Lehman Brothers’ (LEH) announcement of a $2.8 billion loss rocked some financial exchange traded funds (ETFs) slightly and made it clear that the sector’s troubles aren’t over yet.
The nation’s fourth-largest investment bank said it would raise $6 billion in new capital, reports Joe Bel Bruno for the Associated Press.
The loss of $5.14 per share was much bigger than the 22 cents a share analysts had been expecting. It’s the first loss for the bank since it was spun off from American Express Co. in 1994.
Clusterstock for the Tech Ticker points out that the crisis has wiped out the last eight years of Lehman’s stock gains.
Most financial ETFs were down today, whether they count Lehman as a major holding or not. Among them:
- Regional Bank HOLDRs (RKH): down 19.7% year-to-date
- Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF): Lehman is 1.1%; down 19.4% year-to-date
- iShares Dow Jones US Broker-Dealers (IAI): Lehman is 5.4%; down 25.8% year-to-date
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