8/4T10:15 Co. in the News

Housing lenders fear bigger wave of loan defaults - NY Times
NY Times reports the first wave of Americans to default on their home mortgages appears to be cresting, but a second, far larger one is quickly building. Homeowners with good credit are falling behind on their payments in growing numbers, even as the problems with mortgages made to people with weak, or subprime, credit are showing their first, tentative signs of leveling off after two years of spiraling defaults. The percentage of mortgages in arrears in the category of loans one rung above subprime, so-called alternative-A mortgages, quadrupled to 12% in April from a year earlier. Delinquencies among prime loans, which account for most of the $12 trillion market, doubled to 2.7% in that time... Defaults are likely to accelerate because many homeowners' monthly payments are rising rapidly. The higher bills come as home prices continue to decline and banks tighten their lending standards, making it harder for people to refinance loans or sell their homes. Of particular concern are "alt-A" loans, many of which were made to people with good credit scores without proof of their income or assets. "Subprime was the tip of the iceberg," said Thomas Atteberry, president of First Pacific Advisors. "Prime will be far bigger in its impact."

PCLN priceline.com: Stifel previews 2Q08 earnings (114.95 )
Stifel notes PCLN is scheduled to report 2Q08 earnings on Tuesday, Aug 5. Firm ests that PCLN will report 2Q08 gross bookings of $2.127 bln (+72.3 y/y), rev of $498.2 mln(+40.0% y/y), adjusted EBITDA of $90.0 mln (+54.8 y/y, 18.1% margin), and cash EPS of $1.36. Firm believes PCLN will report solid financial performance in 2Q08 fueled by 90% growth in international gross bookings. The European economy and travel industry have held up well, they believe, compared to the domestic travel industry which firm believes has experienced more stress. They note that their 90% growth est for 2Q08 international bookings compares to actual growth of 99.7% in 1Q08, and they believe this deceleration is comparable to that of the European operations of other similar online travel companies.

Small Florida bank is 8th U.S. failure this year - Reuters.com
Reuters.com bank regulators closed a small Florida-based bank on Friday, the eighth U.S. bank to fail this year under pressure from a weak economy and a credit crisis precipitated by falling home prices. The FDIC said First Priority Bank had $259 mln in assets and $227 mln in deposits and its failure will cost the federal fund that insures deposits an estimated $72 mln. STI has agreed to assume the insured deposits of First Priority, whose six branches will reopen Monday as branches of SunTrust Bank.

ICE IntercontinentalExchange reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; announces $500 mln buyback (96.20 )
Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.19 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the First Call consensus of $1.19; revenues rose 44.3% year/year to $197.2 mln vs the $195.8 mln consensus. ICE also announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program of up to $500 mln. "We've continued to grow our business substantially while generating synergies in our U.S. futures business and producing operating margins that reflect our disciplined approach to growth. This consistently strong performance provides us with the balance sheet and cash flows necessary to execute the share repurchase program recently authorized by our Board of Directors, even as we continue to invest for future growth. This program reflects our belief that the current share price does not appropriately reflect the strong underlying fundamentals of our global business. In compliance with SEC rules, we will begin the repurchase of shares after the Creditex acquisition closes." ICE Clear Europe is expected to commence operations on September 15, 2008. Updated guidance includes 2008 revenues in the range of $20-25 mln.

SEC risks confusion in switch to match overseas accounting - WSJ
The Wall Street Journal reports the SEC is preparing changes to the financial-reporting system that could cause confusion and ultimately benefit hedge funds. it could prove an unintended consequence of the commission's expected plan to join U.S. companies with international peers in a common financial language. The SEC is expected to soon unveil proposals to put U.S. companies on track to adopt international accounting standards, eventually replacing U.S. rules. The swearing-in last week of the final two of the SEC's three new commissioners paves the way for Chairman Christopher Cox to move ahead with this long-awaited project. The commission Monday also plans to hold a round table on issues related to U.S. and international accounting systems and the subprime-mortgage crunch. The idea behind the effort is laudable: A single, global accounting system should make it easier for investors everywhere to understand co accounts. That, in turn, should spur global investment and lower companies' cost of capital. But based on public comments from commission staff in recent months, the SEC isn't expected to mandate that all U.S. public companies switch on a set date, which is the approach Europe took in 2005. Instead, companies that meet certain market-value or revenue criteria are likely to be able to choose between the two systems for a few years. That could lead to companies within the same sector reporting results differently, making comparisons difficult for all but the most sophisticated investors. Hedge funds are likely beneficiaries but average investors could suffer. The SEC is expected to say that all U.S. companies should switch to international rules, possibly as soon as 2013.