Wednesday's Headlines: BofA
(At 7:29 a.m. EDT)
Wednesday's Early Headlines
BofA Raises $13.47 Billion In Secondary.
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
said it has issued 1.25 billion shares at an average price of $10.77 a share, helping the bank raise $13.47 billion. Together with the sale of its stake in
China Construction Bank
for about $7.3 billion, BofA is more than halfway to reaching its capital raising goal of $33.9 billion set by the government's stress tests.
Regions Financial Plans Public Offering.
Regions Financial
(RF) - Get Report
, meanwhile, said it plans to raise $1.25 billion in capital to help meet a $2.5 billion government requirement to buffer itself against future losses.
U.S. May Add Financial Watchdog.
The Washington Post
is reporting that the Obama administration is in discussions to create a regulatory commission that would have broad authority to protect consumers who use financial products as varied as mortgages, credit cards and mutual funds, one of the administration's most significant steps to overhaul regulation of the financial sector. The report cited several sources familiar with the matter.
SEC Could Lose Regulatory Power Under Plan.
Bloomberg
reported that the financial watchdog plan mentioned above could strip the
Securities and Exchange Commission
of some of its powers by giving the Federal Reserve more authority to supervise financial firms deemed too big to fail. The plan could be unveiled as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter told
Bloomberg
.
Japan Economy Shrinks Record 15.2%.
Japan said its gross domestic product fell a record 15.2% in the first quarter, following a revised fourth- quarter drop of 14.4%. The sharp decline came as exports collapsed and consumers and businesses slashed spending.
Three Suitors for GM's Opel Unit.
General Motors
(GM) - Get Report
is expected to see at least three bids from suitors interested in acquiring or taking a stake in the ailing Adam Opel GmbH, a GM Europe spokesman said.
The Financial Times
said those three names were likely
RHJ International
, Italy's
Fiat
, and Canada's
Magna
(MGA) - Get Report
.
SolarWinds Prices IPO Above Expected Range.
SolarWinds
(SWI) - Get Report
, the Austin, Texas-based provider of network management software, said will make its debut Wednesday on the
New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol SWI. The IPO priced at $12.50 a share, above the expected price range of $9.50 to $11.50 a share. The company will offer 9 million shares, with an additional 3.1 million shares to offered by selling stockholders.
Microsoft to Unveil New Search Engine.
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
will introduce its new Internet search engine next week at the "D: All Things Digital" conference, according to a report in
The Wall Street Journal
. The new search engine, code-named Kumo, is expected to help Microsoft in its battle with
(GOOG) - Get Report
.
Earnings and Economic News
Target Expected Before the Opening Bell
Target
(TGT) - Get Report
will release first-quarter earnings results before the start of trading. On average, the retailer is expected to notch a profit of 59 cents a share, which is about 20% below year-ago results, on revenue of $14.8 billion, according to a poll of analysts by Thomson Reuters
H-P Reports Sliding Revenue, Job Cuts.
Hewlett-Packard
(HPQ) - Get Report
met analysts' revenue and profit estimates in its second-quarter results, but falling PC sales crimped the firm's revenue. H-P also said 6,400 workers, or 2% of the company's global staff, will lose their jobs over the next year.
Deere Beats Estimates.
Deere
(DE) - Get Report
reported a second-quarter profit of $472.3 million, or $1.11 a share, although that number fell 38% from a year ago. Revenue fell 17% to $6.75 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected profit of $1.07 a share on revenue of $6.60 billion.
On the economic front, the
Federal Reserve
will release the minutes from its most recent meeting at 2 p.m. EDT. The Federal Open Market Committee, the policy-making arm of the central bank, said on April 29 that information received leading up to the meeting indicated the economy has continued to contract, but at a somewhat slower pace.
At 9:30 a.m. EDT, the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is set to appear before the Senate Banking Committee, where he will offer his comments on oversight of the TARP. When he appeared before a Congressional Oversight Panel late last month, Geithner said the government's $700 billion bailout fund has at least $109.6 billion in resources left, and at the time he anticipated that $25 billion will be paid back by borrowers.
