Investment Banking & Brokerage

Goldman Sachs has a Sell rating and a $24 price target on shares of Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF). In a note to investors, Goldman writes, "Jefferies continues to garner a premium multiple owing to potential for growth relative to peers across products and geographies. The upside in EPS in 1Q...

Analysts at Ticonderoga upgrade Jefferies Group Inc (NYSE: JEF) from "neutral" to "buy." JEF shares fell 0.24% to close at $24.48 yesterday. More Analyst Ratings here

Ticonderoga has upgraded Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) from Neutral to Buy and has established a $30 price target.

Federal prosecutors plan to call Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein as a witness in the insider trading trial of Raj Rajaratnam as soon as today, a letter sent to the judge indicates. Blankfein was previously listed as a potential witness, but it was unclear if prosecutors actually...

According to Bloomberg, Glencore International AG, the largest commodities trader, is almost ready to announce the eight investment banks that will be underwriting its Hong Kong IPO, worth some $10 billion. According to sources close to the situation, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Barclays...

SWS Group, Inc. (NYSE: SWS) today announced that its principal broker-dealer subsidiary, Southwest Securities, Inc., has entered into a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), resolving an investigation by FINRA of risk management of the firm's Clearing Services...

Morgan Stanley (MS) last week issued its first ETN (exchange-traded note) products listed for U.S. investors.  The Morgan Stanley Cushing MLP High Income ETN (MLPY) began trading 3/17/2011 and will track a customized index of Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). The underlying criteria-weighted...

Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHW) are lower on the session by 0.23%, trading at $17.61. Overall call volume is now running at 7.52x the daily average, with 0% of all calls traded being purchases on the offer. 5,055 contracts have traded on the session so far. The Charles...

In a report published by Gabelli, it believes the OptionsXpress/Schwab merger announcement is a positive for TD Ameritrade Holding (NASDAQ: AMTD) as it consolidates a direct competitor, especially in the competitive active options trader segment. Gabelli said that it believes this transaction...

UOP LLC, a Honeywell (NYSE: HON) company, announced today that its technology has been selected by Great Orient Chemical for a new petrochemicals complex in China that will produce the key ingredient for biodegradable household laundry detergents. Great Orient Chemical expects the new complex to...

Ameritrade Announces New Chief Operating Officer: Marvin W. Adams (AMTD)

TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) today named Marvin W. Adams as the Company's new chief operating officer. He will join the Company in April and will lead all IT and operations functions, including systems development, data centers and infrastructure, networks, project management...

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods has raised the optionsExpress Holding, Inc (NASDAQ: OXPS) Price Target from $16 to $20. According to KBW, "We are increasing our OXPS PT to $20 from $16, using the 1.02 exchange ratio outlined in the deal and KBW analyst Joel Jeffrey's PT for SCHW of $20. We see few...

Jefferies Group Inc (NYSE: JEF) reported its Q1 EPS at $0.42, versus the consensus of $0.36. JEF shares gained 1.47% to $24.90 in pre-market trading. Read more from Benzinga's Company news.

Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods has issued a report on the funding agreement from SWS Group Inc. (NYSE: SWS). According to KBW, "SWS announced a $100 mil. funding agreement with Hilltop Holdings Inc. and Oak Hill Capital Partners. Each firm will invest $50 mil. in the firm through a senior unsecured...