| Cramer Says He Won’t 'Kiss Up' for Bernanke Interview and Fed Wants ...
CNBC “Mad Money" host, resident ranter and stock-picker extraordinaire Jim Cramer can now add “media critic" to his list of duties. Over the past six months, Cramer has become a YouTube sensation for taking shots at Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, including his infamous “They know nothing" rant on CNBC's August 3 “Street Signs." Today Cramer used his “Stop Trading" segment on CNBC's “Street Signs" to blast Bernanke some more and accused some in the media of kissing up to Bernanke for the “big interview." “I guess I should just kiss up and get the big interview with Ben like everybody else wants," Cramer said to “Street Signs" fill-in host Melissa Lee. “Sorry, I could care less." Cramer obviously wasn't impressed with Bernanke's comments yesterday where he said the Federal Reserve stood ready "to take substantive additional action as needed to support growth and to provide adequate insurance against downside risks." .
Sofa so bad for Land of Leather
Land of Leather has seen no respite from its post-Christmas sales slump, with trading throughout January proving just as disappointing. The sofa retailer announced this morning that trading was "unchanged" since January 4, when it reported that sales were significantly below expectations – a warning that sparked alarm across the furniture sector. This month is a key time for the company, as it makes a quarter of its sales between Boxing Day and January 31. Shares in the company fell 6% in early trading, to 60p, and analysts warned investors to be cautious even though the stock has fallen 80% over the last year. "Land of Leather continues to disappoint," said Kevin Lapwood of Seymour Pierce. "Any hopes of a pick-up over the sale period were not realised." On January 4, Land of Leather said that underlying sales over the first nine days of the post-Christmas sales had fallen by a quarter, a decline it blamed partly on the credit crunch.
E-Trade Financial loses $1.7 billion in 4th quarter on distressed debt ...
E-Trade Financial Corp. posted a hefty loss for the fourth quarter on Thursday as the struggling discount brokerage dumped a book of risky investments at a steep discount. In an illustration of how the mortgage industry crisis has spread to other types of companies, the New York-based brokerage in November said it sold a $3 billion portfolio of mortgage debt to Citadel Investment Group at a $2.2 billion loss. Hampered by that sale, E-Trade lost $1.71 billion, or $3.98 per share, in the fourth quarter, after a profit of $176.7 million, or 40 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2006. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast a smaller loss of $2.90 per share. Triggered by a Citi Investment Research analyst's report in November mentioning the possibility of bankruptcy, Chief Executive R.
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