Despite a down economy financial firm Morgan Stanley on Wednesday surprised Wall Street analysts by posting stronger than expected profits for Q3 2011.

The company’s profits were assisted by a large accounting gain and increase in stock-trading revenues. It should be noted that $1.12 per share of the company’s gains come because of an accounting practice that allowed them to book gains when the value of their own debt declined.

Shannon Stemm, financial services analyst for Edward Jones told Reuters:

“Morgan Stanley has proved it can definitely get in there with the heavy hitters,” while adding, “Especially as Goldman is losing its ground a little bit here.”

Shares at Morgan Stanley jumped by 6.6 percent during early trading on Wednesday and then remained unchanged at $16.63 by end of day.

In their financial disclosure Morgan Stanley posted third-quarter earnings of $2.15 billion or $1.15 per share, that number compares to a 7 cent per share loss during the same period in 2010. The company also showed revenue climbing to $9.89 billion, a 46 percent jump.

Morgan Stanley could face mounting troubles over the next quarter as Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal continue to deal with the European debt crisis. Currently $5.69 billion of the company’s overall $60 billion net worth is held in those regions, including $2.1 billion in hedges.

The firm could face exposure problems in France where Moody’s recently announced that the country could be the next to face a credit rating downgrade, Morgan Stanley as of September 30 has $1.53 billion worth of exposure in the country or negative $286 million including hedges.

Do you believe Morgan Stanley will continue to report revenue and profit increases during the current worldwide economic crisis?

Morgan Stanley Beats Expecations, Uses Odd Accounting Practice To Show Strong Gains is a post from: The Inquisitr

In a harrowing day for the air travel industry, an index of 15 major airline shares tumbled 9.8%. The index is now down 41% this year – that compares harshly with a 12.6% drop for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

It was American Airlines stock plummeted the furthest – from $2.96 to $1.98 in a single day. A report has suggested the drop is down to a decreased demand for air travel (with a particularly terrible August) and a higher number of pilots retiring early. American Airlines may now consider filing for bankruptcy.

AMR was far from the only struggler, however. US Airways Group Inc. shares slipped 15.8%, while JetBlue Airways Corp. lost 14.7%.

Naturally, it seems AMR is against the idea of filing for bankruptcy. Spokesman Andrew Backover had this to say:

“Regarding rumors and speculation about a court-supervised restructuring, that is certainly not our goal or our preference. We know we need to improve our results, and we are keenly focused as we work to achieve that.”

American Airlines was the only major North American carrier not to file for bankruptcy in the decade following the September 11th attacks. Airline stocks have been gradually falling over the last five trading days, with AMR shares dropping 40% over that period.

Yet it was only in July that the 81-year-old company placed an order with Boeing Co. for 460 narrow-body planes – the biggest single order in aviation history.

Airline Stocks Plummet, American Airlines Drops 33% is a post from: The Inquisitr

Following a report in the financial paper the Wall Street Journal that film and camera company Kodak was seeking legal counsel regarding restructuring, shares of the brand went into free-fall on Friday.

At the closing bell, Kodak shares had fallen 54% in the day’s trading, losing 91 cents to close the day at 78 cents. However, the company insisted it had no intentions of filing for bankruptcy in coming days, according to the WSJ:

After markets closed, Kodak issued a press release confirming it had hired Jones Day and said it was “committed to meeting all of its obligations and has no intention of filing for bankruptcy.” Kodak said it was exploring all its options.

SFGate.com cites three unidentified sources as saying the company is weighing options including bankruptcy after several unprofitable years, despite the company’s assertion it will return to profitability in 2012. One of the reasons Kodak is said to be considering the option is sale of digital patents- in which it has engaged in order to stay solvent. While bidders are interested in the patents, there is concern about the validity of sale in the event of a default and the potential for what is known as a “fraudulent transfer.”

A Kodak spokesman waved away patent portfolio sale concerns earlier this week:

“As we sit here today, the company has no intention of filing, and there is no change in our strategy to monetize our intellectual property,” Gerard Meuchner, a spokesman for Kodak, said yesterday. “We’re not concerned about fraudulent conveyance in regards to the sale of our IP portfolio.”

However, default looms larger with news that Moody’s and Fitch have downgraded Kodak’s rating from CC to CCC, signifying “that default of some kind appears probable.”

Kodak Bankruptcy Rumored, Shares Plummet Despite Denial is a post from: The Inquisitr

Technology stocks saw a sharp decline on the markets yesterday, caused by falling semiconductor shares, but Amazon stock got a predictable boost after it rolled out the Kindle Fire.

Amazon (AMZN) stock rose by 2.5%  Wednesday, and closed at $229.71 after the company received a broadly positive reaction to its new anticipated tablet.

The fall of tech stocks was led by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), which plummeted by 5.2% to close at $6.15. LSI Corp. (LSI) declined 5.6% to close at $5.44, while SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) decreased 3.3% to close at $41.78.

However, J.P. Morgan analyst Christopher Danely thinks now might not be a bad time to invest in semiconductor stocks. The analyst noted, “semiconductor stocks have bottomed and [...] investors should buy before the likely 1Q12 recovery.”

As to why semiconductor share prices are tumbling, Danely added:

“Most investors we met with last week indicated they are waiting for another round of estimate cuts in October and a resolution in the European financial crisis before buying semiconductor stocks.”

