| TD Ameritrade 1Q profit up 65 percent
OMAHA, Neb. - A surge in stock trading last fall helped online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. generate a 65 percent increase in its quarterly net income. The Omaha-based company said Thursday that asset-based revenue also continued to grow and accounted for more than half of its revenue in the October-December period. But some analysts questioned whether Ameritrade could replicate its results, and the company's stock suffered as concerns about the ongoing credit crisis hurt stock prices across the market. Ameritrade's shares fell $1.65, or 8.7 percent, to $17.34 Thursday. Ameritrade reported $240.8 million in net income, or 40 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Dec. 31. That was up from $145.6 million, or 24 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
Brokers cut Mecom's pre-tax profit forecast
David Montgomery's European newspaper group Mecom yesterday moved to calm investors after it suffered a 30% share plunge this week. Confidence in the former Mirror group chief's company was severely shaken on Tuesday as its house brokers downgraded their profit forecasts and the City chided Mecom for issuing a trading update that many felt was short on detail. In yesterday's clarification to the stock exchange, Mecom sought to spell out the impact on its earnings from higher disposal and interest costs. Supplying fresh details, it acknowledged the proposed disposal of a Dutch newspaper and revealed the likely level of this year's depreciation and interest charges. Montgomery launched Mecom in early 2005 and he has been rapidly building a newspaper empire in continental Europe since taking a stake in Berliner Verlag in October 2005.
From East to West, panic grips the world’s investors
After the carnage on global markets on Black Monday, Japan and Australia were the first powerhouse economies to see the dawn of Tuesday morning. While American markets had taken Monday off for Martin Luther King Day, the panic gripping global markets had continued to wreak havoc.
Yesterday, as US traders slept, the bloody trading began anew on the other side of the world. By midnight GMT Australia’s markets had been open an hour. Investors’ rush for the door crashed the website of the country’s leading online share broker, CommSec, as the market started an immediate downward spiral. The stock market’s fall of nearly 3 per cent on Monday looked timid as it raced towards its biggest one-day slide in 20 years. Hans Kunnen, the head of investment markets research for Colonial First State, said: "Judging by the mood of the market today, the bears are certainly winning."
However, what the Asian markets did not know, as they started their downward spiral, was that in America the members of the Federal Reserve were calling each other.
European Indexes Move Higher
On the London trading floor, financials were in fine fettle. LSE [+10.96%] jumped after reporting a 15% rise in pro-forma third quarter revenues. ICAP [+14.04%] sees fiscal profits ahead of current ests. PRUDENTIAL [+4.63%] surged on whispers China's Ping An wants to build a stake in the insurer. HBOS [+9.56%] gained after insurer ST JAMES'S PLACE [+27.05%] [in which it holds a 60% stake] reported a 23% rise in new business in 2007. SCOTTISH & NEWCASTLE [+4.22%] recovered after saying it had agreed to a 24-hour extension to the bid deadline. Heineken and Carlsberg plan to offer 8.00/sh. 3i [+4.28%] said it is facing market conditions from a position of confidence. C&W [+1.66%] said it is well on its way to delivering EBITDA targets. RANK [+3.82%] is said to be in exclusive talks to sell its 700 million pension scheme to Goldman Sachs.
Jackets fall to Southern for the second time
Undefeated and tied for the top spot in the NCC standings, coach Tracy Turner is still cautious but optimistic about her team's chances of capturing the league title. "In the past, teams have proven to be different the second time around," she said. "I feel pretty good about our position, but there are some tough challenges down the road," she added.Southern sophomore forward Tremanisha Taylor led all scorers with 15 points, senior Toni Warren had nine and 6-2 sophomore center Shauna Terry added eight points.Brittney Whitlow led the Jackets with nine points, followed by Keisha Mosley with eightSouthern jayvees avenge early season defeatAvenging a close loss to Roanoke Rapids on Jan. 9, Southern beat a short-handed Yellow Jacket squad in the night's opener, 56-42.The Junior Jackets (10-3, 4-2) went into the game with just nine players and could not overcome the absence of starter David McNair and top reserve Michael Hernandez.Coach Pete Edwards admitted his team was "playing real thin."We were missing one starter (McNair) to sickness and a top reserve (Hernandez) to an injury," he said.The win left Southern's jayvees at 6-5, 2-5 in NCC play.
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