Investing

The Home Depot Presents Strategic Priorities and Outlines Long-Term Operating Targets; Updates 2009 EPS Guidance

ATLANTA, June 10 -- The Home Depot will today outline its key strategic priorities and discuss its long-term operating targets at its 2009 Investor and Analyst Conference. In addition, the Company has updated its 2009 EPS guidance.

Today's conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET and will be available in its entirety through a live webcast and replay at homedepot.com in the Investor Relations section.

Strategic Priorities

The Company will discuss its three areas of strategic focus and the specifics behind each: (1) customer service, (2) product authority and (3) productivity and efficiency driven by disciplined capital allocation.    » read more »

Less than half of financial services risk professionals believe the principles of risk management remain sound, Economist Intelligence Unit report finds

09 Jun 2009 -- The global financial crisis has exposed fault lines in the management of risk across many sectors of the financial services industry. Faced with a massive erosion of confidence among key stakeholders, and the prospects of difficult times ahead as the industry seeks to rebuild itself, risk professionals are now questioning the very foundations of risk management.    » read more »

SEC Charges Operators of $80 Million Ponzi Scheme Targeting Korean-Americans

Washington, D.C., June 9, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two California men and two companies they control for conducting an $80 million Ponzi scheme that targeted Korean-American investors with false promises of extraordinarily high returns from foreign currency (forex) trading.    » read more »

Jun 9 2009 -- New York -- "Morgan Stanley is pleased to be repaying its $10 billion in TARP capital with an attractive return for taxpayers.

"We believe this positive development reflects both Morgan Stanley's strong capital position as well as the important systemic role the TARP program played in helping stabilize the U.S. banking system since the height of the financial crisis.

"After exiting the TARP program, Morgan Stanley will continue working closely with the Obama administration, elected officials, our regulators and our peers on the best possible framework to ensure the safety and soundness of the U.S. banking system.

Source: Morgan Stanley

CHICAGO, June 9 -- CME Group, a derivatives exchange, today announced that CME Group Executive Chairman Terry Duffy will appear before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services' Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises Tuesday to discuss proposed regulatory changes for the over-the-counter (OTC) markets.

"We support position reporting for OTC derivatives and agree that enhanced price transparency across the entire market is essential to quantify and control risk," Duffy said.    » read more »

Investor Reporting Platform Offers Process Transparency, Providing Confirmation of NAV's and Deeper Layers of Portfolio Transparency

Jun 8 2009 -- New York -- Morgan Stanley Fund Services (MSFS), a provider of independent fund administration services, announced the launch of an enhanced investor reporting platform in response to the growing demands for additional fund disclosure. The new reporting platform, branded Stratum (SM), allows for reporting at various levels of detail and frequency, defined by the manager on a fund-by-fund basis.    » read more »

Group Provides Investment Consulting Services to Institutional and HNW Investors

Jun 8 2009 -- New York -- Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC has formed Graystone Consulting (Graystone) to provide high-level investment consulting advice to institutional investors and the upper-tier private wealth market.

According to Patrick Schussman, CFA, CIMA, Director of Graystone Consulting, "Graystone is a distinct business that enables accomplished investment consulting teams to draw upon Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's asset allocation and investment manager research and analytics." The teams also have access to performance reporting, custody services and other institutional-quality capabilities.    » read more »

Boston-Based Firm and Affiliate to Pay $40 Million to Settle SEC Charges

Washington, D.C., June 8, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Boston-based Evergreen Investment Management Company LLC and an affiliate with securities law violations for overstating the value of a mutual fund that invested primarily in mortgage-backed securities, and then only selectively telling shareholders about the fund’s valuation problems.

Evergreen agreed to pay more than $40 million to settle the SEC’s charges without admitting or denying the findings in the SEC’s order. This enforcement action is the result of the joint efforts of the SEC and the Massachusetts Securities Division, which also brought related charges against the Evergreen entities today.    » read more »

NEW YORK, June 8 -- Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management led all financial services firms on Barron's "Top 100 Women Financial Advisors" list again this year, with 35 in the rankings (including Banc of America Investment Services).

Among the top 10 were Saly Glassman of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, Lorna Meyer of San Francisco, California, Melissa Harrison of Denver, Colorado, and Debbie Jorgensen of San Francisco, California.    » read more »

BENTONVILLE, Ark., June 8, 2009 --- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) today announced preliminary shareholder voting results for its Annual Meeting of Shareholders held June 5, 2009. Approximately 91.6 percent of outstanding shares were represented at the meeting.

The company reported that shareholders approved the election of each of Wal-Mart’s 15 director nominees. Each director received affirmative votes from 96.7 percent or more of the shares voted. Shareholders also ratified Ernst & Young LLP as Wal-Mart’s independent accountants, with affirmative votes from approximately 99.3 percent of the shares that were represented at the meeting.    » read more »

New York, June 8, 2009 – Liquidnet today announced that it is partnering with NYSE Euronext (NYX) to bring greater efficiencies and transparency to the interactions between institutional investors and corporate management. The combination of Liquidnet’s Global Institutional Marketplace and NYSE Euronext will provide the opportunity for access to new services for institutional investors and corporate issuers serviced by both organizations.    » read more »

NEW YORK--Jun. 8, 2009-- American International Group, Inc. (AIG) announced today that the underwriters of the previously announced public offering of 26 million shares of Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TRH) common stock owned by AIG and its subsidiary, American Home Assurance Company (AHAC), have exercised their option to purchase an additional 3.9 million shares.

As a result, AIG and AHAC will sell a total of 29.9 million shares for aggregate gross proceeds of $1.136 billion. TRH will not receive any of the proceeds from the secondary offering.    » read more »

Extension Of Relationship Strengthens Focus On Risk Transparency And Other Solutions To Meet Growing Regulator And Investor Demands

BOSTON and LONDON, June 8 -- The Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) announced that it has formed a strategic alliance with Investor Analytics (IA) to provide enterprise-wide risk analysis and reporting for asset owners and managers.

The alliance will make IA's risk analyses available to BNY Mellon clients worldwide, including banks, pension funds, asset managers, hedge funds, and other investment professionals.    » read more »

Equity Returns Continue to Buoy Plans

BOSTON, June 5 -- A third consecutive month of strong performances by global equities overcame an increase in pension plan liabilities to lift the funded status of a typical U.S. corporate pension plan by 0.6 percentage points in May, according to monthly statistics published by BNY Mellon Asset Management. The funded status of the typical plan has improved for three months in a row.

Assets for a typical moderate risk portfolio increased 4.1 percent, while liabilities rose 3.3 percent during the month. For the year through May 31, the funding ratio for the typical plan is now up 10.2 percentage points, as represented by the BNY Mellon Pension Liability Index.    » read more »

CHICAGO, June 5 -- CME Group, a derivatives exchange, announced today that electronic trading hours for the CBOT grains, oilseeds and ethanol contracts will be expanded in the morning by one hour and fifteen minutes, until 7:15 a.m., beginning July 1.

The new electronic trading hours will run from 6:00 p.m. to 7:15 a.m. Chicago time Sunday through Friday for futures and options on futures for full and mini-size where offered corn, wheat, soybeans, soymeal, soyoil, rice, oats and ethanol contracts. Daytime electronic and open outcry hours will remain from 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. weekdays.    » read more »