Ratings on (AET) (AIG) (ALKS) (AMTD) (ANN) Upgraded

Ratings on Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG), Alkermes Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS), TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) and AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) were upgraded by analysts.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) upgraded Aetna Inc. (AET) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They have a price targetof $56.00 on the company, up from $47.00.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) upgraded American International Group,

Inc. (AIG) from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform”

rating.

Cowen upgraded Alkermes Inc. (ALKS) from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating.

Wells Fargo & Co. upgraded TD Ameritrade (AMTD) from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating.

Wedbush upgraded AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (ANN) to an “outperform” rating. They have a $38.00 price target on the company.

AIG (AIG) Gets $600 Million for Rail-Car Leasing Unit

Perella Weinberg Partners LP and American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) said that they have come to an agreement over a price for a rail-car leasing unit owned by AIG to be acquired by Perella for about $600 million.

AIG has been divesting of assets in order to raise capital and focus on selling life insurance in the United States and commercial insurance globally.

David Schiff, a Perella Weinberg partner, said in the statement, “We continue to see long-term value in rail. Rail remains the most efficient mode of transportation and we expect to benefit from the positive industry dynamics going forward.”

AIG closed Monday at $32.61, falling $0.85, or 2.54 percent.

Citigroup (C), (CS), (BNP) Arrange $1.3 B ILFC (AIG) Loan

A group of 15 banks have committed to a $1.3 billion secured term loan for International Lease Finance Corp., as unit of American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG). The loan was arranged by Citigroup (NYSE:C), Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) and BNP Paribas.

International Lease Finance Corp, is a leading aircraft leasing company.

The $1.3 billion loan will be funded over the next year, and will mature in 2018.

ILFC said the funds will be used to prepay existing unsecured and secured bank facilities.

Included in the deal is the right for ILFC to raise the commitment by $200 million from other lenders.

AIG was trading at $35.33, falling $0.72, or 2.00 percent, as of 2:13 PM EDT.

AIG (AIG) Mortgage Offer Rejected by Federal Reserve

The offer by American International Group (NYSE:AIG) to acquire mortgage-related assets held in its Maiden Lane II portfolio has been rejected by the Federal Reserve, according to the U.S. central bank.

Rather than selling the entire group of assets to AIG as a whole, the Fed said they're going to sell the assets in blocks and individually in what they called a "competitive process," which probably points to an auctioning of the securities.

The assets are held by the Federal Reserve as a result of acquiring them at the time AIG was getting bailed out.

The Federal Reserve noted, "In light of improved conditions in the secondary market for non-agency residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS), and a high level of interest by investors, the Federal Reserve believes that conditions are right for ML II to begin more extensive asset sales while taking appropriate care at all times to avoid market disruption."

AIG offered $15.7 billion for the assets, which have a face value of $30 billion.

AIG closed Wednesday at $36.05, falling $0.13, or 0.36 percent.

Goldman (GS) Plunges in M&A Ratings

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) plunged to 10th place in M&A rating in the quarter, missing out on the two mega deals which made the difference between now and its second place finish in the last quarter.

Goldman (GS), advised on $71 billion worth of U.S. deals in the first quarter, far less than JPMorgan Chase & Co's (NYSE:JPM) chart-topping $170 billion, and even beneath much smaller banks such as Rothschild, Evercore Partners Inc (NYSE:EVR) and Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ).

It is Goldman's lowest quarterly ranking since Thomson Reuters began tracking U.S. M&A deals in 1990. The drop is mainly because the firm did not advise on two mega deals: AT&T Inc's (NYSE:T) $39 billion deal for T-Mobile USA and the $59 billion restructuring of insurer American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG).

"The numbers are an example of the lumpiness of the business, particularly when you get the mega-deals," said Michael Holland, chairman of New York-based money manager Holland & Co.

Goldman closed Thursday at $159.91, gaining $0.38, or 0.24 percent.




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AIG (AIG) Battling for Fed Clarity

American International Group (NYSE:AIG) CEO Robert Benmosche expressed frustration at the Federal Reserve dragging its feet concerning the bid by the company to buy back some of its former assets.

Benmosche said in an interview with CNBC, "We made an offer of $15 billion back in September, which we think is fair. But the Fed has not responded. Time is of the essence and we want to get this behind us."

Among the assets are subprime mortgage-backed securities which were once owned by the firm before the Fed took control of the company. The U.S. government owns 92 percent of AIG.

"We need a decision pretty soon," Benmosche exclaimed. "We have built up a large cash position to buy these assets and we are underperforming as a company. Having these assets would make our company worth more. It makes sense for us to own these."

AIG was trading at $36.35, down $0.60, or 1.62 percent, as of 12:08 PM EDT.

