Financial, Real Estate, Stock Markets Trends and Current Affairs

Investing to grow and protect your assets is going to prove to be very, very difficult this year. It is important that those who take this endeavor seriously buckle down and get to work. Any and all who subscribe to this blog should have easily made a strong return on thier initial investment, whether a bank that pays $100k for thier prop desk or a retail investor that pays $550. I am congealing my strategy for the balance of the year in the financial space, then will probably release further throught in the financial arena. It really doesn't look very pretty at all.

Hartford Financial Plans To Cut Dividend 84%, Swings To 4Q Loss

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) said Thursday it intends to cut its quarterly dividend by 84% to 5 cents as it swung to a fourth-quarter loss on investment losses.

Shares fell 13% to $13.14 in after-hours trading as the results fell far short of Wall Street's expectations. [Wall Street expectations are a joke, and anyone who seriously quotes or follows these so-called "expectations" are the ones to be laughed at. HIG told the analysts what numbers to expect and were in full control of where the so-called "independent", and so-called "Smart Money" was to expect guidance to end up. Despite this conscious and deliberate manipulation (I'm sorry, I mean guidance), HIG still couldn't hit the target that it helped hang! That goes to show you how out of control management is! Let's reiterate this so it is driven home properly. Wall Street's so-called "expectations" are actively guided and manipulated by the subject company, itself yet despite this manipulation (there I go again, I meant "guidance") the company still can't hit its numbers. BoomBustBlog expectations were significantly more down beat, and blog subscribers, HIG employees and shareholders who frequented this blog had a four month lead time to prepare for this as well as the opportunity to catch the first big downfall in the share price: HIG Actionable Item 2008-11-22 06:32:24 189.75 Kb, Hartford Insurance Group Forensic Analysis - Pro 2008-11-22 06:30:43 619.29 Kb, Hartford Insurance Actionable Opinion Note 2008-11-22 06:30:14 538.89 Kb, Hartford Insurance Group spreads and counterparty/debt holders - pro 2008-11-22 06:31:47 149.00 Kb, and HIG Actionable Intelligence Update 8-12-08 2008-12-08 08:54:33 49.96 Kb . For those who have not subscribed (shame on you), there is a sneak peak here, "Insurance sector Actionable Intelligence Note, made public ". Be sure to look at the other suspect companies in this sector in the subscription content area. They are several who are speculating in naked CDS writing with insureds' monies. They might has well have headed down to the slot machines in Vegas, with a bunch of policyholders in tow. This practice shouldn't even be allowed by the state insurance departments. Mr. Dinallo, do you hear me?]

"This was clearly the most challenging year in our company's nearly 200-year history," said Chief Executive Ramani Ayer.

He said the company plans to make capital preservation and risk mitigation priorities this year by de-risking [read as swallowing actual losses by turning them from unrealized losses to realized losses, hedging in this environment will cos just about as much as swallowing the loss. Who is going to take the other side of a hedge the size required by HIG's portfolio?] the variable annuity product portfolio and cutting the dividend, which is expected to save about $350 million a year.

At the end of 2008, Hartford's life-insurance unit had a preliminary risk- based capital ratio of 385% and the property-and-casualty units were capitalized at levels consistent with AA ratings, the company said. [Only fools, and the friends of fools still rely on those alphabet soup ratings to determine risk. Are there friends of fools in the insurance industry? See " A Super Scary Halloween Tale of 104 Basis Points Pt I & II, by Reggie Middleton "]

As usual, you can click on any graph to enlarge it.

And then...

Hartford, along with other insurance companies, has faced continuing concerns about how its risk-adjusted capital cushion is holding up amid a falling equity market. Last month, it was granted a thrift charter, which would make it eligible for federal funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. [Ok, everyone else is jumping on the TARP bandwagon, why not? I hear Larry Flint from Hustler and the Girls Gone Wild Video crew are applying for a charter to get thier piece of the TARP as well (Seriously, I sh1t you not! Lookee here: Girls Gone Wild and Hustler request bailout funds! The Porn industry and booty seekers across the world get hit hard by the recession just like everybody else). I heard 50 cent applied too, but mucked up his application with a corny rhyme! Hey, where's the Smart Ass Blogger edition of the TARP? I want my piece of the American Pie too! From what I understand, ad rates are low and the revenue is not what it used to be.]

The insurance and financial-services company reported a net loss of $806 million, or $2.71 a share, compared with year-earlier net income of $595 million, or $1.88 a share.

The latest results included a $597 million write-down of goodwill in the corporate and annuity segments. [Hey subscribers who have read my reports, there's a surprise!]

Hartford had a core loss, which excludes net realized capital gains and losses, of 72 cents a share compared with core earnings of $2.66 a year earlier. [Hey, here's another surprise! The downloadable reports were uncannily prescient, weren't they. Once again, Kudos and Big Ups go out to my Research Staff!] Analysts estimated per-share core earnings of $1.30, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. [You're joking, Right???? I think I should be followed by Thomspon Reuters. I know I will really throw off their mean estimates, every time!]

The net realized capital loss was $610 million, more than double the net realized capital loss a year earlier.

Assets under management fell 19% to $346.9 billion.

Profit fell 8% in the property-and-casualty segment on a decline in investment performance. Total written premiums for the property-and-casualty insurance business totaled $2.5 billion, down 2%, while the combined ratio, the percentage of each dollar the company collects in premiums against what it pays out on losses and expenses, excluding catastrophes, slid to 78% from 88.4%.

In October, Hartford closed on a $2.5 billion investment by German insurer Allianz SE (AZ), which gives Allianz a 23.7% stake in Hartford.

Looking ahead, Hartford expects 2009 core earnings of $5.80 to $6.20 a share. Analysts are looking for $6.08 a share. [Oh, Okay! Yep, we'll be sure to hang out hats on those estimates, predictions and prognostications, I mean like, for sure man!]

Hartford's stock price has fallen 84% since April but has more than tripled since its all-time low of $4.16 on Nov. 21.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5975; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it