In order to spur spending, Target Corporation (TGT) has long offered

Well, not any more. This week, TGT announced it will no longer issue cards with the Visa logo and instead encourage shoppers to sign up for its own plastic "REDcard." It's a trend that could sap revenue away from credit card stocks V, Mastercard In (MA) and American Express (AXP).

Continue reading Visa Loses Target Store Brand Cards

Visa Loses Target Store Brand Cards originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Vistaprint Offers a Credit Card -- Personalized, of Course

Vistaprint Offers a Credit Card -- Personalized, of Course originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) issued its fiscal first quarter report Tuesday after the bell. According to an article at BusinessWeek.com, a net loss of 22 cents per share was recorded. Last year at this time, the card entity, which counts American Express (AXP) as a colleague, brought in 25 cents per share of positive income.

The quarter's red ink was driven by an addition to loan loss reserves. Without that aspect, Reuters says that Discover brought in a profit of 11 cents per share. Unfortunately, that won't help the company win the expectations game. The estimate at Earnings.com indicates a desired figure of 12 cents for the bottom line.

Continue reading Discover Financial Services Books a Loss in Q1

Discover Financial Services Books a Loss in Q1 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Visa (V), a credit card company that competes with American Express (AXP), Discover Financial Services (DFS), and MasterCard (MA), is looking good after the Q1 report, which was released to the market after the bell on Wednesday. GAAP net operating revenue went up 13%. Net income was $1.02 per Class A share, representing a 38% year-over-year increase. According to TheStreet.com, the expectation was for 91 cents.

I simply love this business model. We're a society that is addicted to using credit and debit cards, and Visa takes a little percentage of each transaction. So far, the model is working like a charm. Visa expects prosperous growth in the future, plus a whole lot of free cash flow.

Continue reading Visa's Long-Term Story Remains Valid After Q1

Visa's Long-Term Story Remains Valid After Q1 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Visa will become part of the S&P 500 Index

Visa will become part of the S&P 500 Index originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading American Express is in an uptrend

American Express is in an uptrend originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

US Senator Bernie Sanders, independent from Vermont, is known for his straightforward and unbiased positions.

His new legislative proposal is to break up big banks that are deemed "too big to fail." To quote Mr. Sanders: "if an institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist. We should break them up so they are no longer in a position to bring down our entire economy."

Continue reading Senator Sanders proposes legislation to break up large banks

Senator Sanders proposes legislation to break up large banks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I've said on many occasions that I prefer MasterCard (NYSE: MA) to Visa (NYSE: V). No, I don't mean the card products themselves. I mean the stocks. I believe Visa has better brand equity associated with it, and I think it possesses a little more depth and fundamental prowess. However, both of these companies operate on the same basic economic model: collect fees on transactions, and don't take on loan risk. So, both MasterCard and Visa do offer compelling long-term investment theses.

And, even though there were some negative outlooks on MasterCard's latest earnings report, which was released Tuesday, I have to say that I didn't find the situation too disturbing. Revenues increased only 2%. The top line was inhibited by currency effects, but it's not like we haven't heard that story before. More importantly, MasterCard posted adjusted income of $3.48 per share, representative of a 40% increase over the adjusted income recorded a year ago.

Continue reading Was MasterCard's Q3 good or bad?

Was MasterCard's Q3 good or bad? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Visa (NYSE: V) is one of my favorite businesses on Wall Street. It should be an excellent long-term investment. People will always use branded credit cards, and Visa doesn't take a lot of risk. It simply collects a little of the spoils on each transaction. What a model!

According to TheStreet.com, Visa increased top-line sales by 10% in the fourth quarter, and expanded per-share profit by 28% to 74 cents, excluding certain items. Forecasts were for 72 cents per share.

