Diversified Capital Markets

Financial shares led the stock market higher Wednesday as heads of several big Wall Street banks testified before a committee set up to investigate the causes of the financial crisis.  Although several executive admitted to missteps that led to the financial mayhem, the hearing, barring a few...

A unit of the struggling bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: ABK) sued Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) (NYSE: CS) and a mortgage affiliate for "pervasive and material misrepresentations" on mortgage-backed securities that Ambac insured in 2007. Ambac Assurance Corp said in the lawsuit that...

• Aetna (NYSE:AET) forecast "modestly lower" 2010 earnings from last years' adjusted $2.75 per share • Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) reported a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack," and warned it plans to end censorship of its China search service.  Some reports suggested the company could shutter its...

Most European stocks declined as Societe Generale SA’s (OTC: SCGLY) earnings forecast weighed on banks. Asian shares fell the most in six weeks, while U.S. futures were little changed. Societe Generale tumbled 5 percent as France’s second- largest bank by market value said it had a “slight profit...

Analysts at leading banks have posted mostly positive ratings and price targets for stocks across sectors. Citigroup (NYSE: C) raised Chevron’s (NYSE: CBX) rating to Buy, based on the changed long term price assumption of $80 per barrel. Other upgrades include Petrobras (NYSE: PZE) and BP (NYSE: BP...

• Heineken plans a $7.7 billion all-stock purchase of the beer division of Fomento Economico Mexicano • Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) cut its rating on Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) from "buy" to "neutral." The price target was $54 on the shares • Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) reiterated its "buy" rating on...

Investment vehicles managed by Colony Capital, LLC, a private, international investment firm, including Colony Financial, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY), a real estate finance company focused on acquiring, originating and managing commercial mortgage loans (together, “Colony”), today announced the consummation...

• UBS (NYSE:UBS) upgraded Barclays (NYSE:BCS) to "buy" from "neutral" • Macquarie downgraded Boeing (NYSE:BA) shares to "neutral" from "outperform."  The company had risen to a 52-week high in yesterday's trade on improving passenger prospects for airlines • TSMC (NYSE:TSM), the largest contract...

A day before the government’s eagerly awaited December employment report, market participants refrained from making big moves even as hope grew the nation will break a 23-month streak of job losses.  Stronger-than-expected retail sales number, nevertheless, helped calm nerves as concerns about...

Switzerland’s financial market regulators broke the law when it ordered UBS AG (USA) (NYSE: UBS) to give data on 255 of the bank’s clients to the U.S. last year, a court ruled. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, known as Finma, exceeded its authority when it told the bank Feb. 18 to...

London’s investment banks are luring back traders and analysts they lost to brokerage firms during the credit crisis, compensating for lower bonuses by as much as doubling base salaries. “The banks are killing the boutiques,” said Daryl Bowden, co-chief executive officer of ICAP plc (ADR) (OTC:...

Deutche Bank (NYSE: DB) in a recent report has highlighted exciting times for the software industry in 2010. Deutsche has stated that four themes will dominate the industry in 2010: Enterprise adoption of Windows 7, Cloud computing, increasing importance of security and consolidation in the...

• General Motors' CEO Whitacre promised the company's first year of profitability in 2010 following five years of losses • Microsoft's (NYSE:MSFT) CEO Ballmer's opening address in Las Vegas focused on the company's touch-tablet from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), planned for introduction this year • ...

The Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) hiked its 2010 EPS estimate to $1.92 for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) despite the software biggie staying mostly flat in Wednesday morning’s trading. Suisse has maintained the Outperform rating with a price target of $33.50 on the stock. The optimism may soon reflect...

• Kraft (NYSE:KFT) announced plans to utilize proceeds from the sale of its Canadian frozen food operations to Nestle for $3.75 billion cash, raising the cash portion of its hostile bid for Cadbury (NYSE:CBY) by 97 cents per share. Cadbury maintained the offer remains derisory • Brightpoint (NASDAQ...