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FBR Capital Downgrades HBC To Market Perform
Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 8:28am | 42Analysts at FBR Capital downgrade HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) from "outperform" to "market perform." HBC’s shares gained 2.48% to close at $52.97 yesterday. More Analyst Ratings here
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Bank on Texas with Texas Capital Bancshares (TCBI)
Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 6:30am | 557The black cloud hanging over the financial services sector for much of the past two years is beginning to evaporate. Financial stocks rallied recently, and wise investors are giving the sector a fresh look. We’ve discussed the financial sector at length, noting that successful stock-picking in...
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Greece Says it Might Have to Go to the IMF
Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 5:01am | 607G10 Advancers and Decliners vs USD JPY -0.05 GBP -0.43 CHF -0.54 EUR -0.79 • According to media reports a Greek officals stated that Greece might seek IMF aid over Easter since they are not hopeful of aid at March 25 EU Summit. • Japan MoF Nakao states that the would...
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Strategists Warn About The Financial Sector As The Financial ETF Sets A New 52-Week High
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 6:49pm | 2087The rally in the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) on Wednesday means the exchange-traded fund has more than doubled in value from a year ago. The ETF set a new 52-week high of $15.97 a share on Wednesday. One year ago on March 17, 2009, the fund touched a session low of $7.87, according to...
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Whitney Says Banks Are Broken
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 6:05pm | 184On CNBC's Worldwide Exchange, Meredith Whitney discussed her view of the banking sector. Whitney is famous for forecasting the banking crisis in 2007 and the insolvency of numerous investment firms. Whitney doesn't believe that" there's much the Fed can do to get banks to start lending again....
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Paulson & Co. Holding 42 Million Shares Of Anglogold Ashanti (AU)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 3:06pm | 132As of Q4 2009, John Paulson's hedge fund, Paulson & Co. was holding nearly 43 million shares of AngloGold Ashanti Limited (NYSE: AU). At $38.87 per share, this position amounts to around $1.8 billion. During the last 6 months, AU stock is down 11.66%. Mr. Paulson, however, is not one to bet...
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Wells Fargo's Large Put Trade
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 11:16am | 186Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) has been steadily moving higher over the past month and is now approaching its 52-week high of $31.53 (WFC is currently trading $30.43, up 0.495 on the day). Most analysts are bullish on the name and so am I; if housing comes back even a little, Wells Fargo should benefit...
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Senator Dodd’s Newly Proposed Bill Will Hurt Financial ETFs
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 1:10pm | 2088“Although the future of reform legislation remains unclear, a recent bill proposed by Senator Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) could potentially hinder the financial sector and its exchange traded funds,” Kevin Grewal Reports From The Street. Grewal goes on to say, “This new proposed reform, which is...
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Citibank Ups Its Stake In Banco De Chile (C, BCH)
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 1:01pm | 154Citibank (NYSE: C) has increased its stake in Banco De Chile (NYSE: BCH). Citibank (C) now owns a 50% share of the Chilean Bank’s holding company. The American bank has injected more than $1 billion in last two months to increase its share from 32.96%. Currently, Citi indirectly holds a 30% share...
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Exploring New Strategy Ideas and Potential New Long and Short Ideas for the Week
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 10:33am | 1653Follow this link for a pdf of this report: Ascendere Equity Strategy, Long and Short Ideas, March 12, 2010. Track weekly long/short focus list ideas here. Time permitting, we have decided on a weekly basis to share some general equity strategy themes we are working on and updated long and short...
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Banks in CrossHairs of Financial Regulation Bill
Monday, March 15, 2010 - 3:55pm | 192The financial sector (XLF) dropped lower Monday after the unveiling of Senator Chris Dodd's financial regulation plan. The new financial regulation plan would create a nine member Financial Stability Oversight Council that would regulate financial institutions deemed "too big to fail" According to...
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US Stock Futures Move Up While Awaiting Data On Retail Sales And Consumer Sentiment
Friday, March 12, 2010 - 10:00am | 297US stock futures advanced today, indicating that the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will continue to move up on its a 17-month high path. While futures on the S&P 500 expiring in March gained 0.1% to 1,147.4 as of 11:57 am in London, those on the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 0.1% to...
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HSBC Data Theft Involved Thousands Of Accounts (HBC)
Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 8:35pm | 94Banking giant HSBC (ADR) (NYSE: HBC) has admitted that a data theft carried out by one of its employees involved more than 24,000 accounts. The theft is a major point of contention in the bank’s recent tax dispute with France. The data theft was related to HSBC’s private banking unit. Earlier,...
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Barclays Looking For An American Acquisition (BCS)
Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 8:29pm | 108British banking giant Barclays Plc. (ADR) (NYSE: BCS) is looking to expand its reach across the Atlantic. The British bank’s investment banking arm took over Lehman Brother’s American operations in 2008. Now, Barclays has expressed interest in buying a U.S. retail bank. Barclays' move may have...
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Benzinga's Top ETF Gainers (AGQ, SSG, FAS, IAT)
Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 4:48pm | 249Silver is trading on the upside today, and so is ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) (NYSE: AGQ). AGQ is an ETF that corresponds to twice the performance of silver bullion, and in today's trading session it is up 1.82%. ProShares UltraShort Semiconductors(ETF) (NYSE: SSG) is trading 1.40% up on a weakness...