Lehman sinking fast

[Trendytrader]

WTF ...Morgan Stanley upgrade LEH after-hours based on valuation?????

Someone at LEH must have called on a favor at Morgan Stanley.


http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/lehman-bounces-3-fortune-brands/story.aspx?guid={432CAB20-1B9C-4A00-BE63-161813C68835}&dist=msr_1


LEH 19.81, -2.44, -11.0%) shares rose 3.3% to $20.45, with the bounce coming following Morgan Stanley's initiation of coverage of Lehman's shares with an "overweight" rating and a price target of $31.

"We think near-term risk of incremental write-downs is balanced by solid liquidity and capital footing," wrote analysts Patrick Pinschmidt and Avi Ghosh in a note. "Per our analysis, LEH's discount to book value prices in significant write-downs impairing franchise and profit growth."

Stock in Lehman tumbled 11% during the day, in part after a Wall Street Journal report speculated that investors would sell off Lehman as the books closed for the second quarter to avoid listing it among company holdings.

 

[Illum]

Wonder if that will entice anyone into buying tomorrow. Amazingly this worked throughout April and into May. Good luck to anyone catchin the bottom of LEH.

 

[The Kin]

Based on the below 5-year chart, you'll see that things could be a lot worse.

 

[zdreg]

Quote from turkeyneck:

Punk Siegel has been saying "buy financials" since March.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/67831-dick-bove-says-banking-is-sound-time-to-buy-financials

1 day he will be right and you will be one of the few to remember his march 2008 call.

history does repeat itself. it was not the 1929 crash that wiped out many speculators. quite a few speculators who survived the 29 crash were wiped out by the low in the 1932 crash.

 

[zdreg]

Quote from Trendytrader:

WTF ...Morgan Stanley upgrade LEH after-hours based on valuation?????

Someone at LEH must have called on a favor at Morgan Stanley.


http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/lehman-bounces-3-fortune-brands/story.aspx?guid={432CAB20-1B9C-4A00-BE63-161813C68835}&dist=msr_1


LEH 19.81, -2.44, -11.0%) shares rose 3.3% to $20.45, with the bounce coming following Morgan Stanley's initiation of coverage of Lehman's shares with an "overweight" rating and a price target of $31.

"We think near-term risk of incremental write-downs is balanced by solid liquidity and capital footing," wrote analysts Patrick Pinschmidt and Avi Ghosh in a note. "Per our analysis, LEH's discount to book value prices in significant write-downs impairing franchise and profit growth."

Stock in Lehman tumbled 11% during the day, in part after a Wall Street Journal report speculated that investors would sell off Lehman as the books closed for the second quarter to avoid listing it among company holdings.

two analysts wrote this note. i guess if this prediction falls on its face they will both say that their names were added mistakenly to this piece of research.

 

[ByLoSellHi]

MS wants to increase the cost to whoever, if anyone, is rumored to buy LEH.

Nice.

 

[The Kin]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/bankingfinancial-SP/idUKN3042794720080630

Lehman shares sink on multiple rumors-traders
Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:25pm BST

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[-] Text [+] NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shares fell nearly 11 percent on Monday on rumors THAT the investment bank would be bought for $15 a share, a price well below current market levels, as well as rumors of discouraging remarks from the bank's chief executive.

The drop left Lehman's shares at $19.81, their lowest closing level since 2000.

"There are two rumors going around on Lehman. One, the CEO is at an investor meeting in Boston and people don't like what they're hearing. Another rumor, I don't know if it's linked or not, is that a $15 takeunder is being discussed," said an equities trader in New York, who asked not to be named because he is not allowed to comment on individual stocks.

One variation of the rumor had Barclays Plc (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) making a bid for Lehman's shares. The Daily Telegraph reported in May that Barclays had looked at Lehman.

A Lehman spokesman declined to comment, citing the bank's policy of not commenting on market rumors.

Lehman shares have been hit hard this year as the bank has taken big write-downs and raised capital. Critics say the fourth largest investment bank has not been marking assets down as much as it should. The company's shares trade at about 0.6 times their book value, or their accounting value, signaling that investors see more write-downs coming.

Rumors of write-downs also lifted volume in the market for Lehman stock options. In all, about 465,000 puts and 70,000 calls traded on Lehman, two times the normal volume, according to option analytics firm Trade Alert. (Reporting by Dan Wilchins, Kristina Cooke, and Robert MacMillan; Editing by Toni Reinhold)