LocateStock.com Daily High Five For Thursday July 24, 2008

Jersey City, NJ – July 24, 2008

The LocateStock.com HIGH FIVE for Thursday, July 24^th are:

                       
5 – Citigroup – NYSE:C

4 – Fannie Mae – NYSE:FNM

3 – Freddie Mac – NYSE:FRE

2 – Wachovia Corporation – NYSE:WB

1 – Bank of America – NYSE:BAC

 

Citigroup, Inc., (NYSE:C) together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to consumer and corporate customers in the United States and internationally. The company's Global Consumer Group segment offers various banking, lending, insurance, and investment products and services through its branches, automated teller machines (ATMs), and automated lending machines (ALMs), the Internet, telephone, and mail.

 

* Citigroup's CFO Gary Crittenden said on Wednesday that there are no plans to split the company up because of credit-related problems and that its capital levels remain strong. Crittenden, speaking on a conference call with fixed-income investors, told investors that Citi managers "have no intention to split up the various elements of the bank" and that "it's not something we focus on at all." He said Citi has doubled its stockpile of cash and easy-to-sell securities to about $65 billion at the end of last month compared to $24 billion a year earlier. Shares of C rose 23 cents or 1.10% to $21.12 on the news.

 

Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) provides funds to mortgage lenders through the purchase of mortgage assets, and issues and guarantees mortgage-related securities that facilitate the flow of funds into the mortgage market in the United States. It operates in three segments: Single-Family Credit Guaranty, Housing and Community Development, and Capital Markets.

 

* House lawmakers are preparing to vote on a multibillion-dollar package to assist homeowners and prop up government-sponsored mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Lawmakers have been working for months on a massive housing bill that's been given new urgency by the Bush administration's plan to backstop Fannie which has seen the value of their shares sink and gyrate in recent days over concerns about their capital levels. Shares of Fannie rocketed $1.59 or 11.86% to $15.00 on Wednesday.

 

Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) engages in mortgage purchasing, credit guarantee, and portfolio investment activities in the United States. It purchases single-family and multi-family residential mortgages, and mortgage-related securities from lenders in the primary mortgage market that originate mortgages for homebuyers, including mortgage banking companies, commercial banks, savings banks, community banks, credit unions, state and local housing finance agencies, and savings and loan associations.

* Mortgage insurers jumped Wednesday on hopes that new legislation supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will help stabilize the housing market. The bill, which House lawmakers may approve Wednesday, would extend an unlimited line of credit from the government to the mortgage-finance giants for 18 months. It would also give the Treasury the authority to buy Fannie and Freddie shares if the Treasury deems the companies' capital to be inadequate. Shares of FRE rose $1.10 or 11.34% to $10.80 after rocketing 11% the day before.

Wachovia Corporation, (NYSE:WB) a financial holding company, provides commercial and retail banking services, and other financial services in the United States and internationally. Its deposit products include savings, NOW, money market, and interest-bearing checking accounts, as well as noninterest-bearing deposits and other consumer time deposits.

* Shares of national banks mostly rose Wednesday, despite Washington Mutual and Wachovia reporting wider-than-expected second-quarter losses a day earlier. Wachovia rose an additional 86 cents or 5.12% to $17.65 after rocketing more than 27% the day before.

Bank of America Corporation, (NYSE:BAC) a financial holding company, provides a range of banking and nonbanking financial services and products in the United States and internationally. The company's Global Consumer and Small Business Banking segment offers savings accounts, money market savings accounts, certificate of deposits, individual retirement accounts, regular and interest-checking accounts, and debit cards; U.S. Consumer and Business Card, unsecured lending, and international card; consumer real estate products, including mortgage products for home purchase and refinancing, reverse mortgage products, and home equity products; and insurance services.

* Bank of America said Wednesday that it plans to spend $3.75 billion to repurchase stock. The bank said it will buy up to 75 million shares over the next 12 to 18 months. The newly authorized repurchase program replaces an expiring buyback plan announced in January 2007. Shares of BAC rose $1.09 or 3.37% to $33.44 after jumping more than 13% the day before.

The daily HIGH FIVE stocks are determined by the company's proprietary, internal algorithmic calculators. The result is five securities that are the most sought after to borrow, and have proven to be the hottest­ stocks to short that day.

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SOURCE:        Locate Stock, LLC