the finance connection

Wells Fargo Exit Plan

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:45:28 +0000

Wells Fargo repeated its bailout exit strategy on Tuesday, but appeared weak next to competitors that have already repaid taxpayer funds, or are moving forward with more definite plans to do so.

Its position comes at a delicate time, when rumors about the health of financial firms are circulating in the market. Traders have become more aggressive with bearish bets against Wells shares in particular in recent days.

Pressure was building on Wells, due to a report that competitor Bank of America (BAC Quote) is moving forward with plans to pay back bailout funds. Wells CEO John Stumpf told Bloomberg late in the day that the firm would like to pay back $25 billion in funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program in the near future, but does not plan any capital raises to do so.

“We intend to pay back the government’s investment in Wells Fargo on behalf of U.S. taxpayers in a shareholder-friendly way,” spokeswoman Richele Messick told TheStreet.com in an email message earlier in the day. “We will work closely with our regulators to determine the appropriate time to repay the funds while maintaining strong capital levels.”

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Colonial BancGroup Inc. – biggest bank failure for 2009

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:33:24 +0000

Colonial BancGroup Inc. has become the largest bank failure this year as the 2009 toll of financial institutions approaches 80. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized the struggling Alabama-based lender Friday and sold it to BB&T Corp. Late Friday, the FDIC announced four other banks had been closed: Community Bank of Nevada and its Arizona subsidiary, Community Bank of Arizona; Union Bank, Gilbert, Ariz; and Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association, Pittsburgh. The Colonial BancGroup deal will knock roughly $2.8 billion off a pool of money, known as the Deposit Insurance Fund, which the FDIC maintains to guarantee bank customer deposits.

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Fannie Mae posts stock loss

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:10:06 +0000

Fannie Mae FNM 0.79, +0.05, +6.76%) posted a loss for the second quarter of $14.8 billion, or $2.67 a share, compared with a loss of $2.3 billion, or $2.54 a share in the same period last year.

Net revenues were $5.6 billion and fair value gains were $823 million, Fannie Mae said in a regulatory filing.

The mortgage entity said the $12.5 billion increase in net loss in the period was driven by a $13.4 billion increase in credit-related expenses, which “more than offset a $1.7 billion increase in net interest income.”

The results were “adversely affected by the ongoing deterioration in the housing and mortgage markets, the economic recession and rising unemployment,” Fannie Mae said.

Fannie Mae said its request submitted Thursday for an additional $10.7 billion in aid follows a $19 billion infusion from Treasury in June, and a $15.2 billion infusion in March.

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What is the eRA Commons and its roles

admin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:35:18 +0000

eRA Commons is an online interface where grant applicants, grantees and federal staff at NIH and grantor agencies can access and share administrative information relating to research grants.

eRA Commons users, based on their role, can conduct a variety of business in Commons, including:

Track the status of their grant applications through the submission process, view errors and/or warnings and check the assembled grant image.
View summary statements and score letters following the initial review of their applications.
View notice of award and other key documents.
Submit Just-in-Time information (SO only) requested by the grantor agency prior to a final award decision.
Submit the required documentation, including the Financial Status Report and final progress report, to close out the grant.
Submit a No-Cost Extension notification (SO only) that the grantee has exercised its one-time authority to extend without funds the final budget period of a project period of a grant.
Submit a streamlined annual progress report electronically, provided the grantee institution is eligible to submit one under the Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award (eSNAP) process.

(source: http://era.nih.gov/commons/)

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Equity Finance: A definition

admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:27:29 +0000

Equity or equity finance is the term commonly used to describe the ordinary share capital of a business.

Ordinary shares in the equity capital of a business entitle the holders to all distributed profits after the holders of debentures and preference shares have been paid.

In the broadest sense, equity gives you ownership. If you own stock, you have equity in, or own a portion — however small — of the company that issued the stock.

Equity finance is provided by the sale of ordinary shares to investors. This may be a sale of shares to new owners, perhaps through the stock market as part of a company seeking a quotation, or it may be a sale of shares to existing shareholders, for example by means of a rights issue.

