ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
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This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 3, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) On January 31st, Lender Processing Services (LPS) announced the company has settled with the attorneys general of 46 states and the District of Columbia over accusations of fraudulent practices in its … Read more
This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 29, 2011. Click here to read the entire piece.) In early November, I wrote that a turnaround finally seems to be materializing for Lender Processing Services (LPS). Regulatory and legal issues have long been a severe overhang for LPS, so … Read more
Like many strong momentum high-tech stocks, Baidu Incorporated (BIDU) has had an incredible run from its 2009 lows. In less than three years, the stock has increased over 16x from around $10 to over $160. Last week, BIDU traded below its 200-day moving average (DMA) for the first time since April, 2009. On Thursday, BIDU … Read more
Almost two weeks ago, I wrote a piece titled “Lender Processing Services Poised to Profit as Housing Market Worsens” in which I provided my thoughts and analysis about the latest earnings conference call for LPS. That piece included a detailed review of the entire earnings conference call. I concluded that the information management provided seemed … Read more
(The following news release is satire and reflects my own cynical interpretation of recent news events. But as they say, there is always some truth in humor.) On Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder introduced the country to the Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group to “…focus specifically on fraud in the energy markets” by … Read more
On Wednesday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rendered punishment on Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) and other financial institutions “…for unsafe and unsound practices related to residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing.” (See OCC Takes Enforcement Action Against Eight Servicers for Unsafe and Unsound Foreclosure Practices). The OCC now requires mortgage … Read more
Once again, negative news flow caught up with Lender Processing Services (LPS) – this time it was a Reuters report titled “Special report: Legal woes mount for a foreclosure kingpin” that provided additional sordid and scandalous details on now well-known allegations that have weighed on LPS for at least a year. Reuters essentially claims that … Read more
When news broke of SEC charges of fraud against GS, investors quickly dumped DB out of fear that the SEC would soon target DB for its involvement in creating toxic collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). While the selling in GS has gained momentum, the selling in DB has ever so slightly reversed. On Monday, GS broke … Read more
I have a lot of respect for fund manager Doug Kass. His latest piece, “The Ramifications of the Goldman Sachs Case,” contextualizes the current push for financial reform, and it provides a succinct indictment of the practices that helped ignite the recent financial panic. However, I disagree with Kass’s casual link between the SEC’s charges … Read more
The news has rippled across the globe that the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) finally got around to charging Goldman Sachs with fraud: “The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Goldman Sachs failed to disclose to … Read more