Looks Like S&P Equity Anlaysts Are As Competent As Their Debt Analysts.....

This kind of expertise from Wall Street Finest based only on hope of a better bailout deal ( proposed from a major sharholder.... ) sums the market action up..... At least S&P isn´t able to play the Pump & Dump like Goldman & others.... Keep in mind that AIG is one of the Zombie Stocks making up to 20 percent of daily NYSE volume.....

Diese "Expertenmeinung" die einzig und allein auf einem noch besseren Bailoutdeal ( passenderweise vorgeschlagen von einem der Hauptaktionäre ) basiert spiegelt recht schön wider was momentan an den Märkten abgeht.....Immerhin kann man S&P nicht wie z.B. Goldman vorwerfen das altbekannte Pump & Dump zu praktizieren.... Man sollte sich zusärtlich noch ins Gedächnis rufen das AIG eine der Zombie Aktien ist die momentan für knapp 20% des täglichen Handelsvolumens stehen.....


AIG Shares Shoot up on Proposal to Ease Government Loan Terms MarketBeat

AIG jumped roughly 11% today after the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee confirmed receiving a proposal from former CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg to restructure the government’s bailout of the insurance giant.

The reports prompted S&P Equity Research to boost AIG to “hold” from “sell.”

“We see this news buoying the shares near term,” S&P’s Catherine Seifert wrote in quick squib earlier today. But before you sink the kid’s college fund into AIG shares, keep this in mind:

It’s far from clear that there’s actually any actual equity value in this company.

“We note June 30 tangible common equity was minus $261.66 per share,” Seifert states

Needless to say that according to Yahoo Finance there is no sell rating ( 10 hold ) on AIG.....;-)

Überflüssig zu erwähnen das lt. Yahoo Finance keine einzige Verkaufsempfehlung ( 10 mal Halten ) existiert.....;-)

UPDATE: Traders Seek Fortune in AIG, a Stock Once Left for Dead WSJ

You´ve Got The Fed

Brilliant. Especially after the $85 Billion AIG Bailout from the Fed..... If this news is true Allianz, Flowers Said to Have Bid for AIG Before Fed Takeover this would create the biggest moral hazard so far..... Looks like post from Monday was spot on A.I.G. Seeks $40 Billion in Fed Aid to Survive.... Only $ 45 billion short...... :-)

Genial! Nach dem $85 Billion AIG Bailout der Fed zudem passender denn je....Sollte diese Meldung zutreffen Allianz, Flowers Said to Have Bid for AIG Before Fed Takeover markiert das einen neuen Höhepunkt in Sachen "Moral Hazard". Sieht fast so aus als wenn mein Posting vom Anfang der Woche den Nagel auf den Kopf getroffen hatA.I.G. Seeks $40 Billion in Fed Aid to Survive Nur die Summe hat sich merkwürdigerweise mal eben mehr als verdoppelt.....



Hat tip to Naked Capitalism

A.I.G. Seeks $40 Billion in Fed Aid to Survive

Forget Lehman..... I think the far bigger story is looming in the collaspe of the world biggest insurer AIG...... In a sign of total desperation they are begging the Fed to bail them out...... And with all the recent bailouts it seems only logical for AIG in trying to suck the Fed in ( on top of this it remains to be seen how much toxic waste the Fed can absorb until the balance sheet is similar to lets say a subprime lender .... And it is getting worse by the day ....see Fed Widens Collateral for Loans, Banks Set Up $70 Billion Fund )..... If AIG is failling i assume the implications for world markets would be far bigger than the Lehman BK..... If it is true that AIG had turned down the money from Private Equity and went instead to the Fed ( and would get the money ) it would create the biggest moral hazards so far....

Der Fokus sollte heute nicht auf Lehman sondern auf AIG liegen.... AIG ist bis vor kurzem der größte Versicherer weltweit gewesen und steht unmittelbar vor dem Untergang. Sollte dieses Eintreffen dürften die Schockwellen um einiges Größer sein als die Implosion der im Verhältnis zu AIG winzigen Lehman Brothers. In einem Anfall von totale Verzweiflung hat AIG offensichtlich bei der Fed um Hilfen von schlappen 40$ Mrd angefragt. Denke das dürfte der weltweit erste Fall sein in dem eine Versicherung solch einen Schritt unternimmt. Bei der bisherigen Politik der Fed ist wohl auch einen Versuch wert. Die Fed Bilanzstruktur der Fed sieht eh schon schon aus wie die eines Subprimelenders ( und verschlechtert sich weiter rapideFed Widens Collateral for Loans, Banks Set Up $70 Billion Fund ) ...... Sollte die Meldung stimmen das AIG ein Angebot von Private Equity abgelehnt hat und sich stattdessen auf die Fed verlassen hat und Bernanke & Co die Fed Bilanz für den Versicherer öffnen würde das einen erneuten Dammbruch und den bisherigen Höhepunkt in Sachen "Moral Hazard" markieren

A.I.G. Seeks $40 Billion in Fed Aid to Survive Dealbook NYT
The American International Group is seeking a $40 billion bridge loan from the Federal Reserve, as it faces a potential downgrade from credit ratings agencies that could spell its doom, a person briefed on the matter said Sunday night.

