U.S. activist investors are preparing a flurry of corporate ballot measures at Wall Street banks in hopes that some big items on their wish lists, such as CEO pay reforms, will gain new traction amid the subprime lending crisis.
U.S. officials' effort to talk up the dollar comes amid lower expectations in financial markets
Morgan Stanley Chairman and Chief Executive John Mack has tapped co-President Zoe Cruz, a long-time lieutenant who oversees trading and banking, as the leading candidate to succeed him, a person familiar with the situation said on Friday.
Wachovia Corp said on Friday it suffered a $1.1 billion loss on subprime mortgage-related debt in October, while Capital One Financial Corp said more customers are having trouble paying their bills as the U.S. credit crisis deepened.
Morgan Stanley on Wednesday said it has suffered a $3.7 billion loss stemming from its U.S. subprime mortgage exposure, which it expects will reduce fourth-quarter earnings by about $2.5 billion. The Wall Street investment bank said the loss occurred in September and October, and might change before its fiscal quarter ends this month.
Citigroup Inc and Merrill Lynch & Co Inc, both seeking new chief executives after taking billions of dollars in write-downs, are considering the same five candidates for their top jobs, CNBC television reported on Wednesday.
Two analysts expect Morgan Stanley will take a fourth quarter write-down of between $3 billion and $6 billion related to asset-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations.
U.S. stocks fell on Monday amid continuing uncertainty over the health of the financial markets, brought into greater doubt with Citigroup’s huge write-down on losses related to mortgage-backed securities. Citi said Monday it could post as much as $11 billion in additional write-downs losses, without reassuring investors that more write-downs are on the way.
Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Charles Prince plans to resign this weekend, the Wall Street Journal said, as the widening subprime mortgage crisis deals a final blow to a reign long under attack. The largest U.S. bank by assets plans to hold an emergency board meeting on Sunday, at which Prince will step down, the newspaper said on Friday, citing people familiar with the situation.
Large U.S. banks and brokerages will suffer additional write-downs of more than $10 billion in the fourth quarter as deteriorating credit trends continue to undercut the value of subprime mortgages and related securities, a Deutsche Bank analyst said.
U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after signs that the economy is showing strong growth and expectations that today’s Federal Reserve quarter-point cut for its benchmark interest rate will promote growth.
The dollar hit a two-week low against the yen on Thursday in the wake of data showing U.S. housing starts sank to a 14-year low last month, cranking up speculation that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates.
A pickup in energy prices helped drive consumer prices ahead at the sharpest rate in four months during September, according to a government report on Wednesday that was likely to keep the Federal Reserve wary about inflation.
China's biggest e-commerce firm, Alibaba.com Ltd, plans to raise as much as US$1.32 billion after setting a price range for its Hong Kong initial public offering, sources familiar with the deal said on Monday.
Citigroup Inc, which last week forecast 60 percent declines in third-quarter earnings amid bad debt losses, said it was promoting Vikram Pandit to head banking, markets, and alternative investments, and that trading head Thomas Maheras was leaving.
Morgan Stanley is unleashing a major drive to tap India's domestic wealth next year, hiring 100 private bankers in a bid to manage $1 billion in assets by the end of 2010.
Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $12.5 million to resolve regulatory charges that it failed to provide arbitration plaintiffs with e-mails it said were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks, when in fact it had saved the e-mails on backup files.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc said on Thursday that quarterly profit surged 79 percent, blowing away expectations of weak results, as the investment bank generated its second-highest revenue ever despite turbulent summer markets.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc said on Thursday that quarterly profit surged 79 percent, blowing away expectations of weak results, as the investment bank generated its second-highest revenue ever despite turbulent summer markets.
Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley plans to buy into China's Jutian Fund Management Co in a move to tap China's red-hot wealth management sector, sources close to the situation said on Wednesday.
Morgan Stanley on Wednesday said third-quarter profit fell as the summertime freeze in mortgage and corporate loan markets forced the bank to mark loans down by $940 million, but shares held their own on optimism that financial markets may be starting to revive.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. posted a 3.2 percent decline in quarterly earnings on Tuesday as the U.S. investment bank wrote down mortgage and leveraged loan assets, but the results beat expectations and its shares rose. The results soothed investors concerned that the widening U.S. subprime mortgage crisis would wallop investment bank earnings.
