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Entries tagged "Ambac"The incredible shrinking economyAs more bad economic news piles up, the markets continue to tumble. Battered bond and mortgage insurers get boost from the HillBond insurers and mortgage insurers, which have taken big hits over the past year due to their wraps of toxic mortgages and soured mortgage-backed securities, got a boost Thursday on reports that Citigroup Inc. signed onto a deal with Senate Democrats that would allow bankruptcy judges to set new repayment terms for holders of mortgages. Might this be a step in the right direction toward lowering default rates? Bond insurance and mortgage insurance shareholders appear to believe so. ... S&P ratings action ensure gains at bond insurersStandard and Poor's and its ratings agency peers have caused much heartache and pain among shareholders of the major bond insurers due to a mix of downgrades and negative reviews. But on Friday, Aug. 15, shareholders of the two largest monolines, MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc., had S&P to thank for significant stock gains. ... Ackman likely unhappy as bulls run up monolinesWhile the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 302.89 point gain to 11,734.32 on Friday may have put a little weekend spending cash in investors' pockets, activist investor Bill Ackman of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management LP may have a little less reason to celebrate as two of his short-selling targets, bond insurers MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc., each recorded double-digit gains over the past week on surprisingly strong earnings.... Bond insurers rally on Ambac CDO settlementAlways in need of a lift as they continue to take structured finance related hits, the bond insurers rallied Friday on news that No. 2 monoline Ambac Financial Group Inc. wiped one of its largest toxic structured finance exposure off of its books as it agreed to settle an unnamed counterparty's claims against a $1.4 billion collateralized-debt-obligation exposure in exchange for an $850 million cash payment. Ambac shares soared 50.40% on the news to close at $3.79 per share. Ambac in early June announced plans to launch a separate stable municipal bond-only entity, which has yet to materialize. ... Triple-A monolines: A dying breedA top triple-A credit rating is a rarity in the troubled world of the bond insurers these days. And the few that still hold onto one are threatened with having it pulled out from under them. The newest on Moody's Investors Service ratings watch list: Assured Guaranty Corp. and Financial Security Assurance Inc., or FSA. ... Oil price dip heats up markets as some Deal Stocks reboundIt's amazing how the negative mood of a market can stop on a dime. Take Tuesday's market trading, for example, where the dealmaking engine continued to spew out transaction after transaction, but its impact on trading was only felt after some oil was added to the equation. The drop of the price of oil by more than $5 a barrel helped to jump-start the markets, which pushed the Dow up 152.25, or 1.36%, to 11,384.21, and the Nasdaq rose 51.12, or 2.28%, to 2,294.44. Here's a closer look at the activity of Deal Stocks in Tuesday trading. ... The sky is falling at IndyMac as market confidence is lowThe walking wounded from the credit crisis seem to be hanging on for dear life. There's bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc., which says it has enough liquidity despite downgrades by all three rating agencies. Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings cut its ratings on IndyMac Bancorp following a regulator's determination that the thrift is not "well capitalized." The two are just a small sampling of the hurting financial sector, which cast a hazy shadow over the markets. There was no visibility in Tuesday midday trading as the Dow has wavered, trading up 21.57, or 0.23%, to 11,253.53 while the Nasdaq inched forward... Moody's downgrades MBIA, Ambac, but is Ackman satisfied?Moody's Investors Service gave MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Services Inc. a swift kick in the you-know-what, with the removal of the monolines' triple-A ratings. Moody's on Thursday evening announced it had downgraded MBIA Insurance Corp.'s insurer financial strength rating two notches A2 with a negative outlook from triple-A. Ambac Assurance Corp.'s insurer financial strength rating was concurrently dropped one notch to Aa3 with a negative outlook from triple-A. The ratings actions follows a review for possible downgrade of the monolines' top ratings that was initiated on June 4. ... Financial Deal Stock's weakness dampens marketDeal-related financial stocks were in the red as investors digested a bevy of news that suggest that the credit crisis has shown no signs of weakening. Washington Mutual Inc., MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc. all backpedaled as the Dow declined 136.87, or 1.13%, to 11,926.22, and the Nasdaq declined 48.02, or 1.93%, to 2414.27 in early-afternoon trading.... Ambac to Fitch Ratings: You're fired!Was it just coincidence or retribution that Ambac Financial Corp. ended its ratings contract with Fitch Ratings? Ambac released a terse press release Wednesday of its action, adding, "Our decision to refocus and realign our business around our core expertise in the public finance and infrastructure sectors has led us to re-evaluate our ratings needs." And for Ambac, its needs apparently didn't include spending money on a ratings downgrade from Fitch that only hurt its bottom line. ... FT: Trio of banks could face write-downs on monoline exposuresThe Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and UBS could face additional write-downs of up to $10 billion after the two largest bond insurers Ambac Financial Group Inc. and MBIA Inc. last week lost their triple-A credit ratings from Standard & Poor's. The banks rely on the monolines to insure holdings of risky structured finance products, such as mortgage-backed securities, and the report said that the trio are the banks most exposed to Ambac and MBIA, with UBS' exposure at $6.3 billion, Citi's at $4.8 billion and Merrill's at $3 billion. ... Top tagsYou have executed a tag search on Dealscape. On the left,you will find a comprehensive list of stories tagged "Ambac." Below are the most-popular tags for Dealscape. On the right of the page you will find a search box to dig deeper into our content.
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