GM: Asset-Backed Securities Break Typical Analysis

Back in 2007, at the peak of the credit and housing bubble, Wall Street knew very well the securitization (and every other) party was ending, which is why the internal names used for most of the Collateralized Debt Obligations - securitized products designed to provide a last dash trace of yield in a market in wh

As with all other such similar deals, it was well telegraphed. A few days back, Canadian Credit Card Trust filed a short-form base shelf prospectus allowing it to raise up to $1.7-billion via the sale of credit card receivables over the next 25 months.

Investors who participated in the country’s latest Maple transaction — a $650-million, five-year 3.375% offering from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. — are hoping that they do as well as investors did last year with a similar offering by the same issuer. At a session held this week in Toronto by Montreal-based money manager Pembroke Management, Richard Usher-Jones, a partner at Canso Investment Counsel, a firm that sub-advises to Pembroke, explained how a bond returned 17% last year, yet interest rates are near or at their lowest levels in many years.

By Chris Ridder: General Motors (GM) reported Q3 earnings on Halloween, October 31. This was greeted as a treat by the market as the stock rallied over 9.5% on the day from $23.28 to $25.50.

By Chris Ridder: General Motors (GM) reported earnings on Thursday, May 3, 2012 and so far the market has responded negatively. By the close of trading on May 4th GM is at $22.36, having fallen from just under $23 before the announcement. (Click charts to enlarge.)

In Brief Created by Professor Messod Beneish, the M-Score is a mathematical model that uses eight financial ratios to identify whether a company has manipulated its earnings. The variables are constructed from the company's financial statements and create a score to describe the degree to which the earnings have been manipulated. In many ways it is similar to the Altman Z-Score, but it is focused on  detecting earnings manipulation rather than bankruptcy.  Interestingly, students from Cornell University using the M score correctly identified Enron as an earnings manipulator, while experienced

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced on Thursday that it had sold the last remaining securities from its Maiden Lane III portfolio, successfully closing the chapter on its assistance to insurance giant AIG. I thought this would be a good occasion to review the various measures that the Fed implemented over the last 5 years-- what they were attended to accomplish, what they did accomplish, and the significance of Thursday's announcement.