Dark Pool? interesting trading term

Boom in 'Dark Pool' Trading Networks Is Causing Headaches on Wall Street
By SCOTT PATTERSON and AARON LUCCHETTIMay 8, 2008
When Cheryl Cargie, head trader at Ariel Investments LLC in Chicago, decided last month to buy 1.3 million shares of a midcap stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange, she spread orders among several "dark pools," the secretive electronic trading networks that match buyers and sellers anonymously.
The pools are booming in popularity as big institutional investors look for ways to trade blocks of stock without triggering ripples in the share price, as can happen on traditional stock markets such as the NYSE and Nasdaq Stock Market. But all that darkness is causing nightmares on Wall Street.

DirecTV stock buyback

DirecTV Seeks $2.5 Billion for Stock Buyback
By VISHESH KUMAR and SERENA NGMay 8, 2008
DirecTV Group Inc. said it plans to raise $2.5 billion in new debt to buy back stock, a sign that skittish credit markets are on the mend -- at least when it comes to well-performing companies with conservative balance sheets.
Borrowing money to buy back stock is a transaction few, if any, companies have been able to undertake in recent months, since the credit market crunch began.
As part of the buyback plan, DirecTV's biggest shareholder, John Malone's Liberty Media Corp., agreed to cap its voting stake in the company at its existing level of 48%. Without the cap, Liberty's voting stake would have gone past 50%.
Liberty's agreement to cap its voting stake came amid speculation about the company's plans for DirecTV. It suggests Liberty hasn't yet decided what to do with its investment long term, including whether to sell or buy the shares outstanding....
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121020563951275339.html?mod=2_1569_leftbox

A Tale of Two Public Offerings

With the credit market still in lockdown and the equity market on a downswing, taking a company public might seem a bit loopy. Two companies that actually took the plunge this week, American Waterworks and Intrepid Potash, exemplify how bipolar this market has become.

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/a-tale-of-two-public-offerings/

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

The "Last Lecture"
I am flattered and embarassed by all the recent attention to my "Last Lecture." I am told that, including abridged versions, over six million people have viewed the lecture online. The lecture really was for my kids, but if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful. But rest assured; I'm hardly unique. Send your kids to Carnegie Mellon and the other professors here will teach them valuable life lessons long after I'm gone.
-- Randy

http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

-> Randy is a great person. Great vedio ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&eurl=http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

Buffett Makes $4.5 Billion Deal With Pritzkers

Buffett Makes $4.5 Billion Deal With Pritzkers
By MARK MAREMONTDecember 26, 2007; Page A1
Warren Buffett agreed to pay $4.5 billion to buy the majority of an industrial conglomerate from Chicago's Pritzker family, choosing to invest in products like plumbing pipes and railroad tank cars as Asian investors pour billions into U.S. financial institutions.
Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is buying 60% of Marmon Holdings Inc., which has about $7 billion in annual revenue. Berkshire will purchase the rest of the company in stages by 2014, with the final price determined by Marmon's future performance.
According to Mr. Buffett, the deal is Berkshire's largest-ever acquisition outside of the insurance industry. It reflects his fondness for unflashy businesses that deliver steady and strong cash flow, and feature high barriers to entry. Berkshire Hathaway already owns a host of industrial businesses including Johns Manville, a building-products company, and Iscar Metalworking Cos., an Israeli tool maker in which Berkshire took an 80% stake last year for $4 billion.
Berkshire has been rumored as a potential buyer of troubled assets on sale around the world, as financial institutions cope with the fallout of the U.S. mortgage bust. With more than $45 billion in cash on its balance sheet and a triple-A credit rating, Berkshire could easily buy a stake in a big bank, brokerage or other hard-hit financial firm.

Reverse Mortgages

A Way for Older Homeowners To Back Out of a Bind
Some Find Banks Are Willing To Accept Reverse Mortgages To Retire Troubled Loans
By KELLY GREENE December 26, 2007; Page D1
Reverse mortgages used to be a way for homeowners to get extra cash during retirement. Now they're also being used for a more-pressing purpose: helping people who are struggling to meet payments on high-interest-rate loans to keep their homes.
The strategy, which is relatively novel but gaining popularity among legal-aid attorneys and housing advocates around the country, calls for persuading lenders to take the cash generated by a reverse mortgage in lieu of foreclosing on older homeowners.
With a reverse mortgage, the bank makes payments to the homeowner instead of the homeowner making payments to a bank. The loan is repaid, with interest, when the borrower sells the house, moves out permanently or dies. The products are complex and have high fees -- typically about 7% of the home's value -- and they make it difficult for homeowners to leave the property to their heirs. But they may be the best option for people who have built up equity in their home and would otherwise lose it. - From WSJ Dec 26, 2007.

Stock price next year? Bull or Bear market?