Having equity is the opposite of owning a bond or commercial paper, which is a debt the company must repay to you.

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Debt consolidation best practices

admin — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:56:26 +0000

Debt consolidation entails taking out one loan to pay off many others. This is often done to secure a lower interest rate, secure a fixed interest rate or for the convenience of servicing only one loan.

Listed here are some debt-consolidation best practices.

If you own a home and has some equity in it, take out a home equity loan. A home equity loan has a fairly low interest rate as compared to most. Another advantage is whatever you do pay is tax-deductible.

Do a cash out refinancing. Another option for those with home equity is refinancing your property for greater than the amount you owe and using the extra cash to pay off debt. The downside of this is that the total interest cost over three decades can be pretty huge.

Get a personal loan. If you have reasonably undamaged credit, you may qualify for an unsecured loan. This option may be a long shot for some but if you do get it you might be rewarded with a fairly reasonable loan evaluation.

Refinance your car. You might not think about this option but it is a secured loan and you can borrow against it. The downside of this is that the car may be so devalued long before you are out of debt. It’s tough to buy a new car when you owe more than it’s worth.

Equity Finance: A definition Equity or

What are I Bonds

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:35:30 +0000

I Bonds are a low-risk, liquid savings product. While you own them they earn interest and protect you from inflation. You may purchase I Bonds at www.TreasuryDirect.gov and at most local financial institutions.

Additional Inflation Bond Facts:

I Bonds earn interest from the first day of their issue month.
You can redeem them at any time after a twelve-month minimum holding period
They are an accrual-type security
They increase in value monthly and the interest is paid when you redeem the bond
I Bonds are sold at face value; i.e., you pay $50 for a $50 I Bond
I Bonds grow in value with inflation-indexed earnings for up to 30 years
If you redeem I Bonds before they’re five years old, you’ll forfeit the three most recent months’ interest; at or after 5-years old, you won’t be penalized.

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Banks and TARP

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:22:32 +0000

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — With the stress tests behind them, banking regulators now face the potentially thornier issue of deciding which banks, if any, should be allowed to repay government funds.

Since regulators unveiled a long-awaited blueprint for returning money from the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program last week, lenders have been scrambling to raise cash so they can pay back TARP funds.

Four companies that were among those included in the stress test — BB&T (BBT, Fortune 500), U.S. Bancorp (USB, Fortune 500), Capital One (COF, Fortune 500) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK, Fortune 500) — all announced plans Monday to raise capital which would go towards buying the preferred stock and warrants associated with the government’s stake.

Before they can return taxpayer funds, banks first have to prove that they can issue debt without having to rely on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s debt guarantee program.

Even if they are able to do that, many experts contend that regulators may be tempting fate by allowing banks to carry out their TARP repayment plans.

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Thinking of investing in telecommunications stocks?

admin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:53:11 +0000

Sprint Nextel Corp., Motorola Inc. and Nokia Corp. led telecommunications stocks broadly higher in Wednesday trades as the U.S. market forged ahead.

Stocks got a boost from Intel Corp., the chipmaking giant. The company reported better-than-expected results, though sales still fell sharply from the year-ago quarter and Intel reported a net loss.

In early action, Sprint climbed 3%, while Motorola and Nokia each gained 4%.

AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. also rose about 1% each.

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Stocks to Watch – Lowe’s Cos (LOW)

admin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:21:33 +0000

Lowe’s Cos.’ (LOW) fiscal first-quarter earnings fell 22% amid continued weak demand for big-ticket items.

The world’s second-largest home-improvement retailer after Home Depot Inc. ( HD) nevertheless raised its fiscal-year earnings view but narrowed its outlook for revenue.

The company now expects fiscal-year earnings of $1.13 to $1.25 a share, up from February’s reduced estimate of $1.04 to $1.20. It now forecasts revenue ranging from down 2% to up 1% compared to February’s view of down 2% to up 2%. It still expects same-store sales in a range of down 4% to 8%.

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