Σε νέο ιστορικό υψηλό το αργό-'Αγγιξε τα 117 δολάρια
Περιόρισε τις απώλειες το αργό στις Συναλλαγές της Νέας Υόρκης, και κατάφερε να ενισχυθεί κατά 2 δολάρια τερματίζοντας σε νέο ιστορικό υψηλό στα 116,69 δολάρια ανά βαρέλι, καθώς το σαμποτάζ στους αγωγούς της Νιγηρίας υπερίσχυσε της ενδυνάμωσης του δολαρίου.Αναλυτικότερα, το συμβόλαιο παράδοσης Μαΐου για το αργό κατέγραψε κέρδη 1,8% τερματίζοντας στα 116,69 δολάρια το βαρέλι, έχοντας αγγίξει νωρίτερα το χαμηλό μιας ημέρας των 112,72 δολαρίων ανά βαρέλι.
Μετά τη λήξη της συνεδρίασης των εμπορευμάτων της Νέας Υόρκης, το αργό κατέγραψε νέο ιστορικό υψηλό στις Ηλεκτρονικές Συναλλαγές στα 117 δολάρια ανά βαρέλι.
REPORTER.GR
Economy | Business | Social | Leaked | Opinions
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Bank of America May Miss 20% Profit-Gain Forecast, Analysts Say
Bank of America May Miss 20% Profit-Gain Forecast, Analysts Say
April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis will fail to deliver on his pledge to boost profit by 20 percent this year because of rising losses on home-equity loans and credit cards, analysts say.
Nine of 14 analysts following the second-largest U.S. bank expect flat or lower profits this year, according to Bloomberg data. The average estimate has declined 28 percent to $3.16 a share since Jan. 22, when Lewis said he expected earnings ``to be well above $4'' this year.
``Chief executives sometimes boldly predict because they are trying to go against the market,'' Gary Townsend, a partner at Hill-Townsend Capital in Chevy Chase, Maryland, said today in an interview. ``In retrospect it doesn't look very smart.''
Bank of America may report its third straight quarterly profit decline on April 21, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank faces rising losses on consumer loans plus writedowns of $3.5 billion related to subprime mortgages, KBW Inc. analyst Jefferson Harralson said in an April 7 report.
An increased gap between what the bank pays on deposits and receives from borrowers would propel gains this year, Lewis said. ``That's going to be a pretty big number,'' he told analysts in January.
While the bank's net interest margin probably increased in the quarter from the Dec. 31 level of 2.61 percent, that may be more than offset by higher credit costs, Harralson said in the report. He predicts Bank of America will earn $2.80 a share in 2008, the second-lowest estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
`Out on a Limb'
JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO James Dimon and many other bank CEOs have refrained from issuing projections, said Nancy Bush, an independent bank analyst in Aiken, South Carolina, who expects Bank of America to earn $3.11.
``I don't know why any CEO would step out on a limb this year,'' Bush said. ``Even in January, it was obvious that this was going to be a difficult year.''
Bank of America has tightened its lending standards this year to limit losses to credit card, home-equity and small- business borrowers, Lewis said. Scott Silvestri, a spokesman for Bank of America, declined to comment today.
The bank's losses on its $112 billion in home equity loans is likely to more than double in the first quarter to 1.3 percent because of declining home prices in California and Florida, Harralson predicted. About 40 percent of the bank's home equity loans are in those two states.
Home Equity, Credit Cards
Wells Fargo & Co., on April 16 reported home equity losses that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Brian Foran called greater than expected. Wells Fargo is the second-largest home equity lender behind Bank of America.
Bank of America will probably charge off 6 percent of its $76 billion in credit card loans this year, more than the 5 percent to 5.5 percent range previously cited by management, Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Edward Najarian said in a March 28 report. He said he based his opinion on a visit with senior management. The bank is the largest U.S. credit card issuer.
The bank's earnings may be affected by January's sale of $13 billion in preferred stock. The bank boosted capital after spending $21 billion last year to buy LaSalle Bank from ABN Amro NV. The preferred dividend payments of more than $900 million annually will trim earnings by about 24 cents a share, Townsend said.
``Bank of America's capital structure isn't nearly so happy to common shareholders as it was before,'' he said.
