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Non-Tech : Bill Wexler's Trading Cabana -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cubsfan who wrote (5009)	2/27/2009 7:18:01 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

Nice w/e to you too, cubs. Pretty neutral on barc... not bearish, loyds hbos is far worse this is where I am bearish. Will definitely add more barc but I want to see some results and how UK does in the next few months. A profitable bank, bought cheaply could be the investment of the century... some banks are daring some are insane. Compared to Citi, BAC, HBOS, and Royl Bank of Scotland, Barclays was relatively sane. This obviously does not count in a deep recession.

To: cubsfan who wrote (5009)	2/28/2009 6:40:24 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

Some more drag is coming to the U.K. market; writeoff & huge fundraising party at Midlands: Comment & Analysis Saturday February 28, 04:19 PM UPDATE 2-Britain's HSBC plans $18 bln share sale - sources By Daisy Ku LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Britain's HSBC (LSE: HSBA.L - news) is set to announce a share sale of up to $18 billion, two sources familiar with the situation said on Saturday, in what could become the country's biggest-ever rights issue. Europe's biggest bank would unveil the fund raising with its results on Monday, the sources said, following weeks in which investors have urged it to speak out about its plans and remove uncertainty weighing on the stock. 'HSBC plans to launch a rights issue of as much as $18 billion,' one of the sources said. 'Goldman Sachs, JPM Cazenove and HSBC are the underwriters, and they are inviting co-bookrunners, joint lead managers and co-leads,' the source said. The three banks declined to comment. The rights issue would be the biggest ever in Britain if it surpasses the 12 billion pounds raised by crisis-struck rival Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) last April. Investors told Reuters this week they would support a rights issue, and wanted management to act quickly to remove uncertainty hanging over its share price. Markets will now be keen to see the discount in the share offering, after heavy drops in share prices marred a number of unsuccessful rights issues last year. 'This is not a surprise to the market, the concern is how deep the discount will be,' one of the sources said. The discount should be around 35 percent and 40 percent, the other source said, adding that it would be risky for HSBC to offer a discount of less than 35 percent. HSBC has traditionally been one of the best capitalised banks in the world and has not raised capital while others scrambled for cash as the credit crisis deepened. But while it may be able to ride out the storm, a delay may make any cash call it needs at a later stage more painful and investors may prefer to stump up now. In a separate report, the Financial Times said HSBC was also expected to announce a cut in its dividend. HSBC is expected to report a 22 percent fall in annual profits to $19 billion, according to the consensus of analysts polled by Reuters Estimates. It has avoided many of the big credit market hits taken by rivals, but rising bad debts around the world are pressuring its capital strength. Its bad debts last year are expected to have jumped to $22-24 billion from $17 billion, largely due to North American impairments of around $16 billion, analysts have said, and bad debts are also rising in Europe and Asia. Its Tier 1 capital was 8.9 percent at end-September, above the European average and near the top of its targeted range of 7.5 percent to 9 percent. Shares in HSBC closed 6.8 percent lower on Friday, while European banking stocks ended down 4.8 percent.