Archives for September 2008

September 2008 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

Surprise Rejection of Bailout Deal Causes Record Decline in U.S. Stocks, Paves the Way for a Better Accord

By William Patalon III,Jennifer Yousfi and Jason Simpkins Money Morning Editors In a move that will reverberate from Wall Street to Main Street, the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday (Monday) voted to reject a compromise $700 billion banking-bailout bill, an act of stunning defiance that eradicated $1.2 trillion in shareholder wealth as U.S. stocks endured […]

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Although the Bailout Bill Was Rejected, It's No Time to Panic

By Martin HutchinsonContributing EditorMoney Morning Unless you’re the chairman of the George W. Bush Presidential Library hoping for one last truly memorable economic achievement that would guarantee some big donations – as well as eventual visitors – the failure of the $700 billion bailout yesterday (Monday) was no time to panic. Of course, the stock […]

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After Reloading With Wachovia's Banking Business, Citigroup Takes a New Aim at the U.S. Banking Market

By Jason Simpkins Associate Editor Citigroup Inc. (C) will acquire Wachovia Corp.’s  (WB) banking operations for $2.l6 billion, a deal that will restore Citi’s title as the biggest U.S. bank by assets while transforming the once-highly regarded Wachovia into an investment-management operation. In becoming the latest big U.S. bank to bolster its assets by rummaging […]

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Credit Crisis Update: Foreign Stocks Dive Monday on Trio of European Bank Bailouts

By Jennifer YousfiManaging Editor World markets plunged today (Monday) after several European governments had to step in and prop up three key banks as the confidence crisis that has hammered the U.S. financial markets finally jumped across Atlantic. The MSCI All-Country World Index of 48 nations lost as much as 4.5%, according to Bloomberg data, […]

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Congress Unveils Bailout Plan, but Will the Markets Respond?

By Jason Simpkins Associate Editor After some late-week political wrangling that also consumed most of the weekend, congressional leaders late yesterday (Sunday) announced their agreement to a detailed version of the long-awaited $700 billion bailout plan that analysts say is crucial to keep the U.S. economy out of a Depression-like downturn. The bill will be […]

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Buy, Sell or Hold: Suncor Energy Inc.

Q: Please tell me about Suncor Energy. Thank you.  Reader Joseph A. Kurtz. On July 21, when oil was trading at some $125 a barrel and in an apparent freefall, I issued a scaled "Buy" on Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX). I based this call on the stock's ultra-low valuation and the company's business model, which […]

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Since You Asked ... Here's How I Would've Fixed the Fiasco

I was speaking to a standing-room-only crowd at a North Carolina investing conference recently when a sharply worded question soared over the group from a gentleman seated in the back row – and who was clearly agitated by my analysis of the whole bailout-plan situation.

“How would you have handled it differently, Mr. Smarty-Pants?” he asked, in a challenging voice.

What I’m about to say is academic because – when it comes to the bailout plan – “Bernanke, Paulson & Co.” has already made up its mind.

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JPMorgan Chase Biggest U.S. Bank With Its Purchase of Failed WaMu

By Jennifer YousfiManaging Editor JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) became the largest U.S. bank, based on deposits, with its purchase of the most recent credit crisis casualty, Washington Mutual Inc. (WM)– the largest U.S. bank failure to date. The federal Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) shut down WaMu, as the thrift is popularly known, late […]

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Republican Opposition to Paulson's Bailout Plan Stalls Talks

By Jason Simpkins Associate Editor An insurrection among Republicans in the House of Representatives today (Friday) torpedoed any chance that the Bush administration’s planned $700 billion plan would pass expeditiously, as members of the House refused to back U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson’s measures and offered up their own plan to solve the credit crisis – […]

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