It seems that one of the most influential analysts in the current market conditions is Meredith Whitney from Oppenheimer. Yesterday she slashed her estimates for Citigroup (C: 21.79 -0.26 -1.18%) saying it could suffer write-downs totaling $13.2 billion, sending its stocks down, and today she sent Merrill Lynch (MER: 41.90 -2.52 -5.67%) and UBS (UBS: 29.13 -0.03 -0.10%) stocks plunging by saying that they could suffer a loss this quarter and have massive write-downs of $6 billion and $11.1 billion, respectively.
The fact that oil prices have risen above $107 a barrel and the lower-than-expected results from Oracle (ORCL: 19.43 -1.51 -7.21%) haven’t given the stock markets much cheer either. In these market conditions, it seems an analyst’s best bet is to look at worst-case scenarios as many of those are coming true. All of this will be great news for those who, like Jim Rogers, were short financials and long commodities.
On a different note, the Clear Channel deal may not be dead after all. Clear Channel Communications (CCU: 29.60 +2.68 +9.96%), the US radio operator, said on Thursday it had won a ruling from a Texas judge that may advance its efforts to force banks to finance a $20 billion buyout by private equity firms Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H Lee Partners who filed the lawsuit. A group of six banks, led by Citigroup was supposed lend more than $22 billion for the buyout, but apparently backed out after credit conditions worsened. Clear Channel shares rose today, erasing its part of its loss of 17.5% on Wednesday.
The fact that oil prices have risen above $107 a barrel and the lower-than-expected results from Oracle (ORCL: 19.43 -1.51 -7.21%) haven’t given the stock markets much cheer either. In these market conditions, it seems an analyst’s best bet is to look at worst-case scenarios as many of those are coming true. All of this will be great news for those who, like Jim Rogers, were short financials and long commodities.
On a different note, the Clear Channel deal may not be dead after all. Clear Channel Communications (CCU: 29.60 +2.68 +9.96%), the US radio operator, said on Thursday it had won a ruling from a Texas judge that may advance its efforts to force banks to finance a $20 billion buyout by private equity firms Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H Lee Partners who filed the lawsuit. A group of six banks, led by Citigroup was supposed lend more than $22 billion for the buyout, but apparently backed out after credit conditions worsened. Clear Channel shares rose today, erasing its part of its loss of 17.5% on Wednesday.
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