If it works as advertised, the Kindle Fire should give the iPad its first serious competition. The new device is slated to challenge Apple’s all-conquering iPad. A $199 price tag for the Kindle Fire places it quite a way below the iPad 2, which usually retails for $499.

The Kindle Fire is a little smaller than its Apple rival, boasting a lightweight body with a 7-inch display. The tablet will use Google’s Android OS, and is due to ship on November 15th.

Technology Stocks Fall, but Amazon Shares Boosted by Kindle Fire is a post from: The Inquisitr

Last week was a prime example, with rollercoasting stocks dipping 3 percent on Tuesday morning, raising 3 percent on Wednesday, before tumbling 3 percent again on Friday. August was similarly chaotic, with 4 percent leaps and dives throughout one week.

It seems choppy waters are ahead for stock market traders – a situation not helped by the turmoil in Greece and the downgrade of United States debt. A New York Times study of price changes in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock market index since 1962 reveals that fluctuations are now more pronounced than in any other time in recent stock market history.

Since the turn of the century, the newspaper discovered that swings of 4 percent or more during intraday sessions would occur almost six times more often than in the four decades leading up to 2000.

Robert Shiller, an economics professor at Yale, feels such violent changes could kick off a pattern of uncertainty in the economy that will reflect in future policies:

“It is not well understood why we have these bursts of volatility. It seems that in these rare periods of bad economic performance and anxiety about the economy, we have volatility in the markets and high volatility in the political arena. Bad things can happen. This worries me.”

Various factors are being blamed for the increased unpredictability, including the more rapid pace of news and trading, the growth of more powerful computerized trading, and the aforementioned global economic turmoil.

One thing seems likely though: risk-takers could thrive. Michael Schmanske, head of United States index volatility trading at Barclays Capital, told the Times that such unpredictability could be “a measure of high opportunity but also peril.”

[Image]

Stock Prices Becoming More Erratic is a post from: The Inquisitr

The stock market may be on a rapid downward trend but not everyone is being hurt by the loss of stock value, customers looking to buy a home this week will notice that mortgage rates have fallen to a yearly low for 2011.

At the close of the market on Monday rates were sitting at just 4.39 percent for 30-year-fixed mortgages, the lowest they have been in months.

The rates are sparking huge interest in the home buyer and refinance markets where one bank manager told the Washington Post that they have been working 14-hour days and receiving up to 300 e-mails before noon with information being requested about locking in the rates, requests that have helped the mortgage banker secure $14 million in loans in the last seven days.

The low mortgage rates arrive after the Dow Jones industrial average lost 14 percent of its value (more than 1800 points) in the last two weeks.

The rapid decline in rates threw some analysts through a hoop after they expected the U.S. Debt rating downgrade to cause borrowing rates to move in the opposite direction, however investors fled to the U.S. Treasury which caused rates to be pushed down.

For comparative purposes rates in February had approached 5 percent for a 30-year fixed loan.

While the lower rates are great for customers Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow says consumers are worried about their jobs and the future of the U.S. economy which has eroded some purchases which may have occurred if the rate was low and the economy was strong.

Mortgage Rates Continue Downward Trend Amid Stock Market Plunge is a post from: The Inquisitr

When Nintendo announced the Wii U at their press conference yesterday, I must admit that I came away from the whole thing feeling a little more confused than I would have liked. Apparently I’m not alone in that feeling.

After the announcement, Nintendo stock in the Tokyo Stock Exchange plunged more than 5%, closing at 16,970 yen. To put that into perspective for you, that’s the lowest shares have been since before the launch of the Wii, according to Joystiq.

The plunge seems to indicate that perhaps Nintendo didn’t do as good a job as they would have hoped in communicating the potential of Wii U. It would appear that Nintendo is going after the tablet market, casual and hardcore gamers at the same time, but analysts aren’t convinced Nintendo will be able to pull it off.

To Nintendo’s credit, they haven’t let us down in the past few years. Wii’s motion control gimmick turned out to be an enormous success despite speculation to the contrary, and the Nintendo 3DS is enjoying success despite growing consumer apathy towards all things 3D. Regardless, this sends a pretty clear message that the pressure is on Nintendo to prove the Wii U’s concept to weary consumers.

Source: Forbes (via Joystiq)

Nintendo Stock Plunges After Wii U Announcement is a post from: The Inquisitr

However it seems that our favorite Mountain View monolith has set its sights on another lucrative areas into which it can sink itself – Wall Street bond trading.  According to a job listing discovered by Business Insider and reported on by Valleywag Google is looking to hire an experienced trader especially in the area of Foreign government Bonds; and they also have to have a good sense of humor.

Not happy just pissing off the Chinese Google sets its sights on Wall Street is a post from: The Inquisitr

NYSE Realtime Stock Prices launches today with instant info being made available at Google and CNBC. Both sites pay NYSE a flat monthly fee for the service.

The move follows a similar online option introduced by NASDAQ last month.

More Market Quotes Made Available is a post from: The Inquisitr

The G-Team announced the launch of up-to-the-second updates on NASDAQ securities at its official blog this afternoon. Engineers say real-time data has historically been limited to subscription-based services and brokers, leaving outside sites with delays as long as 20 minutes.

Google has been working on making the information more widely accessible for months. Product managers first blogged about their efforts back in January of last year.

Google Breaks Real-Time Stock Barrier is a post from: The Inquisitr