When Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) reported earnings a week ago on May 9th, 2012, analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $0.54 on sales of $382.2 million. Stifel Financial actually reported earnings of $0.55 per share on sales of $409.3 million, beating EPS estimates by $0.02 and beating revenue estimates by $27.2 million. Since the company's report, shares of Stifel Financial have fallen from $35.89 to $31.21, representing a loss of 13.0% in the past 10 days.
There is potential upside of 28.7% for shares of Stifel Financial based on a current price of $31.21 and an average consensus analyst price target of $40.17. Stifel Financial shares should first meet resistance at the 200-day moving average (MA) of $32.84 and find additional resistance at the 50-day MA of $36.34.
Stifel Financial share prices have moved between a 52-week high of $40.57 and a 52-week low of $23.09 and closed Thursday at 35% above that low price at $31.21 per share. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day moving average (MA) has fallen 0.8% while the 200-day MA has slid 0.4%.
Stifel Financial Corp. is a financial services holding company whose subsidiaries provide general securities brokerage, investment banking, and money management. The Company operates locations primarily in the Midwest United States.
Financial literacy helps avert disaster - San Jose Mercury News
SACRAMENTO -- Would we all have been better off during the recession if we'd been a bit more money-educated? Most likely, yes.
Or at least more confident about understanding things like good loans, bad mortgages, saving more and getting less into debt.
That's the belief of many personal finance experts.
And it's not just the pros. Everyday consumers are well aware that they need some financial prowess.
Some 42 percent of adults gave themselves harsh grades -- a C, D or F -- on their knowledge of personal finances, according to a recent online survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. That's a significant change from 2010, when only 35 percent graded themselves poorly.
"Many Americans are so overwhelmed with their financial situation that they are financially frozen, preventing them from reaching out for the help they need," said foundation spokeswoman Gail Cunningham in an email. "Further complicating the problem is that personal finance is complex, and becoming more so every day. There is legitimate help available to consumers, but it's up to them to take advantage of it."
Help is definitely out there. During Financial Literacy Month in April, a number of schools, banks, nonprofits and government groups touted their financial literacy efforts. Here's a sampler:
What prompted the Department of Real Estate to get involved?
"As we sifted through the rubble of the financial meltdown," said DRE spokesman Tom Pool, "we saw that many people who were taken advantage of could have benefited from education."
In California, state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, is trying to change that. Lieu, who has unsuccessfully pushed a series of financial literacy bills the last several years, has another in the hopper, SB 1080, that would encourage personal finance to be taught in high school economics classes. For more on California's financial literacy efforts, see the state Financial Literacy Month website, www.film.ca.gov.
Dookeran goes after CL Financial for bailout money - Trinidad Express
Finance Minister Winston Dookeran says the Government is seeking to claim some $20 billion from CL Financial (CLF).
He told the Sunday Express the Government has put in a claim to CL Financial before the expiration of the Shareholders Agreement in three weeks' time.
While the claim is an estimated $20 billion, the net amount would be around $10 billion, he explained in a telephone interview yesterday.
He did not commit to exact figures and CL Financial's ability, at present, to meet the Government's demands.
At the moment, he said the Ministry was being advised by a team of lawyers from the United Kingdom on how it negotiates with CL Financial moving forward.
"Things are happening. I don't know how much I can make public," he told the Sunday Express yesterday.
The Shareholders Agreement which was signed on June 12, 2009, succeeded the Memorandum of Understanding of January 30, 2009 signed between the Government, CLF and the Central Bank.
The Shareholders Agreement allows the Government to have controlling interest of the CL Financial board.
Government appointed directors on the CL Financial board include former Citibank executive Steve Bideshi, Krishna Boodhai and Marlon Holder while former finance minister Gerald Yetming is chairman of both CL Financial and CLICO. Steve Castagne and Andrew Mitchell, QC were voted on the board by the shareholders.
It was Government's guarantee for a return on its bailout of Lawrence Duprey's companies that made up CL Financial.
The lawyers, explained Dookeran, will negotiate with a limited liability company called United Shareholders Ltd (USL) which is comprised of CL Financial shareholders.
The establishment of USL, by Kirk Carpenter and Roger Duprey, was agreed to by CL Financial shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting held on May 16.
A resolution was also passed for the CL Financial board to form a shareholders' sub-committee, consisting of individuals appointed by USL.
That committee, it was reported, shall have the authority to negotiate and recommend to the CL Financial board any agreement, consent, extension or any other documentation supplemental to or derived from the Memorandum of Understanding of January 30, 2009 and the Shareholders' Agreement of June 12, 2009.
or years, CL Financial was a billion-dollar enterprise. Three years ago, Duprey went to the government after his empire, which comprised some 65 companies in 32 countries, was caught up in a perfect storm of economic collapse.
Its asset-rich portfolio cloaked its cash-poor balance sheets.
