Washington Mutual (WM) falls 0.92 to 3.33. S&P notes according to an unconfirmed report in The Wall Street Journal, potential buyers of WM are pushing for a government-assisted takeover; it says this is largely due to WM's deteriorating assets, which could result in writedowns of up to $19 billion. S&P maintains hold.
Citigroup (C) - WSJ reports that Sallie Krawcheck, the head of Citigroup's wealth-management unit, is expected to step down from the company, according to people familiar with the matter. The timing of Krawcheck's departure isn't clear, the people said. Michael Corbat, the head of the corporate and commercial bank within Citigroup's investment-banking division, is expected to replace Krawcheck at the helm of the wealth-management division. S&P maintains buy.
Goldman Sachs Group (GS) is to become a bank holding company, regulated by the Federal Reserve.
Morgan Stanley (MS) is to become a bank holding company. The company says it sought this new status from the Federal Reserve to provide it with maximum flexibility and stability to pursue new business opportunities as the financial marketplace undergoes rapid and profound changes. Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ (MTU) signs a letter of intent to pursue a strategic alliance with MS, which would provide for MS to sell between 10%-20% stake in MS. S&P keeps hold.
American International Group (AIG) rises 1.00 to 4.85 after The Wall Street Journal reports that major shareholders concerned about AIG's $85 billion loan agreement with the federal government plan to meet Monday to discuss alternatives to the bailout plan, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Microsoft (MSFT) sets $40 billion stock buyback. Raises its quarterly dividend by 18% to $0.13 from $0.11.
NetApp (NTAP) falls 2.39 to 18.73 after Wachovia downgrades NTAP to market perform from outperform.
Newmont Mining (NEM) and other gold-related stocks are sharply higher as gold futures soared to more than $900 per ounce in a flight to safety as the dollar index plunged on worries that exploding U.S. debt would result from Treasury's $700 billion-plus financial rescue plan
Brookfield Properties (BPO) falls after Stifel Nicolaus downgrades BPO to hold from buy.
Secure Computing (SCUR) agrees to be acquired by McAfee (MFE) in deal valued at about $465 million. Terms: $5.75 per share in cash for each SCUR share held.
MBIA Inc. (MBI) confirms that as a result of a portfolio rebalancing within its Asset/Liability Management (ALM) portfolio undertaken during the second and third quarters, MBI has sufficient cash, government securities in its ALM portfolio to fund potential termination payments under its insured Guaranteed Investment Contracts (GICs) in the event of any ratings downgrade of MBIA Insurance Corp. by Moody's Investors Service or Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.
Mirant (MIR) announces that it has suspended its program of returning cash to its stockholders after purchasing approximately 110 million of its shares since November 2007 for $3.856 billion. The company now has 156 million basic shares outstanding, having repurchased approximately 43% of its basic outstanding shares over the past 11 months.
General Motors (GM) plans to draw down the remaining $3.5 billion of its $4.5 billion secured revolving credit facility to maintain a high level of financial flexibility for its ongoing restructuring during these uncertain times in the capital markets.
Constellation Energy Group (CEG) agrees to be acquired by MidAmerican Energy Holdings in deal valued at about $4.7 billion, or $26.50 per CEG share.
General Growth Properties (GGP) says its Board of Directors and management team is pursuing a comprehensive evaluation of its alternatives, both financial and strategic, in an effort to align the market value of the company's stock more closely with the intrinsic value of the company's stable, high quality portfolio of real estate assets in good locations with significant barriers to entry.