Deere (DE), AIG (AIG) Hurt by Japan Earthquake

Although disparate companies, Deere (NYSE:DE) and AIG (NYSE:AIG) both said the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will have a negative impact on them.

Deere said they will have delays with its excavators in direct connection to the Japan disaster, according to a regulatory filing.

American International Group Inc. said they see the Japan crisis, and other events in the first quarter, will end up costing them at close to $1 billion.

Deere & Company closed Friday at $90.10, gaining $0.72, or 0.81 percent. AIG closed at $34.95, down $0.75, or 2.10 percent.

Berkshire (BRK-A), (AIG), (CB), (XL),(RE), (PRU) Could Get Slammed from Japan Quake

The insurance industry has been especially hit hard and expected to have the most exposure overall to the 8.9 quake in Japan, which is the strongest in over a century.

Companies like Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A), Prudential (NYSE:PRU), American International Group (NYSE:AIG), Chubb Group (NYSE:CB), XL Group plc (NYSE:XL) and Everest Re Group Ltd. (NYSE:RE) are among those that could be negatively impacted over time, as far as those trading in the United States.

Claims from the disaster are expected to reach into the tens of billions.

Other secondary effects in physical Japan are for companies like Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM), Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE) and Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC), which have had to close plants.

Reinsurers like RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) and Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) are still recovering from the New Zealand earthquake in February.

AIG (AIG) Acquiring Boeing (BA), Airbus Jets for $11.8 Billion

American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG)’s jet-leasing unit, International Lease Finance Corp., said it has ordered 33 737s from Boeing (NYSE:BA) and 100 Airbus SAS (EADSY.PK) aircraft, for $11.8 billion.

International Lease Finance Corp. said its deal with Airbus consists of 75 A320neo narrow-body jets, as the model fitted with new, more fuel-efficient engines is called, and 25 A321neo planes. That replaces a plan to buy 10 A380 superjumbo jets, which list for about $375 million each, ILFC said today.

The purchase will be Los Angeles-based ILFC’s first since 2007 as it seeks to resume growth after AIG’s bailout during the 2008 financial crisis. ILFC Chief Executive Officer Henri Courpron said in July he was starting negotiations about an order to add to the company’s fleet of about 930 aircraft.

“It’s encouraging to see that ILFC is firmly back in the game,” said Rob Stallard, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets in New York. “We expect their leasing peers to also be looking at follow-on orders this year.”

AIG closed Tuesday at $37.31, up $0.21, or 0.57 percent. Boeing closed at $72.04, up $1.16, or 1.64 percent.




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BofA (BAC), MetLife (MET), Citigroup (C), AIG (AIG), KeyCorp Jump Thursday

Shares of bank stocks soared Thursday, as The Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca:XLF), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), MetLife (NYSE:MET), Citigroup (NYSE:C), AIG (NYSE:AIG), KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) were all up for on positive news.

American International Group rose because of its huge offering. Shares of AIG jumped 21 cents, to $37.51. The market also liked that it hired Jeffrey M. Farber of Gamco Investors as deputy chief financial officer.

MetLife shares surged on news of a share sale connected to the company's acquisition of AIG's Alico business.

KeyCorp was up on news they were holding talks with Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) over the possibility of a merger.

Citigroup increased from news bids on its CitiFinancial are garnering more attention.

Both Bank of America and Citigroup were positively impacted on news they were both had cut lending in Europe in 2010 in light of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis and uncertainties there.

AIG's (AIG) MetLife (MET) Sale Garners $9.6 Billion

The selling of 147 million shares AIG (NYSE:AIG) held in MetLife Inc (NYSE:MET) resulted in the company raising $9.6 billion, with $6.3 billion coming in sales of common stock, and the other 3.3 billion in sales of preferred shares.

Strong demand for acquisition of the MetLife shares allowed AIG to complete the offering a day ahead of time.

According to AIG, they sold the common shares of the company for $43.25 a share, which brought $6.35 billion to the company.

The company will take $6.3 billion of the capital raised and apply it immediately to paying down the debts they owe. The other $3.3 billion will be placed in an escrow account.

MetLife shares were received by AIG when they sold the company its Alico international insurance business subsidiary.

The escrow money will be released in three stages: in November 2011, November 2012 and May 2013, assuming there are no legal claims requiring AIG to indemnify MetLife

AIG closed at $37.30, gaining $0.60, or 1.63 percent. MetLife closed at $43.4, dropping $2.63, or 5.71 percent.

AIG (AIG), First Solar (FSLR), JC Penney (JCP) All Plunge

While the overall market looks better Friday than it has in several days, shares of AIG (AIG), First Solar (FSLR) and JC Penney (JCP) have all dropped over 5 percent on the day.

