Opening View: Cuomo Deems Morgan Stanley's Plan 'Too Little, Too Late'

Looking now at financials, J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: sentiment, chart, options) late yesterday announced that it had incurred losses of nearly $1.5 billion for the quarter to date. The company said that trading conditions have "substantially deteriorated" in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, hurt by wider credit spreads, lower levels of liquidity, and an overall deterioration in credit trends. Ahead of the bell, the shares of JPM are set to open moderately lower than yesterday's close of $41.89.

Meanwhile, shares of Goldman Sachs (GS: sentiment, chart, options) fell nearly 2% in pre-market activity, led lower in the wake of a downgrade. More specifically, Deutsche Bank slashed its rating on GS to "hold" from "buy," with the analyst noting that the securities firm was not immune to capital market pressures – especially given its high exposure to weakening European markets. The brokerage also cut its third-quarter profit estimate for GS to $2.40 per share from $3.25 per share, and slashed its 2008 estimate to $14.60 per share from $16.25 per share.

Rounding out the financial trifecta is Morgan Stanley (MS: sentiment, chart, options) , which revealed plans to repurchase $4.5 billion in auction-rate securities. The announcement came just hours after the securities firm – along with JPM and Wachovia (WB) – received a letter from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, stating that the government official was expanding an investigation into the sale of auction-rate securities. "This is too little, too late," a spokesman for Cuomo commented.

Opening View: Cuomo Deems Morgan Stanley's Plan 'Too Little, Too Late'