Investment Banking & Brokerage

The Obama administration is putting pressure on New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to drop his opposition to a settlement with banks over foreclosure practices. Brent crude oil prices fell after reports came that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime may be close to falling. The Federal...

When there is a banking crisis traders and investors should follow the bank stocks. The leading bank stock in the United States is J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.(NYSE: JPM). Sure, other financial stocks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley(NYSE: MS) and Bank of America Corp.(NYSE...

Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE: EVR) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Lexicon Partners, a leading independent UK-based investment banking advisory firm. The acquisition enables Evercore to advise its clients in Europe and globally from a position of greater strength and...

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is considering a cut to its workforce of 3,500 jobs, with the possibility of more, according to a report Friday from the Wall Street Journal. The restructuring would remove numerous positions across the bank, in an initiative call "Project New BAC." According to The...

It sure feels like this is 2008, the re-mix edition, despite what Wall Street prognosticators may say. If you buy a bank stock, you do so at your own risk. These stocks are all falling knives and have been losing ground for much of the year - now they are plunging. Do not make the same mistake...

Tom Cullis here with the last installment on my discussion about "Free Gold". Let's get to it. Here's what could happen with the dollar and gold in the not-so-distant future. To look forward, we must look back - to Weimar, Germany. If central bankers do what the Reichsbank did during the early...

Millions of investors, traders and money managers are pinning their hopes on one phrase. Trillions upon trillions of dollars are at stake here. Sorry to disappoint. There will be no QE3. Not on August 26th, anyway. This morning we got July Consumer Price Index (CPI), and it was extremely hot...

Citing political bickering over sovereign debt and renewed concerns over a possible recession, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) cut its global growth forecast Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered its global growth targets for both 2011 and 2012, as uncertainty clouded growth prospects. The 2011 growth...

This morning, the too big to fail financial institutions are surging higher. When the large financial stocks rally it is a sign that investors are willing to take on risk. After all, it has been the financial stocks that have lead the markets lower since May 2011. As long as this sector shows...

optionsXpress Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: OXPS) today reported key monthly performance metrics for July. Highlights for the month included: Retail daily average revenue trades (DARTs) of 32,600 – 23% higher than July 2010, 15% higher than June 2011 Institutional daily average revenue trades (DARTs...

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) today released its Monthly Activity Report for July 2011. Daily Average Revenue Trades (“DARTs”) for July were 144,023, an 11 percent increase from June and a 12 percent increase from the year-ago period. The company ended the month with approximately...

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE: LTS) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Securities America Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries, an independent broker-dealer and investment advisor with a broad nationwide presence, from Ameriprise Financial...

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) moved up 2.46% to $17.49 in the pre-market session. MS' trailing-twelve-month revenue is $31.56 billion. Abercrombie & Fitch Co (NYSE: ANF) added 1.38% to $72.00 in the pre-market session. ANF reported a 64% surge in its fiscal second-quarter profit. Regions...

Here's what Benzinga's reading on our friend, TheStreet.com. What's Hot On TheStreet Drawing Down Assets Is a Tough Balancing Act The focus for retirement plans has always been on accumulation, building your lifetime of invested assets into a pool large enough to sustain your lifestyle once you...

Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to repurchase an additional $350 million of its common shares under an accelerated share repurchase program. Forest will acquire these common shares under the Board authorized fifty...