Diversified Capital Markets

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Euronext CEO and Director Duncan Niederauer spoke with FOX Business Network's (FBN) Nicole Petallides about the company's decision to reject the $11.3 billion dollar takeover bid by NASDAQ and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). Niederauer said NYSE board's decision...

Following my comment on Ontario Teachers' 2010 results, a reporter contacted me to discuss their results. He was particularly interested in understanding the risks Teachers' was taking to deliver these exceptional results. Teachers' delivered 14.3% in 2010, surpassing the Caisse which gained 13.6...

Janet McFarland of the Globe and Mail reports in CTV, Companies cross ‘pension Rubicon': Canadian companies have crossed a “pension Rubicon” and are continuing to dismantle traditional defined benefit plans even as the economy improves, according to a review by Towers Watson. A survey of 150...

More pension politics up here in Canada. On Monday, New Democrat Leader Jack Layton said an elected NDP government would double the Canada Pension Plan benefits that Canadians receive and provide $700 million annually to help low-income seniors. Mr. Layton also complained that Michael Ignatieff's...

Shares of UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) are higher on the session by 0.83%, currently trading at $18.20. The stock has been moving largely higher over the past three months and is currently consolidating between the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Options traders are buying puts on the name today. A...

According to a press release from mergermarket, global mergers and acquisitions were up 28.9% in Q1 2011, compared to the year ago period. Deal value came in at $591 billion. U.S. M&A volume was up 85.1% to versus Q1 2010. Total deal value came in at $268.4 billion. The top global financial...

Last week I had the pleasure of participating in a webcast for Bloomberg Markets Magazine regarding gold investing. It was a very insightful presentation and I suggest you view the replay at www.bloombergmarkets.com. What struck me on the call was the negativity surrounding the gold market. Call it...

Former New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Chairman Dick Grasso spoke with Fox Business Network's (FBN) Senior Correspondent Charlie Gasparino about news out today of a joint bid by NASDAQ and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) for the NYSE. Grasso said that the “war is far from over” for who will win...

News of a secondary equity offering combined with a convertible subordinated note offering has sent shares of A123 systems (NASDAQ: AONE) lower. Shares in the company closed at $6.35 on 3/31 and are trading as low as $5.95 this morning on word of the proposed financing. The offering on the new...

News of a secondary equity offering combined with a convertible subordinated note offering has sent shares of A123 systems (NASDAQ: AONE) lower. Shares in the company closed at $6.35 on 3/31 and are trading as low as $5.95 this morning on word of the proposed financing. The offering on the new...

Another federal election campaign in Canada (sigh!) and this time pension politics are front and center. Les Whittington of the Toronto Star reports, Liberals propose supplementary public pension plan: A Liberal government would earmark an extra $700 million a year for low-income seniors and...

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) Chairman Hans-Ulrich Doerig said today that he's going to step up the argument for banker pay through a variety of means, prior to the company's shareholder meeting, which is scheduled for April 29. "We are aware that pay remains a controversial topic, and we take...

Below are the top small-cap mortgage investment stocks on the NYSE, the NASDAQ and the AMEX in terms of return on equity. The trailing-twelve-month return on equity at Altisource Portfolio Solutions SA (NASDAQ: ASPS) is 47.16%. ASPS' operating margin for the same period is 19.17%. The trailing-...

Below are the top large-cap foreign money center banks stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of revenue. The trailing-twelve-month revenue at Banco Santander SA (NYSE: STD) is $43.31 billion. STD's operating margin for the same period is 38.41%. The trailing-twelve-month revenue at Barclays...

Ruth Sullivan of the FT reports, UK pension buy-outs rise: UK pension schemes are increasing the rate at which they strike deals to transfer risk to an insurance company. The combined value of buy-outs, whereby an entire scheme is passed to a specialist insurer, and buy-ins, which involve buying...