Archive for February, 2008

IPhone Open For Business? Blackberry Battle May Loom

Friday, February 29th, 2008

IPhone Open For Business? Blackberry Battle May Loom
Last Update: 2/29/2008 4:50:26 PM
By Ben Charny
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)–The phrase “new enterprise features” in a recent Apple
iPhone-related event invite was all it took for some to anoint the iPhone as the
next big challenge for Research In Motion […]

Sallie Mae Closes $31.3B In New Financing Facilities >SLM

Friday, February 29th, 2008

Sallie Mae Closes $31.3B In New Financing Facilities >SLM
Last Update: 2/29/2008 6:15:26 PM
Corrected Friday, February 29, 2008 18:13 ET (23:13 GMT)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SLM Corp., (SLM) also known as Sallie Mae, said it closed $31.3 billion in
asset-backed commercial paper and term loan facilities that will provide funding
for its federally guaranteed and private student loans.
The […]

E*Trade To Pay $4M To Settle MarketXT Suit >ETFC

Friday, February 29th, 2008

E*Trade To Pay $4M To Settle MarketXT Suit >ETFC
Last Update: 2/28/2008 7:39:18 PM
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
E*Trade Financial Corp. (ETFC) said Thursday it agreed to pay $4 million to
settle a lawsuit with now-bankrupt MarketXT Holdings Corp. over assets E*Trade
bought from MarketXT in 2002.
E*Trade bought MarketXT’s Tradescape electronic brokerage units in an all-stock
deal in 2002. After the deal […]

As home builders rally, why aren?t their CEOs upbeat yet?

Friday, February 29th, 2008

Builder stocks bounce, so why CEOs are still wary?
After eye-catching rally, beleaguered execs aren’t ready to call housing floor
By John Spence, MarketWatch
Last Update: 6:08 PM ET Feb 29, 2008
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — After a brutal year that saw their industry fortunes
decimated, the stock market is broadcasting signs of a turnaround in beleaguered
home builders.
Housing-sector stocks — left […]

2nd UPDATE: Ambac Cuts Dividend, Suspends Some Business. Ambac evening-traded shares up 2.4% at $11.40

Friday, February 29th, 2008

2nd UPDATE: Ambac Cuts Dividend, Suspends Some Business
Last Update: 2/29/2008 5:59:35 PM
(Updates throughout, with news of dividend cut, suspension of some business.)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Ambac Financial Group Inc. (ABK) cut its dividend to 1 cent a share from 7 cents
and suspended all new structured finance business for the next six months.
The moves […]

Gilead to buy back $500M shrs under accelerated buyback plan

Friday, February 29th, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Gilead Sciences Inc. said Friday it entered into an agreement with Goldman Sachs to repurchase $500 million of its stock under an accelerated share repurchase program. The buyback is a part of the $3 billion share repurchase program announced on Oct. 22. Once the deal is completed, Gilead will have […]

Moody’s downgrades Fremont General Corp.

Friday, February 29th, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Moody’s Investors Service Friday downgraded the ratings of Fremont General Corp. (senior to Ca from Caa3) and its subsidiary, Fremont Investment and Loan (deposits to Caa2 from B3 and issuer rating to Ca from Caa1). The outlook on Fremont General and Fremont Investment & Loan remains negative. The downgrades were […]

Northrop Grumman gets $40-bln Air Force flying tanker bid

Friday, February 29th, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Northrop Grumman Corp. said late Friday it received a contract to replace the U.S. Air Force’s KC-135 tankers with the KC-45A aerial refueling tanker. The KC-45A is based on the Airbus A330 commercial jet, which is produced by EADS . The contract has an estimated value of $40 billion. Northrop […]

The real action is in interest rates and the dollar.

Friday, February 29th, 2008

With stock falling, the Fed has to keep dropping interest rates and sacrifice the value of the dollar. The US dollar started off about 2 years ago too strong compared with most of the Asian and European currencies. That correction has been happening slowly. Now with the economic slowdown in the US, the US dollar […]

The real action is in interest rates and the dollar.

Friday, February 29th, 2008

With stock falling, the Fed has to keep dropping interest rates and sacrifice the value of the dollar. The US dollar started off about 2 years ago too strong compared with most of the Asian and European currencies. That correction has been happening slowly. Now with the economic slowdown in the US, the US dollar […]