9/16T8:31 News and Notes

News:

GS Goldman Sachs beats by $0.10, misses on revs (135.50 )
Reports Q3 (Aug) earnings of $1.81 per share, $0.10 better than the First Call consensus of $1.71; revenues fell 35.9% year/year to $6.04 bln vs the $6.23 bln consensus. Annualized return on average tangible common shareholders' equity was 8.8% for the third quarter of 2008 and 16.3% for the first nine months of 2008. Annualized return on average common shareholders' equity was 7.7% for the third quarter of 2008 and 14.2% for the first nine months of 2008. Book value per common share increased 2% during the quarter to $99.30. The firm's Tier 1 Ratio was 11.6% at the end of the quarter. "This was a challenging quarter as we saw a marked decrease in client activity and declining asset valuations... Despite the deteriorating market conditions, the focus of our people and strength and breadth of our client franchise produced a solid performance in a tough environment. We remain well-positioned to meet the needs of our clients and identify and act on the right market opportunities." The firm repurchased 1.5 mln shares of its common stock at an average cost per share of $180.07, for a total cost of $271 mln during the quarter. The remaining share authorization under the firm's existing share repurchase program is 60.9 mln shares. Stock is trading at 128.39 in pre-mkt following earnings.

BBY Best Buy misses by $0.09, beats on revs; guides FY09 revs in-line (43.70 )
Reports Q2 (Aug) earnings of $0.48 per share, $0.09 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.57; revenues rose 12.0% year/year to $9.8 bln vs the $9.67 bln consensus. Co issues guidance for FY09, sees EPS of $3.25-3.40, may not be comparable to $3.28 consensus; sees FY09 revs of $47000 vs. $44.72 bln consensus. The combined effect of the NAPS acquisition and the share repurchase suspension is annual earnings dilution of 2 cents per share. This estimate is below prior guidance as the company has now completed the phasing of operating plans for Best Buy Europe and updated its estimates for the purchase accounting of amortization of intangible assets. The revenue increase reflected the net addition of 156 new stores in the past 12 months, a comparable store sales gain of 4.2 percent and the favorable impact of foreign currency fluctuations. The company now expects a comparable store sales gain for fiscal 2009 in the upper half of its previously disclosed range of 1 percent to 3 percent.

U.S. Federal funds in market trade at 3.0%, above 2% target rate the Fed sets

Central banks add more liquidity to markets - WSJ
WSJ reports central banks around the world pumped short-term cash into strained money markets for the second day in a row Tuesday as markets reeled amid a fast-moving crisis that is reshaping the contours of the global financial system. With interest rates on the overnight loans banks make to one another rising sharply on market unease, European policy makers boosted the amount of funds on offer. The European Central Bank injected €70 billion ($100.17 billion) in one-day funds into euro-zone money markets, more than double its Monday injection of €30 billion. The Bank of England offered 20 bln pounds ($36.05 billion) in extra two-day funds, atop Monday's 5 billion pounds in extra three-day funds. The Swiss National Bank also made extra overnight funds available, but a spokesperson declined to say how much. The Bank of Japan injected 2.5 trillion yen ($23.84 billion) into Japanese money markets in two separate operations. Demand surged as commercial banks scrambled for short-term cash. Bids from 56 financial institutions totaled more than €102 billion in the ECB's auction, which set the central bank's policy rate of 4.25% as the minimum bid rate. The Bank of England said bids totaled 58.1 billion pounds, more than triple the 20 billion pounds on offer.

GS Goldman Sachs: 5-year credit default swaps jump 105 basis points wider to 455 bps,