A recent plan by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to repurchase shares may have sent the stock higher, but at least one analyst is questioning the validity of the claim. The bank's recent plan to repurchase shares may show strength, but continued weakness means that it may not be completed anytime soon. KBW Analyst Jefferson Harralson noted that "a share repurchase authorization is very different than an actual purchase ... I'd be surprised if they follow through in the near term." This news comes just after the board approved a plan to repurchase up to 75 million shares of common stock for up to $3.75 billion during the next 18 months.

The move by Bank of America comes at a time when nearly all banks have faced mounting losses from rising defaults in their loan portfolios, especially loans tied to real estate. The announcement of a buyback jumped the share price quite substantially, but shares may come crashing back down after this announcement. After all, Bank of America already needs to set aside $5.83 billion in cash to cover current and future loan losses.

Shares of Bank of America dropped over 3 percent on the day.

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Northwest Airlines Corporation (NYSE: NWA) swung to a loss this quarter but things weren't nearly as bad as Wall Street had expected given the record fuel costs that hit the industry. The Minnesota-based company reported a loss of $377 million, or $1.43 per share, versus a profit of $2.15 million in the year-earlier second quarter. And let's not forget that all of this is just a year after it emerged from bankruptcy!

On a positive note, revenues for Northwest came in at $3.58 billion, up from $3.18 billion a year ago. The airline also disclosed that it has $3.3 billion in unrestricted liquidity and sees its merger with Delta Air Lines closing in the fourth quarter. The merger should help the company cut costs while lowering oil prices and fare raises should help improve margins over the next few quarters.

Northwest Airline Corporation is the direct parent company of Northwest Airlines, Inc. Northwest is engaged in the business of transporting passengers and cargo. Recently, the company has faced sharp declines in margins thanks to higher fuel costs and slower consumer spending. Shares of the company rose more than 5% during today's session.

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Just when many thought the banking sector was improving, Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) reported a huge second quarter loss. The financial services company reported a loss of $8.66 billion with a shocking $6.1 billion in writedowns. This compares to a net income of $2.34 billion a year earlier. Shares recovered on the day, but the news remains bearish for the sector.

Even the Chairman shared the disappointment: "These bottom-line results are disappointing and unacceptable," said Chairman Lanty L. Smith. "While to some degree they reflect industry headwinds and weaker macroeconomic conditions, they also reflect performance for which we at Wachovia accept responsibility."

Wachovia also cut its dividend again by 87% in an attempt to conserve about $700 million in capital. Clearly, this was a decision that had to be made in order to help the company stay alive over the long-term. The bank is also fresh off issuing some $8.3 billion in cpaital through preferred stock and other securities.

Finally, Wachovia has hired Goldman Sachs to help it analyze and value the billions of dollars in loans sitting on its balance sheets. Once it has a true idea of the valuation, shareholders will be able to better evaluate the company. Until then, Wachovia remains somewhat of an enigma.

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Yahoo Inc. (NDAQ: YHOO) decided to play it safe and settle with activist investor Carl Icahn. The search giant agreed to provide the billionaire investor with three board seats, which will give it some say but no power. The settlement is the latest in the sage over Microsoft's attempt to take over the company. Interestingly, Icahn expressed his belief that a sale of the company merits "full consideration".

Icahn said in a statement he's pleased with the settlement. "While I continue to believe that the sale of the whole company or the sale of its Search business in the right transaction must be given full consideration, I share the view that Yahoo's valuable collection of assets positions it well to continue expanding its online leadership and enhancing returns to stockholders."

The news of the concession by Yahoo management comes just days after the same management sent a letter to shareholders calling Microsoft's actions "stupifying" and criticizing Carl Icahn for his lack of knowledge of the internet business. However, the move is still seen as a victory for Yahoo. Icahn now has limited voting power while Yahoo management remains in place. So, why did Icahn accept the deal? Many believe that he thought he would end up losing if he went through with the proxy contest.

Perhaps the largest catalyst behind this settlement was Legg Mason's statement that it would back the Yahoo board and urged the two sides to settle their dispute before conducting an actual proxy contest. Carl Icahn owns a 5 percent stake in Yahoo and has been pushing for the company to pursue an acquisition by Microsoft. Eight of Yahoo's directors will now stand for re-election to an expanded 11 member board, including CEO Jerry Yang.

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BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK), the largest publicly traded asset manager, said its second quarter earnings topped estimates as $24.2 billion in new cash flowed into the firm. Net income rose 23 percent as deposits increased the funds under management to $1.43 trillion. Profit was $2.14 per share, which beat the $1.97 per share analysts were predicting.

