The board of directors of Citigroup Inc. (C) will meet today to look at beleaguered banking giant’s options after its shares hit a 15-year low, and speculation is escalating that it will have to look at a break-up, spin-off or sale of at least part of the bank.
Embattled U.S. banking giant Citigroup Inc. (C) has agreed to buy back $17.4 billion of assets remaining in a series of funds known as structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, after it previously agreed to guarantee the liabilities in those funds.
The Treasury’s plan to inject $250 billion in capital directly into US banks is underway. But William Patalon III says some of these taxpayer funds will be used by big banks to acquire junior competitors. This means the increase in lending that the plan is supposed to spark will be modest at best. And less competition in the banking sector could mean a rise in fees going forward.
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The government of Iceland (yesterday) Tuesday pegged its currency to a basket of foreign currencies, nationalized its second-largest bank, and pleaded with Russia for a $5.4 billion loan - all in a desperate attempt to prop up the island nation’s ailing economy.
Clean energy ETFs became hugely popular in 2007. But they’ve been taking a beating since this August, when crude oil prices began to fall from their year highs.
Nevertheless, Jim Stanton says alternative energy — and the wind-energy market in particular — has a big future. Wind energy is already the second largest source of new power generation in the US, and it now has the backing of the much-hyped Pickens Plan.
Jim says two clean-energy ETFs that look undervalued right now are PBW and GEX. He also recommends FAN for a more wind-specific ETF.
Lots of kids jump off of cliffs every day, simply because all the other kids are doing it. We call these cliff-jumpers, “portfolio managers.”Every single trading day, the nation’s portfolio managers leap from the precipice of prudence into the abyss of group-think and “closet indexing.” They leap because everyone else is leaping.
Even the most savvy investors have been stung by this year’s equity meltdown. Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A, BRK.B), is down 24% from its peak in December 2007.
Alexander Green says BRK’s drop creates an outstanding buying opportunity. Buffett has an unrivaled track record as an investor. He has always followed a disciplined value-based strategy. And this still holds true today.
BRK.B shares are trading at $3,860, down from a 52-week high of $5,059. This makes them a no-brainer buy right now.
In what could prove to be the biggest federal bailout in U.S. history, the federal government will take control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) . The bailout is the government’s latest attempt to blunt a credit crisis that has spawned more than $500 billion in losses, says Jennifer Yousfi in Money Morning…
Can it be earnings season already? It sure is, but don’t expect too much. With its report tomorrow (Tuesday), Alcoa Inc. (AA) leads off what is expected to be a pretty dismal series of profit reports.