Government's intervention saw the revocation of subsidiary Clico Investment Bank's licence, installing of new boards at CLICO and eventually CL Financial and immediate liquidity injection to meet investment annuities which had matured.
CL Financial chairman Gerald Yetming is currently in London to take part in arbitration proceedings brought against the Government by foreign holdings company Consolidated Energy Ltd for its shareholding of Methanol Holdings Trinidad Ltd.
To date, Government has transferred $8.2 billion in cash and bonds to the CLICO policyholders and has spent an estimated $17 billion on CL Financial and its subsidiaries.
Money market fund assets rose to $2.569 trillion - Yahoo Finance
NEW YORK (AP) -- Total U.S. money market mutual fund assets rose by $1.19 billion to $2.569 trillion for the week that ended Wednesday, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.
Assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds fell $1.26 billion to $889.51 billion, the Washington-based mutual fund trade group said. Assets of taxable money market funds in the retail category fell $820 million to $702.41 billion. Tax-exempt retail fund assets fell $450 million to $187.10 billion.
Meanwhile, assets of institutional money market funds rose $2.45 billion to $1.679 trillion. Among institutional funds, taxable money market fund assets rose $3.43 billion to $1.592 trillion; assets of tax-exempt funds fell $980 million to $87.06 billion.
The seven-day average yield on money market mutual funds was 0.03 percent in the week that ended Tuesday, unchanged from the previous week, said Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet Inc. in Westborough, Mass.
The 30-day average yield was also unchanged from last week at 0.03 percent. The seven-day compounded yield was flat at 0.03 percent. The 30-day compounded yield was unchanged at 0.03 percent, Money Fund Report said.
The average maturity of portfolios held by money market mutual funds was unchanged from the previous week at 45 days.
The online service Bankrate.com said its survey of 100 leading commercial banks, savings and loan associations and savings banks in the nation's 10 largest markets showed the annual percentage yield available on money market accounts was unchanged from last week at 0.13 percent.
The North Palm Beach, Fla.-based unit of Bankrate Inc. said the annual percentage yield available on interest-bearing checking accounts was unchanged from the week before at 0.06 percent.
Bankrate.com said the annual percentage yield on six-month certificates of deposit was unchanged from the previous week at 0.22 percent. The yield on one-year CDs was also unchanged at 0.33 percent. It was flat at 0.53 percent on two-and-a-half-year CDs and held steady at 1.13 percent on five-year CDs.
Mesirow Financial Launches FIRSTHR - Yahoo Finance
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Mesirow Financial Insurance Services, the nation’s 23rd largest insurance brokerage as ranked by Business Insurance, today announced the establishment of its new integrated human resources (HR) solutions model: Mesirow Financial FIRSTHR. Expanding its long-time benefits brokerage service model to include a full spectrum of HR services, FIRSTHR will focus on its core clientele – the mid-size employer – to help support HR across the full employee lifecycle.
“Mark Kmety and Brian Diedrich [senior managing directors and Employee Benefits co-practice leaders] have crafted a suite of services aimed at automating and managing employment from pre-hire to retire,” says Mesirow Financial Chairman and CEO Richard Price. He added, “Backed by an experienced crew, our firm is excited to deliver innovative technology and services to mid-size employers.”
Over the past few years, large payroll companies have been moving into the benefits brokerage space. Although some of the bigger brokerage houses have responded by adding services to compete, they have tended to target the larger employer market, leaving mid-size companies largely underserved. Mesirow Financial FIRSTHR plans to fill that gap and bring a higher level of care than payroll providers or its larger competitors.
After a year-long engagement running a parallel search with a consulting firm to find a back-office and e-technology vendor that closely matched their requirements, Mesirow Financial FIRSTHR selected a vendor that provides best practices and best-of-breed technology that is a perfect fit for the mid-size market.
“Mesirow Financial FIRSTHR delivers big-company automation and an exceptional portfolio of critical services, custom designed for the medium-size business,” explains Mark Kmety. That portfolio includes e-technology featuring one of the only single-point-of-entry, Internet-delivered human resource management, payroll, benefits administration and online enrollment systems available. In addition to the benefits portfolio management services that Mesirow Financial has been providing for more than four decades, e-technology, administration and compliance solutions now round out Mesirow Financial FIRSTHR’s full complement of services.
“Prior to ever rolling out our new Mesirow Financial FIRSTHR brand, we have had more initial interest and have been putting more business on the books than we ever imagined,” notes Brian Diedrich. “This confirms our belief that it’s a solution our clients want and need.”
Mesirow Financial launched its rollout of FIRSTHR in 2011, and anticipates a universal rollout to clients and prospects over the next several quarters.
Mesirow Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago. Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, the firm remains independent and employee-owned with approximately 1,200 employees globally. With expertise in Investment Management, Global Markets, Insurance Services and Consulting, Mesirow Financial strives to meet the financial needs of institutions, public sector entities, corporations and individuals. For more information about Mesirow Financial, visit its website at mesirowfinancial.com.
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