Banks are desperate to get out from under the onerous restrictions imposed by the government. And they’re willing to move mountains to do it!   Read More

Plus, get calls on biotech, for-profit schools and more.   Read More

The Fed has said banks must tap the equity market before anyone gets approval to return TARP money so...banks are again out raising money.    Read More

David Lutz, managing director at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets, and Jim Iuorio, director at TJM Institutional Services, advised investors what to buy and sell now.    Read More

With its shares up almost 20% from where it priced its massive offering of stock late yesterday, hedge funds that got sizeable allocations of Bank of America shares are crowing, while many accounts that got cut back severely on their requests are cursing.    Read More

Even though Warren Buffett always says he likes stocks more when they're cheaper, he didn't do a lot of buying as Wall Street's major indexes fell to their bear-market lows (so far) in early March.  Berkshire Hathaway's first quarter stock portfolio snapshot shows no blockbuster buys. A few stakes did, however, get bigger during the first three months on the year.   Read More

Has government involvement in the financial sector been beneficial to the largest U.S. banks? After the completion of the government’s bank stress tests, results showed that 10 out of the nation’s 19 largest banks need to raise ~$75 billion in capital to become more solvent.   Read More

Some market watchers are speculating that the stress test results could trigger a string of mergers.   Read More

"The government will try and spin the results positively, and argue that most financial firms are in good shape and no one firm “failed” the test. But the market should know differently. Because the stress tests applied consistent standards across banks, the relative ranking of the banks will be quite accurate. The losers will be out there for us all to see," writes Roubini and his colleagues.   Read More

Stock futures are set to begin May just slightly higher this morning. This comes off the heels of one of the best months in several years for the S&P 500. Most European bourses are closed today due to the May Day holiday.    Read More