Hot Stock News For Tuesday 31 August: Research In Motion, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, RBS, HSBC, BP

UK Banks - The companies, which include members of the FTSE100, are preparing to argue publicly that dividing the banks’ retail and investment banking arms will make everyday business activities more expensive and less efficient. The campaign will be the first large-scale intervention by Britain’s corporations - the banks’ biggest customers - in the highly-charged debate on financial reform. (Telegraph)

UK

BP (BP: 35.02 -0.24 -0.68%) - Co. delayed retrieval of the failed blowout preventer atop its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well this week because of bad weather, the top US official overseeing the oil spill. (RTRS) In other news, co. is set to come under renewed fire from US politicians this week as it reveals it has spent more than USD 1mln (GBP 644,000) a week on television and radio advertising since the April 20 oil explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. (Telegraph)

HSBC (HBC: 49.39 +0.40 +0.82%) - Co. completes exit from US auto finance run-off portfolio. (RTRS)

Vodafone - Co. is preparing to raise more than GBP 4bln by selling its shares in China Mobile, the first in a string of planned disposals by the mobile giant. Investors expect the deal to be rubber stamped next month before an update on the co.’s strategy in November. (Sunday Times) In other news, co. is suing Deutsche Telekom after a third of customers that signed up for its DSL connection weren’t served by German network provider. (Handelsblatt)

RBS (RBS: 13.69 +0.46 +3.48%) - Co. is considering a cut-price sale of Direct Line insurance business after a flood of interest from potential bidders, including the billionaire investor Warren Buffett. The bank has been ordered to sell Direct Line by the European Commission as punishment for receiving state aid during the credit crunch. (Sunday Times) In other news, the Russian anti-trust regulator, FAS, has rejected an application from the co. to increase its stake to a controlling one in Russia-based RBS formally known as ZAU ABM AMRO Bank. (Kommersant)

Anglo American - Co. may be offered about USD 1bln for its Scaw Metals steel assets, excluding the main Scaw plant in South Africa which is not for sale, according to an unidentified banker. (Independent)

BHP Billiton (BHP: 66.86 +0.36 +0.54%) - Hedge funds are understood to break ranks with other investors in Potash Corp, by accepting an offer from co. at USD 150 per share. (Sunday Express) In other news, co. denied speculation on Monday that it planned to sell any of Potash Corp’s assets if it success with its USD 38.6bln hostile bid for the world’s largest fertilizer producer. (RTRS)

Rio Tinto (RTP: 50.64 +1.36 +2.76%) - Co. has approved USD 1.6bln for the Hope Downs 4 mine, which will have annual capacity of 15 mln tonnes of high quality iron ore, with the first production seen in 2013. (RTRS)

Tesco - Co. is slashing about 2,000 management roles at its Express convenience stores as part of a restructuring plan. (The Mail on Sunday)

Centrica - Co. and some unidentified companies have approached Connaught to buy its GasForce unit, however Connaught chairman has rebuffed the interest. (FT)

Tullow Oil - Co.’s row with the government of Uganda escalated at the weekend when officials ordered the company to stop work on the second of the company’s three exploration blocks in the country. (Sunday Times)

Diageo - Co. is to reveal it is minded to support a ban on selling alcohol below the cost of duty and VAT, although it denies any link between price and alcohol-related harm. (Telegraph)

Vedanta - Co. is stripped of international safety awards amid concerns that it won without declaring an Indian industrial disaster that cost 40 lives. (Observer)

Reckitt Benckiser - Co. receives FDA approval for Suboxone Sublingual Film C-III. (RTRS)

Encore Oil - The company’s latest big discovery off the Shetland Islands could lead to a takeover approach. (Sunday Times)

Heritage Oil - Co. is targeting Iraq after the Uganda pull-out according to co.’s finance director. (Telegraph)

US

Equities finished the session lower despite a slew of M&A activity as instead investors turned their attention to what promises to be a disappointing jobs report on Friday. The move lower was led by the financials that’s after analyst Meredith Whitney said that American banks will need to increase their capital in order to survive the latest decline in the housing market. The last hour of trade saw stocks print fresh lows and at the closing bell DJIA closed down 1.39% at 10009.73, S&P 500 closed down 1.47% at 1048.92 and NASDAQ 100 closed down 1.09% at 1772.07.

