Banks binge on preferred shares

Financial services firms have raised $54.7 billion this year, compared with $25.3 billion at the comparable point last year (Dealogic). Bank of America has raised the most, $10 billion. Citigroup is not far behind, according to Financial News Online. All of this is not exactly good news. On the one hand, it's a good sign that banks are successfully raising capital. Of course, the yields the banks have had to offer have been rather hefty. And the fears of dilution are real. Same goes for credit ratings. One analyst says that Merrill Lynch may be downgraded in the wake of a $2.5 billion offering.

For more:
- here's the Financial News Online article

Related Articles:
Winning deals abound
What are Merrill Lynch and TPG talking about?
S&P revises high-yields ratings methods