Morgan Stanley

The fallout from the national commercial real estate crisis has hit home. The owner of Greenway Plaza, a prominent decades-old cluster of skyscrapers on the Southwest Freeway, has given the keys back to its lender. It's part of an agreement to resolve liability for a $2 billion debt involving other Houston buildings and dozens of other properties across the country.  

Thomas Cook was held back last night as traders sold out on the view that the market may be underestimating the FTSE 100-listed tour operator's refinancing needs. Morgan Stanley sounded the alarm, saying that factors such as adverse currency movements, higher than anticipated exceptional costs, the weakness in working capital and the money spent on acquisitions meant that the level of cash generation had been weak and Thomas Cook's debt position had worsened. Coupled with lower interest income on custom

The company has 3 times adjusted gross debt/EBITDAR versus [a covenant of 3.75 times], but this covenant will fall to 3.5 times on March 31 2010 and then to 3.25 times on September 30 2010. This means EBITDAR needs to drop by just 10 per cent to hit the covenant   -Morgan Stanley

 

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is gearing up for the possibility of an IPO. The Cambridge, MA-based developer of a new treatment for bowel disorders like for irritable bowel syndrome and chronic constipation said it may raise as much as $172.5 million from investors through the deal, according to a prospectus filed late today. The proposed offering would be underwritten by JP Morgan Securities, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, and Wedbush PacGrow Life Sciences.  

The markets ended the week flat with worries of a looming correction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 14.28, or 0.14%, to 10,318.16, while the S&P 500 dropped 3.52, or 0.32%, to 1,091.38. The Nasdaq tumbled 10.78, or 0.50%, to 2,146.04. Joe Terranova said on CNBC 's "Fast Money" TV show there was a lot of fear in the markets that was unjustified. He said investors should not be making any major changes in their portfolios while the S&P consolidates in a range between 1,070 and 1,110.

3 Stocks I Saw on TV.   -Steve Grasso

 

HOLIDAY heavyweights Thomas Cook and Thomson owner TUI Travel came under pressure yesterday after gloomy comments from analysts on prospects for the tour operators. A research note from Morgan Stanley said: That was enough, in an otherwise subdued session, to push shares in Thomas Cook and TUI Travel down by some 4 per cent, falling 9.3p to 209.2p and 10.2p to 245p respectively.

The mood (in the UK] was not helped by a report from Nationwide building society saying that they expect house prices to fall back significantly in 2010, while reporting significantly falling profits.   -Michael Hewson

 

Close Footsie closed slightly in the red Friday after a volatile day's trading. Among the risers was the miner Antofagasta, which jumped in early dealings, but then fell back as metal prices gave up their early gains only to recover later in the afternoon. Gold miner Randgold also finished near the top.  

A look at who will be the winners during increased financial regulation, with Dick Bove, Rochdale Securities analyst.  

Despite record net income, Goldman's per-share earnings will be 22% lower this year than in 2007 and roughly equal to its 2006 earnings, according to Thomson Financial. Goldman is, of course, the whipping boy of the moment. Whether the criticism is fair or not, Goldman has come to symbolize the perceived inequity between Wall Street and Main Street.  

As explained in Andrew Ross Sorkin's Too Big to Fail , Morgan Stanley received a $9 billion investment from Mitsubishi UFJ in the fall of 2008 that kept the firm from collapsing. The payment was supposed to be wired electronically, which is how most large banking transactions are done. But because it needed to be made on an emergency basis on Columbus Day, when banks in the US and Japan were closed, Mitsubishi cut a physical check.