Lewis in January said the bank didn't expect a repeat of the $2.76 billion fourth-quarter loss from its corporate and investment bank unit, largely due to writedowns related to debt securities backed by subprime mortgages.
With demand for leveraged loans and packages of mortgage- backed securities remaining depressed, the bank faces another $3 billion in writedowns, analyst Joseph Morford of RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco said in an April 1 report. He expects the bank to earn $3.35 a share this year.
BLOOMBERG
April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis will fail to deliver on his pledge to boost profit by 20 percent this year because of rising losses on home-equity loans and credit cards, analysts say.
Nine of 14 analysts following the second-largest U.S. bank expect flat or lower profits this year, according to Bloomberg data. The average estimate has declined 28 percent to $3.16 a share since Jan. 22, when Lewis said he expected earnings ``to be well above $4'' this year.
``Chief executives sometimes boldly predict because they are trying to go against the market,'' Gary Townsend, a partner at Hill-Townsend Capital in Chevy Chase, Maryland, said today in an interview. ``In retrospect it doesn't look very smart.''
Bank of America may report its third straight quarterly profit decline on April 21, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank faces rising losses on consumer loans plus writedowns of $3.5 billion related to subprime mortgages, KBW Inc. analyst Jefferson Harralson said in an April 7 report.
An increased gap between what the bank pays on deposits and receives from borrowers would propel gains this year, Lewis said. ``That's going to be a pretty big number,'' he told analysts in January.
While the bank's net interest margin probably increased in the quarter from the Dec. 31 level of 2.61 percent, that may be more than offset by higher credit costs, Harralson said in the report. He predicts Bank of America will earn $2.80 a share in 2008, the second-lowest estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
`Out on a Limb'
JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO James Dimon and many other bank CEOs have refrained from issuing projections, said Nancy Bush, an independent bank analyst in Aiken, South Carolina, who expects Bank of America to earn $3.11.
``I don't know why any CEO would step out on a limb this year,'' Bush said. ``Even in January, it was obvious that this was going to be a difficult year.''
Bank of America has tightened its lending standards this year to limit losses to credit card, home-equity and small- business borrowers, Lewis said. Scott Silvestri, a spokesman for Bank of America, declined to comment today.
The bank's losses on its $112 billion in home equity loans is likely to more than double in the first quarter to 1.3 percent because of declining home prices in California and Florida, Harralson predicted. About 40 percent of the bank's home equity loans are in those two states.
Home Equity, Credit Cards
Wells Fargo & Co., on April 16 reported home equity losses that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Brian Foran called greater than expected. Wells Fargo is the second-largest home equity lender behind Bank of America.
Bank of America will probably charge off 6 percent of its $76 billion in credit card loans this year, more than the 5 percent to 5.5 percent range previously cited by management, Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Edward Najarian said in a March 28 report. He said he based his opinion on a visit with senior management. The bank is the largest U.S. credit card issuer.
The bank's earnings may be affected by January's sale of $13 billion in preferred stock. The bank boosted capital after spending $21 billion last year to buy LaSalle Bank from ABN Amro NV. The preferred dividend payments of more than $900 million annually will trim earnings by about 24 cents a share, Townsend said.
``Bank of America's capital structure isn't nearly so happy to common shareholders as it was before,'' he said.
Lewis in January said the bank didn't expect a repeat of the $2.76 billion fourth-quarter loss from its corporate and investment bank unit, largely due to writedowns related to debt securities backed by subprime mortgages.
With demand for leveraged loans and packages of mortgage- backed securities remaining depressed, the bank faces another $3 billion in writedowns, analyst Joseph Morford of RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco said in an April 1 report. He expects the bank to earn $3.35 a share this year.
BLOOMBERG
BOE Prepares 50 Billion-Pound Mortgage Plan, BBC Says
BOE Prepares 50 Billion-Pound Mortgage Plan, BBC Says
April 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Bank of England is preparing to announce a plan to swap 50 billion pounds ($99.9 billion) of government bonds for British banks' mortgages, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.
The plan, to be unveiled next week, involves government bonds with a maturity of up to one year, the BBC said. They would be rolled over for up to three years, it added.
The BBC said the plan would be the biggest special initiative by British monetary authorities to supply liquidity to the U.K. banking system, and would meet banks' demands for ``longer term loans'' while escaping being accounted for in the national debt.
