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Golden Minerals is a junior silver producer with a strong growth profile, listed on both the NYSE Amex and TSX.
Message: AIG's Firesale
Insurance giant and former market star has hit a major rough patch and is now conducting a fire sale. Actually, AIG has lead the DOW down this year as shown in the chart below. Since AIG has never been a friend of silver, its demise will only serve to loosen the noose around our illustrious metal.
Regards - VHF
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AIG shares slump, says 'everything on the table'
Insurer may sell Transatlantic stake, other businesses to raise capital
Last update: 5:42 p.m. EDT Sept. 12, 2008
By Alistair Barr & John Spence, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Insurance giant American International Group, beset by a record stock slump and a possible cut from ratings agency Standard & Poor's, said Friday it was reviewing its businesses and that "everything was on the table," suggesting it might sell assets to raise capital and avoid a crippling downgrade.
The company had been preparing for a major reorganization announcement on Sept. 25, but on Friday the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site that the company may hold a conference call for analysts on Monday during which it could announce asset sales.
AIG shares slumped a record 31% Friday on concern the world's largest insurer may be downgraded by ratings agencies, triggering billions of dollars in new capital needs.
Standard & Poor's put AIG's ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications, suggesting the agency may downgrade the insurer in the future.
"Additional market value losses will place some strain on the company's resources," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Rodney Clark said in a statement. "AIG's potential access to the capital market may be more restricted in the short term."
AIG stock lost 31% to close at $12.14. More than 300 million shares traded, another record, according to FactSet Research. The shares lost another 5.6% to $11.46 in after-hours action.
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In the race to see which Dow stock will be down the most this year, AIG has taken a clear lead this week. While General Motors (GM), Merck (MRK), and Citi (C) have held the coveted honor at one point or another this year, AIG is really distancing itself heading into the final stretch of 2008. As shown below, AIG is now down 77.7% on the year. GM ranks second with a decline of 46.6%, followed by MRK (-41.7%), C (-38%), and then GE in fifth (-27.7%). It will take a doozy for another Dow stock to beat AIG at this point, but if we've learned anything this year, it's that anything can happen in this market.-
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