We are upgrading our recommendation on the shares of Loews Corp. (L) to Neutral. The company’s third-quarter earnings of $1.08 per share was well ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 87 cents a share. Loews reported a loss of 33 cents a share in the year-ago quarter.   The improved earnings were driven by increased investment income and a considerable reduction in investment losses at CNA Financial Corp. (CNA), besides strong results at Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO).    While the spin-off of Lorillard in 2008 eliminated the company’s overhang of tobacco litigation and the strong rebound in investment income is impressive, we think that the continuation of a stressed economic environment will have a restrictive effect on the top-line growth of the company.   The recent financial market appreciation bodes well for Loews. Both the holding company as well as the subsidiary, CNA, has experienced

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Loews Corporation’s (L) third quarter income from continuing operations came in at $1.08 per share compared to a loss of 33 cents in the year-ago quarter. Results primarily reflected a 26% year-over-year increase in revenues. The improved results were driven by increased investment income and a considerable reduction in investment losses at CNA Financial Corporation (CNA) and strong results at Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO). Also, the results reflect a strong rebound in investment income, primarily from improved limited partnership results. CNA Financial Corporation’s operating income increased to $304 million from $76 million in the prior-year period. Diamond Offshore experienced a strong quarter with $170 million of earnings, up 17% year-over-year. However, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP’s (BWP) earnings decreased to $9 million from $31 million in the year-ago period. Reported earnings for the quarter were significantly reduced due to the shutting down ...

I finally got a chance to read through Loews' a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/153392-loews-corporation-q2-2009-earnings-call-transcript?source=yahooamp;page=1"conference call /afrom this morning. By the way, Seeking Alpha is an awesome resource not only for stock research, but they post transcripts of conference calls if you don't have a change to listen to it. I do post things there from time to time as well, so feel a href="http://seekingalpha.com/author/michael-brisky/articles"free to check that out/a.br /br /I thought Loews had a pretty darn good quarter. I've read great things about the Tisch family and their ability to manage businesses as well as buy assets at the right price. Here are a couple of quotes from CEO Jim Tisch, about their various businesses:br /br /Diamond Offshore:br /br /blockquoteDiamond Offshore had an excellent quarter, reporting its second highest earnings on record. For the quarter, average day rates and utilization for Diamond’s fleet were strong. Its revenue backlog currently ...

The market is moving higher again today, and the Samp;P briefly touched 1000. Here's what I'm following this morning:br /br /Loews reported and missed on estimates. Yet were still seeing the stock rally 5+%. Their results have been hurt mostly by CNA financial (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cna"CNA/a) and their exposure to mortgage-related investments. I kind of view this as a back door way to play Diamond Offshore, which is a great company. Loews is an interesting play as you can buy most of their assets (which the exception of Loews Hotels) directly on the open market. But by buying Loews stock you get a little more diversification, but still ownership in some great businesses, and you get Loews management, which is outstanding. And because of their ownership in things that have seen their value decrease, you can buy the entire company at a discount, which potentially gives you access to shares of ...

You might call them “free-form” merchants. They did a little bit of everything, as opportunities presented themselves. In the 18th century, you could find such merchants in seaports up and down the East Coast, from Boston to Charleston. Such a merchant might arrange voyages to Africa or the Far East - hire a captain, underwrite the insurance and divvy up the profits. He might deal in shares of land companies or bonds. He might lend money, trade grains, sell lottery tickets - whatever. These merchants were not committed to a single business. They would go where the best of it looked to be. They were opportunists in the best sense of the word.

Throughout financial history, you can find their likeness all over the world - even as far back as ancient Rome and Greece…or ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Persia. And in more modern times, you find their likeness

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