11:31 Bank of America, broker rally may fade as shorts limit expires - Bloomberg.com
Bloomberg.com reports BAC and MS's monthlong rally, propelled by an emergency limit on short-selling, may end as the rule's expiration lets investors redouble bets that losses will mount. Mortgage underwriters FRE and FNM and 17 brokerages resumed trading today freed from the SEC's restriction aimed at preventing stock manipulation. The group's shares rose by an average of 17% since the SEC's action on July 15. Analysts including Oppenheimer's Meredith Whitney and Deutsche Bank's Mike Mayo this week cut profit estimates and forecast further writedowns on mortgage-related bonds. Bets in the options market against gains in the Standard & Poor's 500 Financials Index are within 2.3% of a record, Bloomberg data show.