Some stuff I read online 3/19/08

Here is today’s list of interesting articles I have read online.

So yesterday we did not get the historic 100 bps move many were predicting but the market did not seem to mind. After an initial pullback, the DOW popped quite nicely to end up 420 for the day. The open today was pretty flat but traded down in the morning and ended up giving back half of yesterdays gains by days end. Still a lot of fear in the market.

Today is Visa (V) day. I have outlined previously that I think the Visa IPO is one of the reasons to own NCC (and there are not a lot of others right now!!!). thestreet.com has done a great job outlining the pros and cons of the Visa IPO. I personally think that there are a lot of reasons to own Visa and that the stock will definitely be a performer over the next few years. I used to work in the industry and as far as I am concerned, there is somewhat of a license to print money here. Visa opened at $59 (up $15) and traded as high as $69 in early trading before pulling back to the $59 range. Not a bad start.

The Pros…
Five Reasons to Embrace Visa IPO

The Cons…
Visa IPO Brings Value, For Now

Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has given Fannie and Freddie clearance to lower their capital requirements and to raise additional funds allowing them to purchase 200B worth of mortgages. This should help the overall mortgage market by providing a buyer for a lot of issues that to date have been illiquid at any price.

Fannie, Freddie cleared to pump $200 billion into market

Thanks for reading…