Brokerage Firm

The Treasury announced they will begin to inject capital (money) into banks, under terms created under the bailout bill.  This article will try to walk through, in English, what this all means. (…)

Quick history lesson: Mark-to-the-Market was a practice originally begun by futures and commodity traders in the 19th century.  Essentially, mark-to-the-market means your holdings must be "priced" every night…at the price they can be sold at. (…)

That was the headline I found over at CBS Marketwatch.  As usual, the news media is whipping (anyone who will read) into a frenzy about Lehman Brothers.  More news may be forthcoming about Lehman — between the time I finish writing this and the time you read this. (…)

Pretty sad story reported recently…but sad, as in pathetic. (…)

In one of my most recent posts I discussed the "ready to explode" product issued by brokerage firms called "auction rate preferred securities."
Well, that didn't take long. (…)

Sometimes, trying to get your arms around a gigantic number (for example, the area of earth covered by land) just takes time. (…)

"Mr. Valentine has set the price!"
Or, in this case Mr. Bernanke sets the price. (…)

You may not have heard of the term "auction rate preferred securities."
Yet.
If you have not, you probably will soon. (…)

The line heard in every economic recession, and every single stock market pullback is: this time it's different. (…)

Another theme I'm surprised hasn't been discussed more often will be more foreign firms trying to make acquisitions of US-based companies in the next few years. (…)

In the coming months and years, you will hear more publicly traded companies than ever before discussing the idea of GOING PRIVATE.  Even with the mortgage mess, there is STILL access to capital. (…)

 Looking at relative strength changes really helps to drive home underlying themes in the market. (…)

Oh boy, these kinds of headlines are never good.
Two former Bear Stearns portfolio managers were arrested this week, not because they did a poor job of managing money. (…)

In just the last month, assets in exchange traded funds increased $17 billion. Total assets in ETF's now total over $600 billion, according to State Street Global Advisors of Boston. (…)

Do you remember the television program, "Who wants to be a Millionaire"?The show was actually featured in a terrific book "The Wisdom of Crowds" by James Suriowiecki. (…)

There was an article distributed nationwide, written by the Associated Press, and carried locally in the Asbury Park Press on March 22, 2008. (…)

All these firms hold the same investments.
There is STILL considerable risk in the group.
Why did this happen to just Bear Stearns? (…)

UPDATE: Sunday evening, 03/16/2008: Bear Stearns to be acquired by JPMorgan Chase for $2.00 in stock swap deal.
That is NOT a typo!
The stock closed at $30 on Friday. On Thursday, it was $57.00. (…)

The news surrounding Bear Stearns on Friday morning was not good! There are several important elements to this story. (…)

Most Wall Street recommendations to buy are based on projected future revenues and/or projected future earnings. Projected. Or you could say, "predicted". (…)