Archives for June 2009

June 2009 - Page 10 of 11 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

Mortgage Applications Slump but Housing Market Continues to Battle Back

By Don MillerAssociate EditorMoney Morning Mortgage applications plummeted last week as a surge in interest rates put the brakes on the mortgage-refinancing boom. The Mortgage Banker's Association yesterday (Wednesday) said that its seasonally adjusted index of applications fell 16% in the week ended May 29.  The industry group reported its gauge, which includes both purchases […]

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Four Ways to Profit From the Expected Surge in Commodity Prices

By Martin HutchinsonContributing EditorMoney Morning In normal recessions, commodities prices fall – and stay down for the count – as mines, farms and oil wells continue to expand production, even as demand is flattened by the economic malaise. Well, not this time around. And that figures to make commodities a profitable defensive investment. Indeed, we've […]

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Geithner Opens Up Debt Dialogue With China, but the Dollar Still May be Doomed

By Jason SimpkinsManaging EditorMoney Morning Two days of talks between U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Chinese officials culminated yesterday (Tuesday) with both parties reaffirming their confidence in the value of the dollar, and the viability of U.S. debt. Despite this public posturing, however, concerns remain about the dollar's near-term strength. And given the […]

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Investment News Briefs

With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world. Reports Point to Housing Market Bottom; Big Three Automakers Beat Estimates; Microsoft Will Unveil New Operating System in Time for XMAS; Dallas Fed President: Economy 'Getting Less Worse'; European Jobless […]

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Big Banks Forced to Raise Private Capital Under New Fed Rules

By Don MillerAssociate EditorMoney Morning Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and American Express Co. (NYSE:AXP) unexpectedly announced plans to raise at least $7.7 billion in new capital after the U.S. Federal Reserve imposed new rules requiring large banks to prove they can raise capital in the public equity markets […]

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GM Sells Hummer to Private Chinese Company

By Bob BlandeburgoAssociate EditorMoney Morning General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) has sold its troubled Hummer division to privately held, China-based Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The sale will save roughly 3,000 jobs in the United States, including those at 153 domestic dealerships. "If you think about the […]

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Microsoft/Google Competition Heats Up With Launch of Bing Search Engine

By Bob Blandeburgo Associate Editor Money Morning Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq: MSFT) much-ballyhooed "Google Killer" – a powerful new search engine called Bing – was formally unveiled to the public Monday, two days before its scheduled debut. Bing was originally supposed to have debuted today (Wednesday). Bing will represent Microsoft's third attempt at developing a go-to […]

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Five Wall Street Whoppers And Why You Need To Know Them

By Keith Fitz-GeraldInvestment DirectorMoney Morning/The Money Map Report If you're like many investors, you are probably sitting on the sidelines right now, unsure of what to do. If you want to buy, you may be thinking "let's wait a little longer." If you want to sell, you might be concerned about "missing out." Either way […]

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The Newest Ruse: Banks Capitalizing on “Toxic Assets” to Book Puffed-Up Profits

Remember the infamous leaked Vikram S. Pandit memo we wrote to you about awhile back that suddenly saw Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) turn a profit on nothing more than vapors?

Stay tuned: We're about to see more of these puffed-up profits. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and PNC Financial Services Inc. (NYSE: PNC) will reportedly be booking as much as $56 billion in windfall profits using similar financial chicanery in the months ahead.

Sadly, millions of investors will likely interpret this as a sign that the U.S. financial sector is once again a viable "profit" play – when the reality is that Wall Street hasn't learned a single darned thing from the financial crisis and is up to its old tricks once again.

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U.S. Bankrolls GM Bankruptcy With $50 Billion Taxpayer Investment

By Don MillerAssociate EditorMoney Morning General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), humbled by competition and battered by a withering recession, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday (Monday), where it will tap $50 billion in U.S. government financing to launch itself as a new company. Once seen as the face of American economic might and industrial […]

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