Financial Winners & Losers

Friday's Financial Winners & Losers

 

Financial stocks were blasting off Friday, together with the jubilant broad indices, in a last full-trading-day hurrah before the markets close on Christmas. Trading will end early on Monday.

Leading the skyward surge was First Marblehead (FMD), which was up some 70% after Goldman Sachs (GS) agreed to inject the student lender with up to $260.5 million by buying up to 19.99% of the firm's shares outstanding as of the time the deal closes. That kicks off today with a purchase of $59.8 million in securities convertible to shares at $11.24 apiece. Then, upon regulatory clearance, Goldman will buy up to another $200.7 million worth for a $15 per-share conversion price.

Goldman additionally agreed to establish a $1 billion warehouse lending facility for the company. Further, First Marblehead will suspend its dividend "for the foreseeable future" in an effort to preserve its cash levels. First Marblehead shares were jumping $7.65 to $18.89. Goldman was adding 3% at $208.79.

Merrill Lynch (MER) may also hop on the capital-infusion bandwagon: the troubled New York broker is currently in late-stage negotiations to get as much as $5 billion from Singapore-based Temasek Holdings, according to The Wall Street Journal. Shares gained 1.3% to $55.20.

And Marsh & McLennan (MMC) was riding high after saying it will eject CEO Michael Cherkasky as soon as it finds a suitable replacement. The company board commented that MMC's financial performance this year "has fallen far short of our expectations," and that the management change "will best enable MMC to move forward and enhance shareholder value." Shares of the insurance broker were up 87 cents, or $3.5%, to $25.76.

TheStreet Premium Services

Jim Cramer
Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS:
Trade right alongside a Wall Street pro — enjoy access to his Charitable Trust portfolio and be sent trade alerts BEFORE he makes a move. Learn More
OptionsProfits
OptionsProfits:
Get 50+ trade ideas a week from the industry's top options experts. Plus — exclusive commentary on market trends and essential trading tools. Learn More
Real Money
Real Money:
Our team of professional Wall Street Pros — including Jim Cramer, Doug Kass, and Nicholas Vardy — delivers intelligent analysis, timely trade ideas, and colorful commentary. Learn More
Stocks Under $10
Stocks Under $10:
Break into the market with small- and mid-cap stocks... all $10 or less! David Peltier tells you exactly which low-priced stocks he's buying and selling. Learn More
To begin commenting right away, you can log in below using your Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, OpenID or Yahoo login credentials. Alternatively, you can post a comment as a "guest" just by entering an email address. Your use of the commenting tool is subject to multiple terms of service/use and privacy policies - see here for more details.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Dow Jones S&P 500 NASDAQ 10-Year Note
12,393.45 1,310.33 2,827.34 15.81
Oil *
101.78
DOWN
26.41
DOWN
2.99
DOWN
10.02
DOWN
0.44
10 Yr
1.58%
SPDR Gold
151.62
-0.21%
-0.23%
-0.35%
-2.71%
Data delayed 20 minutes

Top Stories and Tools

Articles From

After the Bell

Before the Bell

Booyah! Newsletter

Midday Bell

TheStreet Top 10 Stories

Winners & Losers

We respect your privacy.
Podcasts

Connect with TheStreet