Stocks climbed Friday, breaking three consecutive sessions of losses, led by the tech and financial sectors and as oil prices stabilized at lower levels.

The major indices are poised to end the week with their worst weekly percentage decline since August. However, they continue to be in positive territory for the month and year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up almost 60 points, after ending slightly lower in the previous session.

Intel (INTC) and Boeing (BA) led Dow components higher, while Wal-Mart (WMT) and Pfizer (PFE) fell.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also advanced. The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, sank almost 10 percent to trade below 20.

All key S&P 500 sectors were higher, led by financials, technology and materials.





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AIG (AIG) Looking to Sell More Assets After Turning Profit

American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG), the insurer selling assets to repay a U.S. bailout, will weigh raising funds from International Lease Finance Corp., the company’s plane-leasing unit.

“To the extent that we ultimately find a way to monetize that asset for the benefit of ILFC, its customers, and for AIG, we would consider that,” Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche said in remarks posted late yesterday on the website of the New York-based insurer. “While it’s not core, the company has been a very good value investment for us. ILFC management is managing it for the long haul.”

AIG has raised more than $50 billion selling assets including non-U.S. life insurers, a consumer lender and equipment guarantor. The insurer said in a Nov. 19 letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it wasn’t attempting to sell the unit “at the present time.”

Chairman Steve Miller didn’t outline a timetable for a sale in remarks on AIG’s website.




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Citi (NYSE:C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Splitting Less Than 1 Percent on Ally Deal

In what has become a recent pattern for IPOs with government fingers in them, Citigroup (NYSE:C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) will split less than 1 percent in fees from Ally Bank's IPO, according to sources close to the situation.

The four banks are lead underwriters on the offering.

It wasn't clear if Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), which were added as bookrunners, would be included in that fee, or their pay would be separate.

The fee paid by Ally bank will by 0.875 percent of the IPO.

Companies apparently accept the low fees based on the possibility of generating future business, being included in a government sale, and the size of the IPOs connected to the government have been large.

The IPO of General Motors (NYSE:GM) was $23.1 billion, and American International Group's (NYSE:AIG) IPO is expected to be over $15 billion. Ally hasn't released the actual size of the IPO at this time.

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), AIG (NYSE:AIG) Drag Financials Down

The overall financial sector in the U.S. is under downward pressure, dragged down by Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and AIG (NYSE:AIG).

Wells Fargo fell on the abrupt news Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins was retiring for personal reasons. Atkins had been indispensable over the last several years to the company, and his leaving is a real blow to Wells.

AIG dropped after the company announced it was going to book $4.1 billion charge in the fourth quarter while increasing reserves at its property and casualty insurance units.

Also falling in the financial sector was KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY), after being downgraded from "Outperform" to "Sector Perform" by RBC Capital.

KeyCorp was trading at $9.49, down $0.22, or 2.27 percent, as of 2:04 PM EST. AIG was at $41.22, losing $1.15, or 2.71 percent. Wells Fargo was trading at $33.00, falling $1.10, or 3.23 percent.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) , Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) Lead underwriters in "re-IPO" of AIG

The re-IPO of AIG could very well be the largest in 2011, led by underwriters Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM).

It's hard to tell what the IPO will generate though, as it is estimated in a range of $10- to- $30 million. It could be priced as early as next month.

As with numerous financial institutions, AIG was crushed under the weight of its exposure to mortgage-backed securities it had insured.

Bruce Berkowitz, founder and portfolio manager of Fairholme Capital Management, likes AIG over the long term. He said, "At Fairhome we are up to about $22 billion assets and we have to be long term investors now ... we need to find companies that we can have a very long time span with and let time be our friend. I think AIG is gonna be one of those companies given what we've just been through.

"People are under the mistaken belief that AIG still owes the government a lot of money, $60 billion plus, but they don't."

AIG (NYSE:AIG) Continues to Sell Assets to Raise Capital

The latest move to raise capital by AIG (NYSE:AIG) is to sell its Nan Shan Life Insurance unit, based in Taiwan. They face uncertainties there as the consortium agreeing to buy the unit lacks experience in insurance, generating the question of whether or not regulators in the country will approve the deal.