Investors have moved into BlackRock as its funds have sidestepped the worst of the subprime mortgage collapse and financial sector deterioration. Competitors like Legg Mason were hit with $19 billion of redemptions in the first quarter alone and forced to provide $2.15 billion of its own funds to offset losses tied to mortgage-backed securities.

BlackRock also confirmed that Merrill Lynch & Co (MER) - its largest shareholder - shelved plans to sell its 49 percent stake in order to boost its capital. This is good news for shareholders since it means there won't be a large selling pressure that many were expecting to see.

BlackRock itself is one of the only firms that is able to take advantage of the dislocation in the fixed-income market while it was able to raise $16.7 billion in additional funds. The company also garnered $43.6 billion in advisory assets as investors sought advice on distressed portfolios. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve picked them to oversee $30 billion in Bear Stearns investments after it was acquired by JP Morgan.

All in all, those looking for a good financial play may want to take a look at BlackRock as it remains a very solid play.

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Eaton Vance Insured Florida Municipal Bond Fund (AMEX: EIF) shares rose marginally this week after the board recently announced its intentions to merger EIF into the Eaton Vance Insured Municipal Bond Fund (AMEX: EIM) at a special meeting of shareholders to be held in October.

The closed-end fund was facing some shareholder concerns that its valuation was being hurt through concentrated geographical risk that was unnecessary to endure. Karpus Management, which owns around 14% of the fund, had been a vocal advocate of such a merger in order to unlock value in the fund. In fact, the activist withdrew its hostile intentions and complimented the fund in its most recent Schedule 13D filing with the SEC.

"We would like to commend the Board for its recently announced recommendation to EIF shareholders to merge EIF into the Eaton Vance Insured Municipal Bond Fund ('EIM') at a special meeting of shareholders to be held in October," said Sharon Thomton of Karpus. "Consequently, we wish to withdraw our termination proposal, director nominees and shareholder list request, which were submitted to EIF on April 17, 2008 and April 24, 2008."

However, Karpus did bring up the fact that a related closed-end fund owned by the same group is facing similar problems:

"Given the Board's recently announced action, we also believe that the Board must also address similar circumstances facing shareholders of FEV. In fact, a press release issued by FEV on December 12, 2007 and reiterated again on June 19, 2008 indicated: '... the Board of Trustees of FEV may in the future consider other actions, potentially including a merger of FEV into a similar closed-end Eaton Vance national municipal bond fund.' Without further action by the Board, shareholders of FEV continue to bear concentrated geographical risk without any additional benefit for doing so."

Both of these funds could represent strong buying opportunities for those investors looking to jump on board an activist campaign. The success in EIF will become apparent when the fund is absorbed by the parent and value is unlocked in the fund's shares. A similar story may emerge in FEV, which makes that stock one worth watching closely!

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Insiders know a lot about the companies they work for, so watching their actions can help bank some serious profits. These transactions can be monitored by the public through forms 3, 4, and 5 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Here are the top 5 insider buys from last week, which can be useful when creating a watchlist of stocks with a potential catalyst for this week:

1. Lamar Advertising Company (LAMR) - 10% owner Edward McDermott purchase a substantial block of shares valued at over $20 million.
2. Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) - The company's chairman and director each purchased substantial blocks of shares valued at over $10 million.
3. Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (OWW) - Par Capital Management Inc. purchased over $12 million in new shares.
4. Saks Inc. (SKS) - Inmobiliaria Carso purchased over a million shares for nearly $10 million.
5. Hearst Argyle Television Inc. (HTV) - Hearst Family Trust purchased nearly a half million shares in a transaction worth some nearly $10 million.

Cardiome Pharma Corp. (NDAQ: CRME) shares moved sharply higher today after the company announced positive phase IIb results for its oral Vernakalant drug. The experimental drug reduced the rate of abnormal heart rhythms in patients with recurrent atrial fibrilation - a condition in which the heart's top two chambers quiver instead of beating regularly, thereby reducing the heart's ability to pump blood efficiently.

Cardiome said it would move forwards with phase III study and seek a development partner or strategic buyer for the entire company. Investors clearly applauded the move since the likelihood of a strategic buyer is substantially higher with every development milestone that they pass. These latest results demonstrated that the dosing group significantly reduced the rate of arrial fibrillation relapse as compared to the placebo group.

"We are delighted to report clearly positive clinical results from our vernakalant (oral) program, which continue to support our belief in the exciting potential of vernakalant as a therapy for atrial fibrillation," said Bob Rieder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cardiome. "With 949 patients and subjects exposed to vernakalant (oral) in this development program, we now have an extensive safety and efficacy dataset to guide us as we move this exciting clinical program forward and finalize our strategic discussions with interested parties."

Shares of Cardiome Pharma rose 27.46% to $10.63 on the news today.

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