Research in Motion (RIMM: 43.15 -2.436 -5.34%) - Co. and India’s government avoided a standoff yesterday by agreeing to extend for two months talks over a demand to open all of its BlackBerry handset services to scrutiny by the intelligence agencies. (FT)

Europe

Carrefour - Co.’s H1 net EUR 82mln vs. Exp. EUR 292mln, reaffirms 2010 profit target (Sources) Infineon - Co. is not currently in talks on new acquisitions. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

Tui - Co. will not get a takeover from Russian investor Alexei Mordashov. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

Irish Banks - Irish banks are gearing up to repay more than USD 25bln of debt in the coming month, in what could prove an important test of investor sentiment towards the broader Eurozone financial sector. (FT)

Aegon - Co. fulfilled its commitment to repay to the Dutch State EUR 500mln of the EUR 3bln in core capital the co. secured in 2008. This is in line with an earlier announcement. (Sources)

10 Famous Financial Stocks to Sell

After poor earnings and revenue figures from financial stocks such as Citigroup (NYSE: C) andBank of America (NYSE: BAC) recently, the outlook for the sector been hazy. Downbeat economic news that continues to weigh on banks, including high foreclosure rates and high unemployment, suggests things might stay that way for some time.

That means investors need to think about new investing strategies for financial stocks and consider getting rid of bank stocks with dwindling value. As a growth investor, I rarely recommend financials because they simply don’t have the fundamental strength I look for because of their business models. It’s nearly impossible for a bank to post dramatic year-over-year earnings and sales gains consistently, and I never invest in a company that doesn’t have strong growth potential.

While a few financial stocks do stand out from time to time, what I’m struck by most right now is the number of financial stocks that aren’t living up to their potential and could have investors cashing out very soon. To help you avoid future declines, here’s my lineup of 10 famous financial stocks to sell immediately:

HSBC Holdings (HBC)

Market Cap: $179.34 billion

Dividend Yield: 3.12%

HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HBC) is a global banking and financial services company based out of London, UK. The British banking behemoth may be the world’s largest financial services group, but shareholder returns haven’t been reflecting that status lately. HBC slid into a downward trend last year and hasn’t found the momentum to reverse its path quite yet. HBC stock is down -9.23% since the start of 2010 and shareholders looking for a rebound are finding themselves out of luck lately – and could be waiting a while longer.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC)

Market Cap: $132.25 billion

Dividend Yield: 0.3%

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is a bank holding company and a financial holding company with more than 283,000 employees worldwide. After hitting a new 52-week low last Thursday, BAC stock has shown little indication that you should expect to see a rebound in the coming days. EPS estimates are down and earnings are projected to stay down through the end of the year on weaker revenue. This summer has been rough for shareholders with BAC down -19.2% since mid May.

Barclays (BCS)

Market Cap: $59.72 billion

Dividend Yield: 1.28%

Global financial services provider Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) made news this week when it agreed to pay $298 million to settle claims that it violated the Trading with the Enemy Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by allegedly conducting illegal transactions with banks in Cuba, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Burma. BCS stock has taken investors on a wild ride this year with plenty of ups and downs; shares are down -6.98% from this time last week.

Citigroup Inc. (C)

Market Cap: $111.98 billion

Dividend Yield: N/A

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) boasts approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. But that scale has failed to help the stock out in the wake of mortgage related losses and slumping revenue. Citigroup share are down -5% in the last week alone, and off -20% from late April. Whatever swagger Citi had this year, it appears to be fading fast.

Credit Suisse Group (CS)

Market Cap: $52.62 billion

Dividend Yield: 4.02%

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is a financial services company that provides advisory services, solutions, and products to companies and clients globally, as well as to retail clients in Switzerland. Shares of Credit Suisse have been on the decline since April and have not been able to reverse trajectory as quickly as the broader markets. With CS losing ground to the tune of -9.75% year-to-date, investors might wan to think about cutting their losses on Credit Suisse stock.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)

Market Cap: $76.19 billion

Dividend Yield: 0.95%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) is a bank holding and a global investment banking, securities and investment management company which has slowly been slipping down the charts this past week. GS shares are down -7.64 points from this time last week and the stock failed to meet earnings estimates by a wide margin for the quarter ending in June of this year. Investors should be weary of this ominous trend in GS stock as of late, especially after earnings, and sell to avoid any further loss.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)

Market Cap: $149.45 billion

Dividend Yield: 0.53 %

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a financial holding company whose activities are organized into six business segments: Investment Bank, Retail Financial Services, Card Services, Commercial Banking, Treasury & Securities Services and Asset Management. Investors have had to watch as JPM shares have fallen -6.8% since it closed last Tuesday. Add to that the grim estimates for sales growth for the coming months, projected to be in the red until the year’s end.

