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Strategies & Market Trends : Ride the Tiger with CD -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TheSlowLane who wrote (111603)	4/16/2008 7:26:48 AM
From: rubbersoul	Respond to of 313058

...same here ;) Ooops, what's this? JPMorgan Net Drops 50% on $5.1 Billion of Writedowns, Reserves By Elizabeth Hester April 16 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., the third- biggest U.S. bank, said profit fell 50 percent after $5.1 billion of writedowns and provisions linked to the collapse of the subprime mortgage market and bad home-equity loans. First-quarter net income dropped to $2.37 billion, or 68 cents a share, from $4.79 billion, or $1.34, a year earlier, the New York-based bank said today in a statement. That compares with the 68-cent average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. JPMorgan is grappling with a sagging labor market that's hurt clients' ability to pay credit cards and other consumer loans on time. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said in the statement that ``earnings this quarter were down significantly as market conditions and the credit environment remained challenging.'' ``We're not expecting a lot of expansion because the consumer has been depressed,'' said Frederic Dickson, chief market strategist at Lake Oswego, Oregon-based D.A. Davidson & Co., which manages $23 billion, before results were announced. ``We will see accelerated charge-offs and accelerated provisions for credit cards and home-equity loans.'' U.S. employers cut 80,000 jobs in March -- the most workers in five years -- and the unemployment rate rose to 5.1 percent, the highest since September 2005. The economy also lost jobs in January and February, according to Labor Department figures released April 4. Consumers fell behind on credit-card, home-equity and auto loans at the fastest pace in 15 years during the fourth quarter of last year, according to a survey by the American Bankers Association released April 3. Bear Stearns JPMorgan has fallen almost 16 percent in New York Stock Exchange composite trading during the past 12 months, compared with 57 percent at bigger rival Citigroup Inc. Bank of America Corp., the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, has declined 30 percent. JPMorgan gained 1.5 percent yesterday to $42.12. JPMorgan agreed to acquire New York-based Bear Stearns Cos., once the fifth-biggest U.S. securities firm, on March 16 after lenders and clients fled on concern the company faced a cash shortage. JPMorgan, which got financial support from the Federal Reserve, raised the purchase price from $2 a share to $10 a share a week later to quell concerns that Bear Stearns shareholders would reject the deal. JPMorgan has been increasing its stake in Bear Stearns to ensure that the deal will go through. Bear Stearns earlier this week reported first-quarter net income of $115 million, or 86 cents a share, down 79 percent. JPMorgan also made a bid for Washington Mutual Inc., the largest U.S. savings and loan, according to a person familiar with the talks. Washington Mutual sold $7 billion in shares to an investor group led by private equity firm TPG Inc. instead of accepting a buyout. To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Hester in New York at ehester@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: April 16, 2008 07:04 EDT