Chicago, IL - June 12, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: AIG (AIG), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), TAM (TAM) and Vivo (VIV).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog:

Treasury Releases New TARP Rules

Specifically, the rules limit compensation for senior executives and other highly paid employees at companies receiving TARP funds, including limits on bonus payments (to one-third of total compensation) and curtailment of Golden Parachutes. Further, the bonuses paid to senior executive officers and the next

The Obama administration yesterday (Wednesday) continued its assault on highly paid Wall Street executives, announcing plans to appoint a “pay czar” to oversee compensation at financial firms receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds.

The government also will create a new program to give shareholders at nonparticipating firms a vote on executive pay packages.

President Barack Obama has targeted executive pay practices as part of a larger effort to overhaul regulations and prevent a repeat of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Obama will unveil a “series of specific proposals” on June 17 designed to streamline and reorganize regulations, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told Bloomberg News.

The administration originally proposed regulations in early February to put a $500,000 per year lid on the salaries of executives at firms that tapped into the government’s $700 billion TARP rescue fund. The only exceptions would be in the form of restricted

The Obama administration yesterday (Wednesday) continued its assault on highly paid Wall Street executives, announcing plans to appoint a “pay czar” to oversee compensation at financial firms receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds.

The government also will create a new program to give shareholders at nonparticipating firms a vote on executive pay packages.

President Barack Obama has targeted executive pay practices as part of a larger effort to overhaul regulations and prevent a repeat of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Obama will unveil a “series of specific proposals” on June 17 designed to streamline and reorganize regulations, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told Bloomberg News.

The administration originally proposed regulations in early February to put a $500,000 per year lid on the salaries of executives at firms that tapped into the government’s $700 billion TARP rescue fund. The only exceptions would be in the form of restricted

“The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government”, says Simon Johnson, a chief economist with the International Monetary Fund in 2007 and 2008. In an article entitled “The Quiet Coup” in the May, 2009 issue of the Atlantic magazine he (with James Kwak) goes on to say that “if the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform and if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time”.

America is in financial crisis but instead of the financial oligarchy being broken up to permit essential reform they are continuing to use their influence to prevent precisely the sorts of reforms that are …

The purpose of IBOR is to protect financial markets and to create self-sufficient investors who produce economic growth instead of government deficits. IBOR standards create transparent financial markets, regulate speculation, and protect retirement portfolios. Here’s a sampling:

Section One: Product Transparency. All investors have a right to see precisely what securities are inside any investment product by accessing real time information that includes names and cost-based allocation percentages.

Section Two: Regulation and Education.

Section Three: Protection from Speculators. Investors have a right to protection from risks added to portfolios without their control, knowledge, or permission.
Naked shorting, index fund ownership of large share positions, and all naked option transactions would be prohibited.

Section Four: Controls of Hedge Funds.

Section Five: Brokerage Account Statements. Investors have a right to account statements that: 1) help manage asset allocation targets, 2) report realized gains and losses, 3) track …

SIBORAP includes these ten specific sections: (1) Product Transparency, (2) Regulation and Education, (3) Protection from Speculators (4) Control of Hedge Funds, (5) Brokerage Account Statements, (6) Retirement Account Investments, (7) Executive Compensation, (8) Corporate Financial Statements, (9) Taxation of Investment and Retirement Income, and (10) Transactional Greed and Fear Controls.

Section Seven: Executive Compensation – continued from Part Three of the SIBORAP report.

Every dollar paid to corporate executives, directors, and employees (in any form whatsoever) in excess of two million dollars would be matched by a ten-cent per share extra dividend to all shareholders and a 10%-of-annual-pay bonus to all employees.

All golden parachutes, separate “non-qualified” retirement plans, stock option and deferred compensation programs, and others that do not benefit all employees and shareholders will be unwound over a three to five year period. Any employee who receives …

SIBORAP includes these ten specific sections: (1) Product Transparency, (2) Regulation and Education, (3) Protection from Speculators (4) Control of Hedge Funds, (5) Brokerage Account Statements, (6) Retirement Account Investments, (7) Executive Compensation, (8) Corporate Financial Statements, (9) Taxation of Investment and Retirement Income, and (10) Transactional Greed and Fear Controls.

Section Five: Brokerage Account Statements.

Investors have a right to brokerage account statements that: (1) help them monitor and manage their asset allocation, (2) report realized gains and losses for the year, (3) track both the cost of their holdings, and their net account deposits, and (4) emphasize the long-term, cyclical nature of the investment process.

Under SIBORAP, all brokerage firms would be required to maintain cost basis information on all holdings, and the ACATS system would be required to provide it in all transfer transactions. Mutual funds would be required …

SIBORAP includes these ten specific sections: (1) Product Transparency, (2) Regulation and Education, (3) Protection from Speculators (4) Control of Hedge Funds, (5) Brokerage Account Statements, (6) Retirement Account Investments, (7) Executive Compensation, (8) Corporate Financial Statements, (9) Taxation of Investment and Retirement Income, and (10) Transactional Greed and Fear Controls.

Section Two: Regulation and Education (continued from Part One of the SIBORAP report).

Security industry regulators will be charged with many responsibilities: (1) educating investors with respect to product content; (2) developing a “hierarchy-of-risk” tool that identifies the risks in all things sold to investors; and (3) preventing the spread of unregulated Internet based investment advice offered by persons of unknown qualifications.

Additionally, they will be responsible for:

(4) Preventing the development of multi-level, multi-leveraged, WMFDs; (5) requiring that all financial blogs include appropriate caveats that speak to the qualifications of …

We the securities investors of the United States, in order to form more transparent financial markets, establish effective regulations, defend against destructive speculation and manipulation, promote financial well-being, preserve working capital, and protect retirement income, do establish this Securities Investors Bill of Rights and Protections (SIBORAP).

These rights are intended to replace, amend and/or abolish all laws and regulations currently in conflict with SIBORAP, and are to be implemented by all parties to financial transactions.

Any institutional efforts to create and/or market securities and/or derivative products that do not comply with the spirit of SIBORAP will result in fines to corporate officers and directors, congressional oversight committee members, regulatory agency directors, and their financial or legal counsel.

All derivative investment products of any kind, any investment programs or specific recommendations promoted in any medium by non-professionals and professionals alike, SEC …