Focus Stock of the Week
Lazard Ltd. (LAZ)
This week’s Focus Stock of the Week is Lazard Ltd. (LAZ: $33), which carries S&P Capital IQ’s highest investment recommendation of 5-STARS, or Strong Buy. In keeping with its goal of widening operating margins, LAZ management has been selectively, rather than aggressively, increasing headcount for investment bankers and other professionals. Widening operating margins is an important part of LAZ’s new strategic plan, in our opinion....
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Industry Profile
Investment banking and brokerage
We have a positive fundamental outlook on the investment banking and brokerage sub-industry. Following equity trading volumes that showed declines in 2012, we see a recovery in the capital markets spurred by rising investor confidence, higher risk taking and increased mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity boosting investment banking fees coming in the second half of 2013....
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The primary mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to protect investors and maintain the integrity of the securities markets. It does so by requiring public companies to disclose meaningful financial information to the public in a timely and comprehensive manner. Further, the SEC oversees and regulates key participants in the securities world, including stock exchanges, broker-dealers, investment advisors, and mutual funds.
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FINRA provides investor protection and market integrity through regulation and compliance. FINRA registers all industry participants, examines securities firms, enforces FINRA rules and federal securities laws, and administers a dispute resolution forum for investors and member firms.
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