USA

Jamie Dimon and JPM Should Move to Asia

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Financial Institutions around the world and especially those in Europe and the USA face a crucial set of choices about the future of their institutions. Western Governments are riddled with debt and their only way out is decades of austerity and taxes, but the new world is a mobile world, [...]

Auto Sector Points to Recovery

The real story in this year’s rankings of automakers by their suppliers in the 12th annual study of OEM working relations is not their overall rankings, but rather the dramatic and continuing slide of Toyota and Honda, and the continuing improvement of Chrysler Group, General Motors and Ford since 2005. While still in first and [...]

John Mauldin: EuroCrisis and Global Economics

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. – Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy For quite some time in this letter I have been making the case that for the eurozone to survive, the European Central Bank would [...]

The JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Report

Three JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) executives set to leave over failed hedge Three key executives in a failed hedging strategy that cost JPMorgan Chase & Co at least $2-B over the past 6 weeks are expected to leave the bank this week, sources close to the matter said Sunday. The US’ biggest bank by assets is expected [...]

Read More » No comment May 14, 2012

Mark J. Lundeen Market Outlook

Markets on the Edge of Something Big Mark J. Lundeen In Early May, some potentially big things are happening that I want to bring to your attention. First, it appears that gold’s bear box is terminating. Remember, the step sum is a market sentiment indicator, and since February the price of gold has [...]

Read More » No comment May 14, 2012

Wall St Summary and PreMarket BAC, MS, GS

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) fell 1.4 percent in early trading after Fitch Ratings cut its credit grade and S&P said it may follow because of trading losses at the largest U.S. bank. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) also retreated. S&P 500 futures expiring in June declined 0.8 percent to 1,339.1 at [...]

Read More » No comment May 14, 2012

The Chesapeake (NYSE:CHK) Report

Activist Mason Hawkins on to Chesapeake (NYSE:CHP) O. Mason Hawkins, whose $34-M mutual fund firm is Chesapeake Energy Corp’s largest shareholder, is best known as a Warren Buffett-style value investor who takes big stakes in companies and holds them for years. But occasionally Hawkins turns activist and agitates for corporate change. His firm, Southeastern Asset [...]

Read More » No comment May 14, 2012

USA Economic Update

US consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in more than 4 yrs in early May. Americans were upbeat on the jobs market, and plans to buy things are brighter, a survey showed Friday, offering an encouraging sign for the economic recovery. Separate data, reported earlier in the day showed US producer prices unexpectedly fell [...]

Las Vegas Earnings Fall LVS, WYNN, CZR

The Nevada Gaming Commission’s report said that total revenue for March 2012 came in at $854.6-M, down -10.86% compared with March 2011. For the 1st 9 months of the fiscal year (F-Y), state-wide revenues are + 2.16%. The Las Vegas Strip accounted for more than 50% of the state’s revenue, with a March total of [...]

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) The Perfect Storm

Apart from a scurrilous board and a kleptomaniac CEO Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) problems are getting worse The price of Nat Gas has fallen more than 60% over the past 12 months. Energy firms that carry billions of dollars of reserves on their books based on a price of $4 per MMBtu will soon have to [...]

Investor Services

Private Equity Takes a Hit in Q1 2012

Most private-equity and hedge funds typically take 20 percent of investment gains as carried interest, on top of 2 percent of assets as a management fee to …