Countrywide Financial Corp shares leaped higher on Friday after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered a key borrowing rate, making it easier for lenders to obtain credit.
A group of major banks meeting in a conference call with U.S. monetary policy officials expressed strong support for the Federal Reserve's move on Friday to bring stability to volatile financial markets by reducing the discount lending rate.
U.S. stocks rose on Friday after the Federal Reserve cut the discount rate at which it lends to banks in a surprise move to keep worsening credit conditions from hurting the economy.
Citigroup Inc. could suffer as much as $1 billion of after-tax losses from credit turmoil in the third quarter, analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. said on Tuesday.
Five banks, including Citigroup, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., said on Tuesday they were setting up a trading platform for privately offered stocks, seeking to tap the growing market for non-public shares.
Prudential Financial Inc. has the riskiest investment portfolio, including subprime exposure, among life insurers, while MetLife Inc. and Genworth Financial Inc. should be closely monitored, Citigroup analyst Colin Devine said in a report on Monday.
Asian stock markets made a tentative recovery on Monday following last week's hammering as fears of a global credit crisis eased after central banks around the world pumped money into banking systems.
On the heels of a crisis, investment bank shares are looking cheap. Some say it's a great time to buy.
Big wasn't beautiful on Thursday.
Banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and HSBC might be interested in buying Bear Stearns Cos at the right price, but there would be real obstacles to a deal happening anytime soon, analysts said.
Stocks rallied on Monday as investors snapped up beaten-down shares of financial companies after a sharp drop at the end of last week on mounting concerns about the stability of the credit markets.
Private equity firm CVC said on Sunday that Hong Kong financier Francis Leung has joined the company as senior adviser focusing on developing investment opportunities in Greater China.
Citigroup Chief Executive Charles Prince said the recent market pullback feels sharp, but he is bullish on the bank's growth, the New York Times reported on its Web site on Friday.
Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain's second biggest bank that is locked in a takeover battle for ABN AMRO, beat expectations with an 11 percent rise in profit and lifted its dividend by 25 percent.
World stocks bounced off this week's 3-1/2 month low on Thursday and credit markets stabilized as upbeat corporate earnings tempered worries about a global credit crunch which had prompted a sell-off of almost a fortnight.
Investors worry that deteriorating borrowing conditions will saddle lenders -- and not just Citigroup -- with too many soured investments.
China's Lenovo Group, the world's third-largest computer maker, is expected to post a six-fold rise in quarterly profit on Thursday on strong corporate demand but faces unrelenting price pressure at home.
Beneath the surface, CEOs and their ties with analysts who cover their companies can run deep.
U.S. stocks plunged for a second day on Friday, in the worst week for the S&P 500 in nearly five years, as tightening credit conditions led to concerns that takeovers would slow. Losses accelerated in the final minutes of trading, taking the Dow industrials down more than 200 points, a day after an equities sell-off that wiped out more than $300 billion in the value off the S&P 500.
European auto stocks have powered ahead this year thanks to the performance of sector heavyweight DaimlerChrysler and talk of industry restructuring, but the brakes are set to come on.
The regulatory arm of the New York Stock Exchange has censured and fined Citigroup Inc.'s Smith Barney unit $50 million for improper trading practices, including deceptive market timing by its brokers.
Lockheed Martin Corp., the world's No. 1 defense contractor, on Tuesday reported a greater-than-expected 34 percent rise in second-quarter profit, helped by higher revenue from its combat aircraft and electronic systems units and lower pension costs.
