Banks' Loan Loss Reserves

Banks' Loan Loss Reserves. BW online has a commentary about how banks adjust their loan-loss estimates to manage earnings.Last year the banks had an easy way to juice their profits. All they had to do was allocate a little less money to loan-loss reserves -- the money they set aside to cover bad debt. As the economy has improved and defaults have slowed, many decided they didn't need as much in

Leaking the News. MSNBC reports that there was increased volume in the traded options of P&G and Gillette just prior to the announcement of the merger. Well before the investing public learned of the $57 billion takeover of Gillette by Procter & Gamble, traders apparently got wind of the deal: Options-trading volume in both companies spiked more than fourfold on Jan. 27, before news of the