ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 26, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) When Lender Processing Services (LPS) reported fourth quarter and full 2011 earnings on February 13, the company provided downside guidance on earnings and revenues. When the stock opened 6% lower, it … 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
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) In late May, I wrote two pieces on Lender Processing Services (LPS) that reflected my increasingly bearish opinion on the company: “Rethinking Lender Processing Services Amidst New Allegations and Surging Put Activity” and “Shorts Close … Read more
As Banks Hold Foreclosed Homes, a Kink in the Housing Market – NYTimes.com The nation’s biggest banks and mortgage lenders have steadily amassed real estate empires, acquiring a glut of foreclosed homes that threatens to deepen the housing slump and create a further drag on the economic recovery. All told, they own more than 872,000 … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece. Full article includes extensive notes from LPS’s last earnings conference call.) For two weeks, I have tried to post my notes from the first quarter earnings conference call for Lender Processing Services, Inc (LPS), a major … 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
The stock market responded favorably to Thursday evening’s earnings report from Lender Processing Services, Inc (LPS) by sending the stock up 5%. Buying volume was also strong at 3.3 million shares, almost doubling the 1.7M 3-month average. *Chart created using TeleChart: I suspect a material portion of this buying came from disappointed shorts who were … Read more
Lender Processing Services (LPS) provides “…mortgage processing services, settlement services, mortgage performance analytics and default solutions.” The company claims that “a majority of the 50 largest U.S. banks” use its services. This business has put LPS right at the epicenter of “foreclosuregate.” On September 30, immediately before the foreclosure scandal engulfed LPS, the stock experienced … Read more