Winners & Losers
Financial Winners & Losers: MBIA
Debra Borchardt
05/12/08 - 03:57 PM EDT
Financial guarantors and defied gravity Monday, after several reported heavy losses but managed to lift higher in afternoon trading, bringing the financial sector along with them.
Bond insurer MBIA(MBI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) posted a $2.41 billion loss in the first quarter, as it recorded billions in unrealized losses due to the credit market deterioration. The Armonk, N.Y.-based company's shares jumped 5.3% to $9.93.
Radian Group(RDN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) enjoyed unrealized gains of $707 million on its derivatives, pushing its net income to $195 million. But excluding those gains, the company suffered an operating loss $215 million. The stock climbed 21 cents, or 3.9%, to $5.64.
PMI Group (PMI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) shares rallied after the mortgage insurer said it lost $274 million due partly to a markdown in the value of its stake in the Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. and to a rise in claims payments. Shares were up 14 cents to $6.11.
HSBC Holdings(HBC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) ticked up 3% after its business in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America offset its bad-debt charges from the U.S. The good news was that the bad debt charges were lower than expected and so the market rallied behind the stock and it gained $2.50 to $86.57.
But the big winner of the day was Stifel Financial (SF - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) which shot up 13.1% after it informed the market of its 62% increase in first quarter profits. Revenue was driven upward by last year's acquisition of Ryan Beck. The regional brokerage based out of St. Louis also announced a three-for-two stock split and the shares responded favorably by rocketing up $6.14 to $53.04.