Hartford's CEO Comes Out Swinging -11/03/08 at 1:28 PM CSTby Perry Rod

"Hartford (HIG) is financially strong and well capitalized," Hartford Chief Executive Ramani Ayer said in a statement. The statement followed an announcement Friday by Fitch Ratings that it was lowering Hartford's default rating to A from A+, and its insurer financial strength ratings of Hartford's primary life and property/casualty insurance subsidiaries...

Obama Suggests He May Bankrupt The Coal Industry -11/02/08 at 3:00 PM CSTby Peter York

An audio clip from January has just emerged on the internet with leading presidential candidate Barack Obama stating that "if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can.  It's just that it will bankrupt them."  He further stated that "we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than any...

After The Fact Analysis -10/31/08 at 12:09 PM CDTby Reggie Abaca

The wolves are surrounding as Eric Berg, a Barclays analyst in New York, said it was "likely" that Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. would be unable to sell itself or entice a private investor or the U.S. to supply fresh capital. "Our thinking is that it is more likely that Hartford (HIG)'s share price continues to sink," said Berg in a note to inves...

What Will Apple Do With Its Cash -10/30/08 at 5:08 PM CDTby Mahyar Hashemi

Apple (AAPL) has no debt and its balance sheet shows cash and short-term investments totaling $24.5 billion. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the cash hoard gives the company "tremendous stability and the ability to invest our way through this downturn." However, Apple has a history of hoarding its money.  In total, Apple has barely spent $1 billion on acqu...

VSE Bankrupcy Linked to a Broken System -10/30/08 at 2:17 PM CDTby Reggie Abaca

Patrick Byrne at deepcapture.com is reporting the link between VSE (VSE)'s stock price and "failure to delivers."  Byrne is the CEO of Overstock (OSTK). From Mr: Byrne: I suppose I should write something brimming with wit and brio about the chart above, but since 500 people just lost their jobs today as YHOO).com/ap/081029/verasun_mover.html" targe...

American Express Appearing Ultra Conservative -10/30/08 at 2:00 PM CDTby Reggie Abaca

Today, American Express announced they will cut 10% of their work force.  American Express said that it is cutting 10% of its staff, suspending management salary increases and instituting a hiring freeze. The move comes amid what CEO Ken Chenault called "one of the most challenging economic environments we've seen in many decades." Analysts are growi...

Shorts Pile Onto Pilgrim's Pride -10/30/08 at 1:12 PM CDTby Mahyar Hashemi

Hedge funds are in a frenzy to make a profit. So what do they do?  They look for the worst news and pile on the short sales. After all, there is no uptick rule and in this market it is clear that making a stock rise is more difficult than making it fall. First, they bring down the value of the company's stock, then the journalists pile on with negati...

Exxon Breaks Records and Ignites Passions -10/30/08 at 12:08 PM CDTby Reggie Abaca

Exxon Mobil (XOM) today shattered a record it had itself created today, reported income Thursday that shattered its own record for the biggest profit from operations by a U.S. corporation, earning $14.83 billion in the third quarter. That is sure to ignite the raw passions of the political world.  Look for the presidential candidates to jump all ove...

Another Day Another Rumor -10/28/08 at 2:00 PM CDTby Reggie Abaca

Hedge funds are starting up another rumor now that Morgan Stanley (MS) and two other firms were being "short squeezed" with their investment into Volkswagen. Goldman Sachs, one of the named, declined to comment, but people inside the company said it had no Volkswagen losses. Morgan Stanley spokesman Mark Lake said frankly that company has no exp...

13 billion euro contract for Lockheed Martin? -10/17/08 at 9:19 AM CDTby Dan Toma

The Romanian Ministry of Defense has to decide, by the end of 2008 beginning of 2009, over the successor of the old MIG-21 for the Romanian Air Force. Offers had been made by US Lockheed Martin (F-16), Swedish Griffen (JAS 39) and Italy Aerounautica (Eurofighter Typhoon).  The sum that the Romanian Gouvernamt is willing to pay for a fleet of new...

Deutsche Bank Sold Massive Amounts of Phantom Stock -10/16/08 at 7:54 PM CDTby Perry Rod

Mark Mitchell is reporting over at DeepCapture.com that the New York Stock Exchange has handed Deutsche Bank Securities the largest fine in history for violations of SEC rules designed to prevent the creation of what the chairman of the SEC has called “phantom stock.”  Mitchell goes on to report: The NYSE’s disciplinary order states...