MBIA Labeled 'Bear of the Day'

MBIA Inc., Armonk, N.Y., has been designated the "Bear of the Day" for May 19 by Zacks Equity Research, Chicago. The Bear of the Day is a stock expected to underperform the markets over the next three to six months. Noting that MBIA's loss of $3.01 per share in the first quarter was "substantially worse" than the Zacks estimate of $0.30 per share, the research firm said the "bulk of the loss came through the unrealized pretax loss of $3.6 billion on the company's credit derivatives portfolio and [collateralized debt obligations]." Zacks said the entry of Berkshire Hathaway into the bond insurance business will "further intensify competition" and that possible further deterioration in the mortgage markets "should not bode well for results over the next several quarters." Zacks can be found online at http://www.zacks.com, and MBIA can be found at http://www.mbia.com.