Canaccord says, "The recovering insurance giant continues on its quest to raise capital by divesting many of its operating units. In the latest move, the company has agreed to sell its Taiwan unit, Nan Shan Life Insurance, for $2.16 billion in order to help it repay money it owes the U.S. government. The consortium, which includes Taiwan's Ruentex Group, won out over three financial holding companies from the island. But the buyers’ lack of experience in operating insurance companies may raise concerns from Taiwan’s financial regulator. The regulator has blocked an earlier attempted sale of Nan Shan. Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said it would "cautiously review" the bid. According to The Wall Street Journal, the FSC has said previously that its approval of a potential deal will depend on whether a buyer has sound financing and insurance experience, will look after policyholders and staff, will make a long-term commitment to the company and can meet future funding needs. "The participants in the consortium enjoy an excellent reputation in Taiwan," AIG President and Chief Executive Robert Benmosche said in a statement. The Ruentex Group bought a 20% stake in ING Groep NV's life-insurance unit in Taiwan in 1986 but sold its entire stake back to ING in 2001. Regulators will likely contemplate whether an ownership stake constitutes operational experience. The consortium has agreed to keep the current management team and the Nan Shan brand, AIG said."

AIG was trading at $57.90, down $0.50, or 0.86 percent, as of 1:49 PM EST.

AIG (NYSE:AIG) Paying Off Government Friday at Cost of Huge Dilution

Assuming they are able to successfully implement their plan, AIG (NYSE:AIG) says they're going to pay off the U.S. government Friday, hopefully ending the taxpayer bailout of the company, which at its height cost over $180 billion.

The practicals of the transaction are the U.S. Treasury Department will exchange $49.1 billion of preferred shares they own for 1.655 billion new shares of AIG common stock on Friday.

The consequences will be an enormous dilution of the stock for those currently holding shares of AIG.

To battle the obvious exodus of shareholders, AIG has been given permission to issue close to 75 million warrants where private shareholders will be able to acquire one share of common stock of AIG for $45 each.

Warrants will start to trade under the ticker symbol “AIG WS” on the New York Stock Exchange today.

The distribution of warrants will occur on January 19 to shareholders of record as of January 13. Shares of AIG will resume trading with the right to warrants on January 20.

AIG Chief Executive Robert Benmosche said in a statement, “With today’s (Wednesday) announcement, we anticipate that we will be able to deliver on our promise to the American people to repay the extraordinary assistance they provided to AIG during the financial crisis of 2008.”

If the deal does close, the Treasury will own somewhere around 92 percent of AIG. Similar to the bailed out banks, the government will sale its stake in AIG over a period of time, based on market conditions and other factors.

AIG closed Wednesday at $58.40, losing $0.64, or 1.08 percent.

AIG (NYSE:AIG) Board Declares Dividend of 75 Million Warrants

American International Group's (NYSE:AIG) Board of Directors declared a dividend of about 75 million warrants to acquire common stock of the company at $45 a share.

Canaccord said, "The insurer announced on Friday that its Board of Directors has conditionally declared a dividend of approximately 75 million warrants to purchase shares of AIG common stock at $45 per share, to be distributed on January 19, 2011. The shares will be given to AIG’s common shareholders of record as of January 13, 2011, although the U.S. Department of the Treasury will not receive warrants in this distribution. The warrants are being issued as part of a series of integrated transactions to recapitalize AIG initially announced on September 30, 2010. “This marks continued progress for AIG towards completing the recapitalization and furthering our work to repay the U.S. taxpayer,” said Robert H. Benmosche, AIG President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are working diligently to complete this plan in the coming weeks.” Their issuance is conditional on AIG and its government overseers confirming by January 12 that they will close on an exit strategy plan on January 14. That plan will see AIG repaying its debt to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and transferring some obligations to the Treasury Department that will be repaid over time with proceeds from asset sales. If these conditions are satisfied, AIG common shareholders will be issued 0.533933 warrants for every share of AIG common stock owned on the record date."

AIG closed Monday at $57.39, losing $3.79, or 6.19 percent.

Citigroup (NYSE:C), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Arrange AIG (NYSE:AIG) Credit Facilities

AIG (NYSE:AIG) received $4.3 billion in credit facilities, arranged by Citigroup (NYSE:C), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM).

The main bank subsidiary of JPMorgan was the administrative agent in the deals.

AIG CEO Robert Benmosche said in a press release, "This success is another important vote of confidence by the market in AIG. These credit facilities, combined with the debt offering and contingent liquidity facility, demonstrate that AIG has momentum and has made substantial and impressive progress this year.

"As we approach year's end, we believe we are close enough to completing our recapitalization plan that we can see the finish line."

AIG said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that they have a letter of credit valued at $1.3 billion from its Chartis Inc. insurance subsidiary, and two credit facilities worth $1.5 billion each; one being a three-year facility and the other a one-year facility.

In the early part of December AIG also established a $500 million liquidity facility and raised an additional $2 billion in unsecured notes.

Altogether this month AIG raised $6.8 billion.

AIG closed Monday at $59.38, gaining $5.05, or 9.30 percent.