Ratings agencies threatened to downgrade the insurance giant’s credit rating by Monday morning, allowing counterparties to withdraw capital from their contracts with the company. One person close to the firm said that if such an event occurred, A.I.G. may survive for only 48 hours to 72 hours.

Though this past weekend was convened to focus on Lehman, the Wall Street chieftains who gathered at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York also pondered a solution for A.I.G. The firm had become one of the biggest underwriters of complex debt securities known credit default swaps, used as insurance for a wide range of products, including the mortgage instruments that have been the bane of Wall Street for the past year and a half

The firm had planned to move $20 billion from its regulated insurance business to its holding company and to sell assets and a stake in the company to private equity firms. But A.I.G. has ruled out the capital shift because of the time and complexity involved.

J. C. Flowers & Company, a buyout firm focused on financial services firms, offered $8 billion for a stake in the business that would have given it an option to buy all of A.I.G. down the road. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG also said they would bid.

But all three withdrew at the last minute, citing anxiousness over the company’s precarious financial health.

> Here the different version via the WSJ

> Hier nun die Version des WSJ

AIG Scrambles to Raise Cash, Talks to Fed

During a weekend scramble to shore up its finances, AIG turned down a capital infusion from a group of private-equity firms led by J.C. Flowers & Co. because an option tied to the offer would have effectively given them control of the company, an 89-year-old giant that does business in nearly every corner of the world.

The proposed option would have allowed the firms to acquire AIG for $8 billion under certain conditions. That price is just one-fourth of AIG's current market value.

A.I.G.’s extraordinary move of reaching out to the Fed for help may spur other non-investment banks to try a similar move. Companies ranging from General Electric to GMAC have been hurting badly and would desperately love the liquidity that the Fed would provide.

Herd On The Street WSJ

For instance, applying some of Lehman's latest marks to AIG's holdings could result in at least $15 billion in additional write-downs to the insurer's residential portfolio, which has a face value of $88 billion.

How severe were Lehman's marks? Consider that even longtime bears on the stock thought the firm was finally marking its residential portfolio to realistic levels last week.

Lehman Chief Financial Officer Ian Lowitt said on the firm's investor call that the firm was marking Alt-A exposures at about 39% of face value, compared with about 63% at the end of the second quarter. Alt-A mortgages are loans given to borrowers who, while not necessarily subprime, lack documentation to verify their financial condition or other information.

Still, Lehman has thrown down a marker. At the end of June, AIG's marks on Alt-A securities were about 67%. Citigroup, meanwhile, appeared to be valuing its $16.4 billion in Alt-A exposure at just over 80 cents on the dollar.

Ft Alphaville

The fall of Lehman brothers might well lead the news this morning, but the situation for AIG is potentially more serious. Systemically speaking, AIG is a much bigger domino.

For starters, AIG has written more credit protection - via CDS - than Bear Stearns. It is, to wit, a crucial counterparty in many Wall Street firms’ hedging strategies.

Then there’s the fact that AIG is the world’s largest insurer. Trouble for AIG could pull the insurance sector into a deep and very nasty spiral and might well be the knock-out blow to ailing economies.

Nasty Details AIG 10Q FT Alphaville

..... ratings downgrades would spell huge collateral calls from counterparties on AIG’s CDS. The relevant detail is in AIG’s 10Q from June 30:.....

It is estimated that, as of the close of business on July 31, 2008, based on AIGFP’s outstanding municipal GIAs and financial derivative transactions at that date, a downgrade of AIG’s long-term senior debt ratings to ‘A1′ by Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) and ‘A+’ by Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (S&P), would permit counterparties to make additional calls for up to approximately $13.3 billion of collateral, while a downgrade to ‘A2′ by Moody’s and ‘A’ by S&P would permit counterparties to call for approximately $1.2 billion of additional collateral.

Click on the link to get more details on the effect of a downgrade....

Klickt bitte auf den Link um mehr Details zu den Auswirkungen der Downgrades zu erfahren....

UPDATE :

AIG “giving a bridge loan to itself.”

This is unfortuantely no joke......

Das ist leider kein Witz.......