebago (WGO). ***** Everybody pretty much knew Bear was going to report an ugly quarter and they in fact…
Before the open this morning, Morgan Stanley (MS) announced fiscal year 4th quarter earnings, which included a $9.4 billion writedown related to mortgage backed securities. This resulted in a loss of $3.6 billion in the quarter or $3.61 a share! …
It’s been another interesting and volatile day in the stock market. Goldman Sachs (GS) and Best Buy (BBY) both posted strong earnings before the open and the market gapped up 10 points. But investors sold the gap up and the S&P…
BeSpoke Investment Group put up an interesting post, with fabulous charts as usual, this morning on sector relative performance over the last year. They also included red dots to indicate the four rate cuts (Aug 17, Sept 18, Oct 31,…
After the close yesterday, Citigroup announced that it will provide a support facility for its Structured Investment Vehicles (SIVs), off balance sheet investment vehicles, which will result in its consolidating their assets and liabilities onto its own balance sheet (C…
The last thing of any real interest to me on the calendar for this year are investment bank earnings, which were kicked off today when Lehman Brothers (LEH) reported fiscal year 4th quarter earnings (LEH FY 4Q Earnings Release). Goldman,…
The zig and zags of the last two trading days are just incredible. (1) The market was generally strong heading into the Fed decision after which (2) it crashed. (3) It was up big at the open this morning on the Fed’s Term…
Have you ever done this: You’re in a relationship with a beautiful girl. She’s so pretty. You’re so attracted to her. And you love showing her off when you go out. You feel like such a stud for having such…
This is getting a little ridiculous. Apparently the Fed was not happy with the market reaction to its overture yesterday and so it has come back with a little more this morning. The Fed has announced a new Term Auction…