Loren C. Steffy's Blog, page 65
October 24, 2011
Poll: the most annoying airline fees
Fliers may be growing more tolerant of airline fees, but they're still a source of irritation. Just this morning, a reader emailed me complaining that it cost him $75 to change his ticket to an earlier flight from Dallas Love Field to Houston's Intercontinental Airport on Continental Express. That got me thinking: what's the worst [...]
What Europe means for your portfolio this week
Leaders of the European Union met during the weekend to discuss yet again ways to address the debt crisis in their ranks. While there was talk of urgency and a renewed commitment to strengthen the banking system and address sovereign debt issues for the economically weakest members such as Greece, nothing was decided. The talks [...]
October 21, 2011
The lawsuits pile up in Kinder Morgan-El Paso deal
Three shareholders have filed two separate lawsuits in Harris County claiming that Kinder Morgan's $21.1 billion purchase of El Paso Corp. is too cheap. The lawsuits, one by the city of Roseville Employees' Retirement System and the other by individual investors Randy Abigt and Larry Sutton, claim El Paso is worth $28 share. Kinder Morgan [...]
Tallying your latest bill from electric deregulation
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the latest costs ladled on Houston area consumers thanks to electric deregulation. The newest charges — about $1.7 billion — relate to a settlement over "stranded costs." They represent the investment that the old monopoly utilities made in things such a nuclear power plants before deregulation. The [...]
October 20, 2011
Citi's $285 million slap on the wrist
As we have seen so many times before, Wall Street is once again working through the cycle in which it exploits its customers, gets caught, pays a fine and moves on. On Wednesday, Citigroup agreed to pay $285 million to settle claims by the Securities and Exchange Commission that Citi misled investors in a $1 [...]
October 19, 2011
AMR-USAirways: The next airline merger?
Despite the struggles of United and Continental Airlines to complete their merger, other airlines can't seem to resist the urge to merge. The United deal and the combination of Delta and Northwest has caused the lonely American Airlines to go from the biggest to third-biggest U.S. carrier. On a conference call today, Tom Horton, the [...]
Dynegy bondholders now betting on bankruptcy
Sometimes, bankruptcy may be the better option. That seems to be what Dynegy's bondholders are thinking. Earlier this week they spurned a plan by the struggling Houston-based power company to replace existing bonds with ones that have a lower face value. Fewer than 10 percent of the face value of the existing $1.25 billion worth [...]
October 18, 2011
Bank of America's latest bailout bigger than ever
Securities firms still believe they're entitled to place risky bets and back them up with taxpayer-ensured deposits.
Anadarko sells its silence for $4 billion
No one can blame Anadarko Petroleum for jumping at the chance to settle claims from last year's Macondo oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico for $4 billion. For that price, it removes a huge cloud of uncertainty that hung over the company. Unlike Macondo's operator, BP, Anadarko's share of the claims could have posed [...]
October 17, 2011
Goldman's role in the Kinder Morgan deal
Supposedly, the research operations of Wall Street firms are now separating from the investment banking business, but sometimes, it's hard to tell. Consider Kinder Morgan's $21.1 billion bid for El Paso, for example. Goldman Sachs acted as El Paso's financial adviser in the deal. Less than two weeks ago, Goldman upgraded its rating on Kinder [...]
