| Wells Fargo to absorb $1.4B provision in 4Q for losses on loans
Wells Fargo & Co. is absorbing $1.4 billion in losses on home equity loans that borrowers have stopped repaying amid a deepening real estate slump that's turned into a financial sinkhole. Until Wells Fargo disclosed its projected losses late Tuesday, the San Francisco-based bank had suffered relatively little damage in a mortgage meltdown that had already battered other major U.S. lenders. "Clearly, this is a disappointment because (Wells) had been seen as better managers of credit than many other big banks," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Morford. "But now they have a big blemish on them, too." After gaining 34 cents to finish at $29.83 in Tuesday's regular session, Wells Fargo shares plunged $1.40, or 4.7 percent, in the extended trading that followed a Securities and Exchange Commission filing outlining the bank's home equity loan losses.
Outlook roundup: AmerisourceBergen
NEW YORK (AP) _ Drug distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp. raised its fiscal 2008 revenue forecast Thursday, saying it is doing more business with institutional customers. NEW YORK (AP) _ Canadian fertilizer maker Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. on Thursday issued first-quarter and full-year 2008 earnings guidance above Wall Street estimates, as robust global demand for agricultural products and fertilizers is expected to continue. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) _ International Speedway Corp. on Thursday reiterated its outlook for fiscal 2008 profit between $3.05 and $3.15 per share, but said it is "more comfortable" at the lower end of the range. NEW YORK (AP) _ Bond insurer and reinsurer Assured Guaranty Ltd. said Thursday it will take a $302.9 million loss on the value of a derivatives portfolio and $18.1 million in losses tied to its home equity line of credit business during the fourth quarter.
Soaring shares ‘may leave markets vulnerable to painful correction ...
Sharp gains in share prices on both sides of the Atlantic despite worldwide financial turmoil could leave stock markets vulnerable to a painful correction, the Governor of the Bank of England told investors yesterday. As he predicted "many more months of stress in financial markets", Mervyn King raised a question mark over the fact that even as credit markets have been rocked by the sub-prime home loans crisis in the United States since August, share prices have continued a steep upward march. Sounding a warning that these largely unchecked gains in equity markets could leave them exposed, the Governor said: "It’s very striking that despite developments we’ve seen in the last three months, equity prices are on average higher now than they were in August.
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