LocateStock.com Daily High Five For Friday August 1, 2008

Jersey City, NJ – August 1, 2008

The LocateStock.com HIGH FIVE for Friday, August 1^st are:

                       
5 – Citigroup – NYSE:C

4 – Lehman Brothers – NYSE:LEH

3 – Merrill Lynch – NYSE:MER

2 – Bank of America – NYSE:BAC

1 – Washington Mutual – NYSE:WM

 

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.

 

* Financial stocks were mixed Thursday as the broader market fluctuated on troubling economic data and a report showing the number of jobless claims spiked to its highest level in five years. A report issued by Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney said she rates Citigroup shares at "Underperform." Shares rose 20 cents or 1.08% to $18.69 and are up more than 7% on the week.

 

Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc., (NYSE:LEH) through its subsidiaries, provides various financial services to corporations, governments and municipalities, institutions, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Capital Markets, Investment Banking, and Investment Management.

* Shares of most investment banks mostly fell Thursday afternoon along with declines in the Dow Jones Industrials average amid data showing the broader economy remains weak. The Commerce Department reported a weaker-than-expected 1.9% gain in GDP for the second quarter, while economists were expecting 2.4% GDP growth. Lehman shares dropped too, losing 89 cents or 4.88% to $17.34 on the NYSE.

Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., (NYSE:MER) together with its subsidiaries, provides investment, financing, insurance, and related services to individuals and institutions worldwide. It's Global Markets and Investment Banking segment offers various global market services, which facilitate client transactions and markets in securities, derivatives, currencies, commodities, and other financial instruments for clients; provides financing, securities clearing, settlement, and custody services; and engages in principal and private equity investing and proprietary trading activities.

* The latest investment by Singapore sovereign-wealth fund Temasek in Merrill Lynch could lift its stake to more than 10%, triggering the need for regulatory approval and reigniting debate about foreign ownership of U.S. financial firms. Shares of MER fell 26 cents or .97% to $26.65 but are still up on the week.

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.

* Financial stocks were mixed Thursday as the broader market fluctuated on troubling economic data and a report showing the number of jobless claims spiked to its highest level in five years. Bank of America was among banks that Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney rates as "Perform." Shares slipped 71 cents or 2.11% to $32.90 on the news. The stock is up more than 17% on the week.

Washington Mutual, Inc., (NYSE:WM) together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer and small business banking company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Retail Banking Group, Card Services Group, Commercial Group, and Home Loans Group.

 

* Washington Mutual shares jumped 12.45% on Thursday after financial-services hedge fund Toscafund Asset Management disclosed a 6% stake in the nation's largest thrift. The stock rocketed 59 cents to $5.33 on the news.

 

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.

LocateStock.com is the premier electronic securities lending company providing revolutionary, real-time, hard-to-borrow stock locates and market data to hedge funds and professional traders seeking an efficient and private way to borrow stock associated with short sales. LocateStock TV is a daily financial news show that highlights stock inventory that is available for short sellers to legally borrow and stay in compliance with Regulation SHO. 

For an in-depth market analysis on each individual, hard to borrow stock, tune in daily to LocateStock TV, on http://www.locatestock.com/pressrelease.html

 

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SOURCE:        Locate Stock, LLC