``The chancellor has made very clear that work is under way at the highest levels to ensure that the secondary market returns to functioning normally,'' an official of the U.K. Treasury said, in a reference to Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling. ``An announcement will be made in due course.''
The Bank of England declined to comment on the BBC report.
The U.K. central bank is working with the Treasury and Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office on a plan to inject liquidity into markets after a worldwide surge in borrowing costs. Lloyds TSB Group Plc, Nationwide Building Society and HBOS Plc have raised the cost of mortgage loans even as the central bank lowered its benchmark lending rate, threatening to curb U.K. economic growth.
Pound Gains
The pound rose to a 10-day high against the euro yesterday, posting the biggest weekly gain in more than a year, after the Wall Street Journal reported the Bank of England would take as much as 30 billion pounds of infected mortgages off lenders' balance sheets to ease the credit crisis.
Britain's currency also climbed versus the dollar and two- year government notes dropped the most in a month. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the country's second-biggest lender, may sell shares, a person familiar with the matter said, a signal the worst of the liquidity squeeze may be over. Traders pared bets on lower rates, with the yield on the December sterling futures contract this week surging by the most in at least four years.
Market Logjam
Britain's currency rose as much as 1.4 percent to 78.76 pence per euro, the highest level since April 7, and was at 78.83 pence by 4:40 p.m. in London. It advanced 1.9 percent in the week, the most since January 2007.
Former policy maker Richard Lambert said yesterday the Bank of England should be ready to act to ease financial-system strains both within the U.K. mortgage market and in a global move with other central banks.
``They need to be ready to join in concerted international action to ease strains on bank liquidity,'' Lambert, director- general of the Confederation of British Industry, said in a speech in Edinburgh. ``They should be working on ways to help unblock the logjam in wholesale financial markets.''
The Financial Times, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, reported that Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc will show about 4 billion pounds ($8 billion) in losses from the credit turmoil next week.
BLOOMBERG
April 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Bank of England is preparing to announce a plan to swap 50 billion pounds ($99.9 billion) of government bonds for British banks' mortgages, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.
The plan, to be unveiled next week, involves government bonds with a maturity of up to one year, the BBC said. They would be rolled over for up to three years, it added.
The BBC said the plan would be the biggest special initiative by British monetary authorities to supply liquidity to the U.K. banking system, and would meet banks' demands for ``longer term loans'' while escaping being accounted for in the national debt.
``The chancellor has made very clear that work is under way at the highest levels to ensure that the secondary market returns to functioning normally,'' an official of the U.K. Treasury said, in a reference to Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling. ``An announcement will be made in due course.''
The Bank of England declined to comment on the BBC report.
The U.K. central bank is working with the Treasury and Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office on a plan to inject liquidity into markets after a worldwide surge in borrowing costs. Lloyds TSB Group Plc, Nationwide Building Society and HBOS Plc have raised the cost of mortgage loans even as the central bank lowered its benchmark lending rate, threatening to curb U.K. economic growth.
Pound Gains
The pound rose to a 10-day high against the euro yesterday, posting the biggest weekly gain in more than a year, after the Wall Street Journal reported the Bank of England would take as much as 30 billion pounds of infected mortgages off lenders' balance sheets to ease the credit crisis.
Britain's currency also climbed versus the dollar and two- year government notes dropped the most in a month. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the country's second-biggest lender, may sell shares, a person familiar with the matter said, a signal the worst of the liquidity squeeze may be over. Traders pared bets on lower rates, with the yield on the December sterling futures contract this week surging by the most in at least four years.
Market Logjam
Britain's currency rose as much as 1.4 percent to 78.76 pence per euro, the highest level since April 7, and was at 78.83 pence by 4:40 p.m. in London. It advanced 1.9 percent in the week, the most since January 2007.
Former policy maker Richard Lambert said yesterday the Bank of England should be ready to act to ease financial-system strains both within the U.K. mortgage market and in a global move with other central banks.
``They need to be ready to join in concerted international action to ease strains on bank liquidity,'' Lambert, director- general of the Confederation of British Industry, said in a speech in Edinburgh. ``They should be working on ways to help unblock the logjam in wholesale financial markets.''
The Financial Times, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, reported that Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc will show about 4 billion pounds ($8 billion) in losses from the credit turmoil next week.
BLOOMBERG
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