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Wachovia Nearly Doubles its First-Quarterly Loss from Previous Report

The fourth-largest U.S. bank, Wachovia Corp, nearly doubled its previously reported first-quarter loss because of a write-down on three contracts in a bank-owned life insurance portfolio.    The bank is now reporting a net loss available to common stockholders of $708 million, or 36 cents per share. On April 14, it reported a loss of… Continue reading Wachovia Nearly Doubles its First-Quarterly Loss from Previous Report

Fannie Mae Posts Loss, Cuts Dividend, Needs Additional Funds

Fannie Mae cut its dividend earlier today and is planning to raise $6 billion in new funds to stave off the severe U.S. housing market slump, driving its shares and the broader U.S. stock market lower.     The largest provider of U.S. home financing, Fannie Mae also posted a deeper-than-expected quarterly loss, its third… Continue reading Fannie Mae Posts Loss, Cuts Dividend, Needs Additional Funds

More Lay-offs on the Horizon on Wall Street

Wall Street employees at Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan Chase are set to weather another wave of layoffs.     According to a CNBC report, Morgan Stanley is planning another round of layoffs in the coming days, finalizing a plan to slash another 5 percent from its securities-firm workforce, or 1,500 employees. Lehman will… Continue reading More Lay-offs on the Horizon on Wall Street

The Subprime Fall-out Continues as UBS is Set to Cut 5,500 Jobs

Swiss wealth-management behemoth UBS will be cutting 5,500 jobs, one of the biggest purges seen so far in the financial markets crisis.    Additionally, UBS stated that it has a preliminary deal with U.S. asset manager BlackRock to sell a $15 billion portfolio of subprime mortgages, in what the bank said was a signal the… Continue reading The Subprime Fall-out Continues as UBS is Set to Cut 5,500 Jobs

Closing Foreign Insurers Tax Break a Difficult Road for US Companies

“The Coalition for a Domestic Insurance Industry” is calling on lawmakers to close a tax loophole that helps foreign insurers.     According to William R. Berkley, a member of the coalition and chairman of the W.R. Berkley Corp., foreign insurers are cutting their U.S. tax bills through reinsurance deals with affiliates in countries with… Continue reading Closing Foreign Insurers Tax Break a Difficult Road for US Companies

Berkshire Hathaway Looking at RBS’ Insurance Unit

On Sunday Warren Buffett reported that Berkshire Hathaway Inc insurance and investment company may be “close” to buying a medium-sized British company and “will look” at Royal Bank of Scotland Plc’s possible divestiture of its insurance unit. According to a published report in the “Sunday Express”, Buffett was exploring a bid for RBS’ Direct Line… Continue reading Berkshire Hathaway Looking at RBS’ Insurance Unit

Buffett: More Losses in Financial Services Industry on the Horizon

On Sunday Warren Buffett stated that he does not expect financial markets to panic as write-downs and losses for bad debts mount in the financial services industry, but said those losses were not over “by a long shot.”     Billionaire Buffett who runs Berkshire Hathaway Inc said at a press conference that the Federal… Continue reading Buffett: More Losses in Financial Services Industry on the Horizon

NY Prosecutors Focus in on Wall Street, Lenders in Subprime Probe

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn are stepping up their probe into the subprime-mortgage crisis, focusing on Wall Street firms and mortgage lenders. According to the Journal article, a task force of federal, state and local agencies will look into potential crimes ranging from… Continue reading NY Prosecutors Focus in on Wall Street, Lenders in Subprime Probe

Mortgage Insurer Radian No Longer Graded by Fitch

Due to a lack of available information to maintain credible ratings after management stopped providing it detailed, non-public portfolio information, Fitch Ratings withdrew its grades on mortgage insurer Radian Group Inc.    However, the ratings agency stated that it will continue to monitor investor interest in its coverage and “may consider reviewing its methodologies and… Continue reading Mortgage Insurer Radian No Longer Graded by Fitch