Continue reading Visa charges through Q4 estimates, but future cash flow is the story

Visa charges through Q4 estimates, but future cash flow is the story originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Losing the DJIA 10K (AMZN, BIIB, BRCM, COF, DOLE, MSFT, SPWRA)

Closing Bell: Losing the DJIA 10K (AMZN, BIIB, BRCM, COF, DOLE, MSFT, SPWRA) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Consumer debt levels fell again in August for the seventh month in a row. Facing continued instability in the job market, people are paying down their debt, as a way to protect themselves. Savings are up, and borrowing is down - which could weaken the recovery. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of economic activity in the United States.

Total consumer debt outstanding dropped by $12 billion in August, according to the Federal Reserve, reflecting an annualized rate of 5.8%. Reality outpaced Wall Street's expectations, which were around $10 billion. In July, consumer debt outstanding fell $19 billion (9.1%), which was the largest in hard-dollar terms since 1943 and on a percentage basis since June 1975's 16.3%.

While consumer fear is playing a significant role, as a touchy housing market and dicey job situation leave little to lean on, the banks are also responsible for the change in direction. They aren't lending as easily, with stricter standards limiting the amount of credit available to consumers. You can't spend what you can't borrow.

Continue reading Consumer debt declines for seventh month in a row

Consumer debt declines for seventh month in a row originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), a credit card company that competes with Visa (NYSE: V), MasterCard (NYSE: MA), and American Express (NYSE: AXP), released earnings for the third quarter on Thursday. The company put analysts to shame by posting a profit instead of a loss according to an article from Reuters.

The projection was for a loss of 12 cents per share. Discover actually made 52 cents per share of profit, once you exclude monies received from an antitrust settlement. Wow, that's what you call being way off the mark! The disparity surprised me, so I went to our very own earnings preview to see what we were reporting for an estimate. Sure enough, it stated the exact same expectation for a loss of 12 cents.

Continue reading Discover surprises analysts in Q3

Discover surprises analysts in Q3 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

American Express Company (NYSE: AXP), a company that competes with Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE: MA), and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), issued Q2 results earlier in the week. Earnings from continuing operations dropped very steeply to 9 cents per share. How steeply? Well, the per-share profit lost 84% of its value this time around. However, it might make you feel a little better to know that 18 cents can be added back, since that was the net worth of repurchase activity relating to preferred shares from the U.S. Treasury department. Therefore, American Express took in 27 cents per share from continuing activities. According to this Reuters piece, that number met expectations.

The Reuters article also points out that revenues fell by 18% and that net charge-offs increased. Not a great picture. Reading through the press release, an investor might come away with a feeling of dread. Management mentions the not-so-strong spending by its cardmembers and the fact that loan losses are at historic levels.

Continue reading American Express not on my watch list after second-quarter data

American Express not on my watch list after second-quarter data originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Then we have a second economy made up of the unemployed and persons living on the edge of disaster. Here we see a growing number of credit card and home equity delinquencies. These people are in a downward spiral. Having lost their jobs, they are using credit cards to survive. This leads to double trouble -- no money and default on credit card debt and home mortgage.

Continue reading Consumer deliquencies are at new highs

Consumer deliquencies are at new highs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you read the actual press release, you'll see that Discover, on a reported basis, made $0.43 per share. However, we must remember that this profit included an antitrust settlement sourced to Visa and MasterCard. So, once you get rid of that money, you come up with a loss for the quarter.

Continue reading Discover Financial Services beats in Q2 -- buy the stock?

Discover Financial Services beats in Q2 -- buy the stock? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Doomsday Scenario: Credit card problems, PE downsized, American workers lag originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Bull & Bears look equally confused (APP, AXP, HD, MS, PALM, STT)

Closing Bell: Bull & Bears look equally confused (APP, AXP, HD, MS, PALM, STT) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Credit card crash: Small biz lender Advanta in trouble

Credit card crash: Small biz lender Advanta in trouble originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 May 2009 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Another give-back (MSFT, COF, WFC, DRYS)

Closing Bell: Another give-back (MSFT, COF, WFC, DRYS) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Capital One Financial: A play for high-risk investors only

Capital One Financial: A play for high-risk investors only originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.