The market opened up Wednesday as Capitol Hill reached a tentative agreement to
bail out the auto industry. The Dow advanced 72.16 points to 8,763.49, the S&P 500 increased 6.66 points to 895.33, and the
Nasdaq was up 3.82 points at 1,551. But bank stocks remained mixed.
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Perhaps one reason for the poor morning performance can be attributed to comments from Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney, who told CNBC that big banks "are going to be on life support for at least 18 months, if not 36 months."
Already on life support, American International Group Inc.'s stocks were down on news the company owes Wall Street investment banks about $10 billion for bad trades. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s and Bank of America Corp.'s stocks were up, but then doubled back. Both banks are under fire from protesters after Bank of America cut off a credit-line to Chicago-based Republic Door & Window, which in turn shut its factory. J.P. Morgan owns 40% of the manufacturer. Meanwhile, Atlantic Equities analyst Richard Staite is downgrading Bank of America and Wells Fargo & Co., saying the two banks need "to raise billions of dollars in common equity and face a high risk of a dividend cut."
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s stocks are up, but it is drawing some criticism by recommending that investors purchase credit-default swaps to bet against 11 states' debt, including New Jersey, Wisconsin, California and Florida. Citigroup Inc.'s stocks are up as its restructuring continues. The bank announced it is cutting 1,000 workers at its retail brokerage unit in Japan. Wachovia Corp.'s stocks are down. Wachovia CEO Robert Steel is reportedly forgoing his bonus for 2008. - Maria Woehr
Troubled Wall Street
Prices at 9:30am EST |
| Name |
Price at
open |
Price
at 9:30am |
Change |
Mkt cap |
| J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. |
34.4 |
34.43 |
0.47 |
128.50B |
| Merrill Lynch & Co. |
14.77 |
14.62 |
0.12 |
23.38B |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. |
73.28 |
73.56 |
0.79 |
29.08B |
| Morgan Stanley |
15.35 |
15.31 |
0.34 |
16.25B |
| Citigroup Inc. |
8.74 |
8.77 |
0.23 |
47.79B |
| Fannie Mae |
0.79 |
0.80 |
0.01 |
860.97M |
| Freddie Mac |
0.8 |
0.80 |
0.01 |
517.73M |
| Bank of America Corp. |
17.32 |
17.23 |
0.28 |
86.45B |
| Wachovia Corp. |
5.99 |
5.91 |
-0.05 |
12.77B |
| Wells Fargo & Co. |
30.8 |
30.36 |
-0.14 |
100.95B |
| American International Group Inc. |
1.87 |
1.84 |
-0.09 |
4.94B |
| Sovereign Bancorp Inc. |
2.65 |
2.62 |
0.02 |
1.74B |
| National City Corp. |
2.05 |
2.05 |
0.07 |
4.17B |
| Fifth Third Bancorp |
7.86 |
7.83 |
0.08 |
4.52B |
| Capital One Financial Corp. |
33.1 |
32.45 |
-0.43 |
12.70B |
| SunTrust Banks Inc. |
29.57 |
29.55 |
-0.49 |
10.46B |
| U.S. Bancorp |
28.36 |
28.23 |
0.13 |
49.53B |
| Regions Financial Corp. |
9.23 |
9.20 |
0.09 |
6.36B |
| KeyCorp |
8.55 |
8.57 |
0.15 |
4.24B |
| PNC Financial Services |
52.8 |
53.59 |
1.47 |
18.65B |
| BB&T Corp. |
30 |
29.45 |
-0.15 |
16.27B |
| Bank of New York Mellon Corp. |
28.72 |
28.15 |
0.52 |
32.30B |
| State Street Corp. |
42.5 |
42.87 |
1.07 |
18.51 |
Source: The Deal |
