Top Takes From RealMoney

The RealMoney contributors are in the business of trading and investing all day on the basis of ongoing news flow. Below, we offer the top five ideas that RealMoney contributors posted today and how they played those ideas.

TheStreet.com brings you the news all day, and with RealMoney's "Columnist Conversation," you can see how the pros are playing it on a real-time basis. Here are the top five ideas from today:

1. Loews
By Tim Melvin
8:25 a.m. EST

That was a pretty nice quarter out of Loews Corp. (L Quote) this morning. Calmer financial markets limited losses at CAN and allowed the company to turn a nice profit for the three months. Loews earned a total of $1.08 a share, compared with a loss of 33 cents a share last year. The company grew book value to $39.54, up from $34.60 at the end of June. Loews also continues to be aggressive about buying back stock below book value. In the quarter, the company repurchased about 3.5 million shares and has bought almost 1 million additional shares in October.

I continue to like this stock for long-term investors and would have it on my buy list. No positions.

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2. Iceland Scales Back Capital Controls
By Marc Chandler
8:36 a.m. EST

Iceland lifted restrictions on capital outflows. New investors can now exchange their holdings for foreign currencies, provided the transactions are duly registered.

Capital controls were imposed late last year following the collapse of Iceland's largest banks. Iceland has been dependent on a $4.6 billion package from the IMF. The IMF had withheld payment until creditor claims were resolved. Last week, the IMF released about $167.5 million, according to reports, the first tranche this year. The Icelandic government indicates that those funds will be used to bolster reserves.

Further unwinding of the capital controls is unlikely to be imminent, but it could take place over the next several quarters, if the economic and financial environment is conducive.

The major rating agencies appear to want to wait until the next IMF review to review their ratings. S&P and Fitch rate Iceland long-term foreign exchange debt as BBB-, with negative outlooks. This is one step above junk, while Moody's is a bit more optimistic with a Baa1 rating, three steps above junk. No positions.