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Progressive Earnings Jump (PGR)
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 2:34pm | 93Auto and home insurance company, Progressive (NYSE: PGR) reported earnings during the trading today. The company saw its profit jump from $159.3 million in last year's 4Q to $305 million this year. This worked out to a per share profit of 46 cents versus analysts' expectations of $0.37....
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Chubb Available At Attractive Valuations, Analysts Recommend ‘Buy’ (CB, TRV, ACE)
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 1:38pm | 148The Chubb Corporation (NYSE: CB), currently trading at eight times 2009 profits and less than 1.1 times estimated year end 2009 book value, appears an attractive bet to most analysts. Chubb commands premium over other big property-casualty outfits like Travelers (NYSE: TRV) and Ace (NYSE: ACE)...
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Bookkeeping: Weekly Changes to Fund Positions Year 3, Week 24
Monday, January 18, 2010 - 4:21pm | 4125Year 3, Week 24 Major Position ChangesTo see historic weekly fund changes click here OR the label at the bottom of this entry entitled 'fund positions'.Cash: 48.3% (v 34.9% last week)26 long bias: 50.4% (v 64.5% last week) [Includes 1 option position]2 short bias: 1.3% (v 0.6% last week) 28...
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Bookkeeping: Adding to Assured Guaranty (AGO)
Thursday, January 14, 2010 - 4:46pm | 609Now that moral hazard is a firm part of American culture, there seems to be no fear of defaults even at the municipal level. Because Uncle Sam/Uncle Ben won't let it happen ... at least this seems to be the thinking... If you've looked at any municipal bond ETF you will see what I am talking about...
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NYSE Top 10 Gainers (BGP, BZ, CBC, EK, JCI, GK, etc)
Thursday, January 14, 2010 - 10:46am | 498The top ten gainers on the NYSE come from an assortment of industries ranging from book selling to holding companies to storage device manufacturers. Borders Group Inc. (NYSE: BGP) tops the list of gainers on the NYSE. Borders Group, through its subsidiaries, operates book, music and movie stores....
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NYSE Top 10 Gainers (BGP, BZ, CBC, EK, JCI, GK, etc)
Thursday, January 14, 2010 - 10:44am | 498The top ten gainers on the NYSE come from an assortment of industries ranging from book selling to holding companies to storage device manufacturers. Borders Group Inc. (NYSE: BGP) tops the list of gainers on the NYSE. Borders Group, through its subsidiaries, operates book, music and movie stores....
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NYSE Major Gainers (FAC, OEH, QTM, HYC, BID)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - 8:03pm | 488First Acceptance Corporation (NYSE: FAC) stock is up by 13.33% today from its closing price of $1.95 yesterday. The stock was trading at $2.21 at the last check after reaching a high for the day of $2.22. The stock has had a 52 week range of $1.66-$3.45. Orient-Express Hotels Ltd (NYSE: OEH) is up...
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Ambac Financial Group (ABK) Sues Credit Suisse (CS)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - 12:44pm | 106A 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...
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HIG Triggers Rally In Insurers (LNC, PFG, PRU, MET, GNW, ALL, AON, TMK, TRV, AIG)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 - 2:04pm | 174Following a strong preannouncement by Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE: HIG) for its latest quarter, several insurance companies opened higher this morning. Lincoln National Corp (NYSE: LNC) shares gained 1.90% to $27.91, while those of Principal Financial Group Inc (NYSE: PFG) rose 0.58...
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SeaBright Insurance Holdings, Inc (SBX) To Outperform
Monday, January 11, 2010 - 4:29pm | 309Analysts at the research firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods have retained the earlier price target of $9 for Hallmark Financial Services (NASDAQ: HALL) and they have also reiterated the ‘market performer’ rating of the stock. Hallmark Financial Services is expected to report the 2009EPS at $0.90....
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Concerns About CB’s D&O Losses Diminish
Thursday, January 7, 2010 - 1:47pm | 129Analysts at Credit Suisse upgrade Chubb Corporation (NYSE: CB) from "underperform" to "neutral." The target price for CB has been reduced from $57 to $52. According to Credit Suisse, the upgrade in the rating reflects the more reasonable valuation for CB and reduced concerns regarding D&O...
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Company News for January 06, 2010 - Corporate Summary
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - 10:01am | 181• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) added 3M (NYSE:MMM) to its Conviction Buy List, with a price target of $105 up from $100 • Family Dollar (NYSE:FDO) reported fiscal first quarter earnings of 49 cents a share, two pennies higher than projected, on inline revenues of 1.82 billion • Beazer Homes (NYSE:BZH)...
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Should You Buy the Big Winners of 2009?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - 6:04pm | 484There are almost as many trading strategies as there are investors in the market. That’s why countless newsletters, stock services, and web sites sell their picks to anyone with a credit card. Investment publishing is big business. Though most publishers tack on tiny disclaimers saying something...
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Ace (ACE) To Have $317 million Loss In 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - 1:47pm | 70According to a Reuters’ report, Ace Ltd. (NYSE: ACE) is expected to post operating income per diluted share of between $6.25 and $6.75 this year, below analyst estimates of $7.64 per share. Zurich based insurer Ace is expected to post pre-tax loss of $390 million ($317 million after tax) in fiscal...
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Top 5 Mid-Cap Stocks In The Financial Sector With The Highest Sales Growth Estimates (AIG, CIM, NLY, AGO, JEF)
Monday, January 4, 2010 - 8:51am | 210Below are the top 5 mid-cap financial stocks on the NASDAQ and the NYSE in terms of sales growth estimates. The sales growth estimate for American International Group Inc (NASDAQ: AIG) for this quarter is 746.9%. AIG’s market capitalization is $4.04 billion. AIG’s shares fell by 11.30% over the...