Lloyds Banking Group (LYG)

Market Cap: $74.63 billion

Dividend Yield: N/A

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE: LYG) is a financial services group providing a range of banking and financial services, primarily in the United Kingdom, to personal and corporate customers in four segments: Retail, Wholesale, Wealth and International and Insurance. LYG stockholders have been holding their breath since shares plummeted at the start of 2010. Shares are down -29.53% from this time last year. Stock value has remained low since Lloyds agreed to pay $350m to settle the investigations from early 2009 after admitting it allowed Iranian and Sudanese clients to access the US banking system by altering wire transfer information.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS)

Market Cap: $42.40 billion

Dividend Yield: N/A

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (NYSE: RBS) is the holding company of a global banking and financial services group. It operates in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally through its two principal subsidiaries. Considering that RBS stock was trading at over $200 per share a few years ago, and it nearly collapsed during the onset of the financial crisis, it is not hard to imagine why some investors are not keen on gambling with RBS. With shares struggling to break through the $15 mark, it could be a long time before investors can relive the glory days of RBS investing – such as the $200 adjusted share price RBS commanded five years ago.

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)

Market Cap: $132.82 billion

Dividend Yield: 0.79%

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified financial services company that provides retail, commercial and corporate banking services through banking stores located in 39 states and the District of Columbia. In the past three months, WFC shares have lost -20.55% and estimates project negative numbers for growth in the current quarter. With its questionable business practices and failure to gain any ground on the broader markets in recent months, WFC could be trimmed from quite a few portfolios very soon.

(source:ivestorplace)

7 Dividend Stocks To Take The Emotion Out Of Investing

Deep-down in my soul, I am a contrarian. The third quarter market run-up converted most of the great dividend stock buys into ‘ok’ buys (at best). As September came to a close, I felt a sense of excitement entering October. This is the month that stocks have traditionally gone on sale I was prepared to make a double allocation (or more) depending on the level of the markets decline. It didn’t happen.  Once again, investor emotions drove the market in an unpredictable direction.

To that end, a recent article in Forbes discussing investor emotions caught my attention. The salient takeaway from the article was:

The assumption that investors are rational agents is bunk. We are not rational. We’re human. Even the most brilliant investor can be swayed by emotions into making irrational decisions that result in financial loss.

This is quite easy to illustrate looking back at the last three years. Logic had very little to do with movements in most stocks.  Knowing this, there are some things that long-term buy-and-hold investors can do to profit from from these irrational moves in the market.

I. Dollar Cost Average In

When the market is rallying, we generally should be buying fewer shares than when it is declining. Our emotions left unchecked will lead us to do the opposite of what we should be doing. Investors are often compelled to buy when the market is rallying, then sell when it is declining. So how do we guard against this?

Dollar cost averaging [DCA] is one way. DCA is a strategy of investing equal dollar amounts on a regular basis over specific time periods. For example, you might choose to invest $2,000 each month in your income portfolio, no matter what the market is doing. This will lead to more shares being purchased when prices are low and fewer shares purchased when prices are high. The overall effect is to lower the total average cost per share of the investment, over time.

II. Keep A Watch List Of Great Stocks

Unfortunately, great stocks that perform well over an extended period are noticed by the market and will often carry a premium that makes them difficult for a value-based investor to purchase.  Consider these dividend stocks from near the bottom of the cycle at February 27, 2009 to the end of September 2009 (prices are on a dividend adjusted basis):

Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) $28.16 to $32.57 up 15.66% [Analysis]Chevron Corp. (CVX) $59.01 to $69.82 up 18.31%Pepsico, Inc. (PEP) $46.95 to $58.66 up 24.94% [Analysis]Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) $45.51 to $58.98 up 29.60% [Analysis]The Coca-Cola Company (KO) $39.76 to $53.70 up 35.06% [Analysis]CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL) $24.53 to $33.60 up 36.98%3M Co. (MMM) $44.45 to $73.32 up  64.95% [Analysis]

Are these stocks 15%-65% intrinsically more valuable at the end of September compared to the end of February? I don’t think so. We as investors must understand valuation and be prepared to act.

III. Have a Plan and Follow It

You need to have an investment plan. More importantly you must have full confidence in your investment plan. Otherwise, you will be a slave to emotion which will lead to very undesirable results in your portfolio.

Long-term buy-and-hold dividend investors look at bear markets as their friends. It is a wonderful time to add quality companies at great prices and increase our average yield.

Source:dividendsvalue