Let's go back to the financial crisis and the practices that brought this country to its knees. Banks developed a fancy scheme whereby they absolved themselves of all risk from the loans they made. They simply wrapped them up in a bundle and sold them to someone else. What they were doing is essentially packaging and reselling "junk."

When the news of how bad things were became known, the markets froze and collapsed. No one knew who had which securities, and if they did, they didn't know their true value.

Continue reading Banks Lobby Against Risk Retention on the Loans They Make

Banks Lobby Against Risk Retention on the Loans They Make originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 02 Apr 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When dealing with large companies, have you ever felt you were living through a scene from a Seinfeld episode?

In January Wells Fargo (WFC) completed a majority of its integration with Wachovia, and I fear it will take years working out the bugs in the system. I say this because I am a major client, shareholder and trader dealing with the company on numerous levels, and the past few weeks would be comedic if not so infuriating.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Wells Fargo, a Seinfeld Episode?

Chasing Value: Wells Fargo, a Seinfeld Episode? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Early Friday morning, Bank of America (BAC) reported a fourth-quarter loss of 16 cents per share ($1.2 billion). This includes the company's previously announced goodwill impairment charge of $2 billion that was related to its home loans and insurance business. Taking this charge out of the equation, BAC earned 4 cents per share. It could be an interesting morning for BAC, as experts predicted earnings of 18 cents per share.

Shares of BAC were down more than 2% as we await the opening bell. This drop should push the stock low enough to mount a serious challenge to the support of both BAC's 20-month moving average and the $14 level.

Continue reading Bank of America Posts $1.24 Billion Loss for Fourth Quarter

Bank of America Posts $1.24 Billion Loss for Fourth Quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Citigroup, Inc. (C) could have done better. Revenue from bond trading took a big hit. John Gerspach, Chief Financial Officer acknowledged that fixed income was weak and needs fixing.

Citi's profit was $1.3 billion compared with the year earlier loss of $7.6 billion. Revenue more than tripled to $18.4 billion from $5.4 billion a year ago. However it fell 11% from the third quarter. Citi has been aggressive in hiring more bankers causing expenses to rise. Earnings per share were four cents compared with a loss of 33 cents a year ago, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Continue reading Citigroup's Earnings Dragged Down by Bond Traders

Citigroup's Earnings Dragged Down by Bond Traders originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Economies go in cycles. They push to their breaking points, then move in the opposite direction. We saw it clearly in the '90s when there was no end to up (except there was and we abruptly hit it in 2000). In 2008, it felt like there was no end to down. But we now know there is. Things are picking up, and there are numbers to prove it.

Don't be the last to figure out we're in an economic recovery. Sitting on the sidelines, waiting for one more chance to buy a stock at the bargain price you saw in March of 2009 isn't going to happen. Times have changed. The U.S. economy is on the mend.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Can You Feel the Pendulum Swinging?

Comfort Zone Investing: Can You Feel the Pendulum Swinging? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Jan 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Citigroup Sees a Bid After Q3 Report

Citigroup Sees a Bid After Q3 Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Top central bankers and regulators from 27 countries have agreed on new rules for central banking, according to The New York Times.

Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, said, "The agreements reached today are a fundamental strengthening of global capital markets." The agreement requires banks to raise the amount of common equity they hold to 7% of assets from 2%. Often known as Basel III, the group set a deadline of Jan. 1, 2013 for member nations to implement the rules.

Continue reading Top Central Bankers Agree on New Rules for Global Banking

Top Central Bankers Agree on New Rules for Global Banking originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading UBS Reports Stronger-Than-Expected Second-Quarter Earnings

UBS Reports Stronger-Than-Expected Second-Quarter Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Looks like UBS (UBS) isn't going to hand over files on its American clients to U.S. tax authorities.

Nationalist and left-wing lawmakers blocked a treaty with the U.S. that would have allowed UBS to hand over said files. This "treaty" was reached last August between the Swiss government and Washington in order to put to rest a disagreement about UBS's supposed role in tax evasion. The boondoggle was that the Social Democrats wanted a commitment from the government to tax bankers' bonuses and the People's Party wanted a vote against the tax before dealing with the U.S. tax treaty.

Continue reading Swiss Lawmakers Reject Deal to Name American Clients of UBS

Swiss Lawmakers Reject Deal to Name American Clients of UBS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Citigroup Gets Its Groove Back

Citigroup Gets Its Groove Back originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bank Failures Hit 42, Expected to Exceed 2009's 140

Bank Failures Hit 42, Expected to Exceed 2009's 140 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading China Is a Bigger Worry Than Greece

China Is a Bigger Worry Than Greece originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The bank failure rate slowed a bit last week, but the tally remains alarming. Two banks in Georgia and one in Florida hit the skids, bringing the 2010 total to 40.

The victims this time around were McIntosh Commercial Bank in Carrollton, Georgia, Unity National Bank in Cartersville, Georgia, and West Bank of Key West, Florida. Together the three bank failures are expected to cost the FDIC insurance fund approximately $213.6 million.

Continue reading Three More Banks Fail

Three More Banks Fail originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bank Death Toll Approaches 40

Bank Death Toll Approaches 40 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Four more banks bit the dust last week, bringing the total to 30 -- just shy of 75 days into 2010. Regulators closed banks in New York, Florida and Louisiana, representing in aggregate nearly $1.1 billion in assets and a little over a billion dollars in deposits.

Park Avenue Bank in New York was shut down by the FDIC this week. It had $520.1 million in assets and $494.5 million in deposits as of the end of last year. Its deposits will be assumed by Valley National Bank, which is based in Wayne, New Jersey, and it will pay a small premium for them. Valley National also agreed to pick up virtually all of the bank's assets.

Continue reading 75 Days, 30 Bank Failures

75 Days, 30 Bank Failures originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Three more banks failed last week, bringing 2010's total to 25. Already, this year's bank failures have matched the 2008 full-year total and exceeded the 2007 amount by a factor of greater than eight. The three regional banks that failed last week were in Florida, Illinois and Maryland, with close to a billion dollars in aggregate assets. According to the FDIC, the pace of bank failures could be set to accelerate in the next few months.

Sun American Bank, in Boca Raton, was taken over by the FDIC, with First-Citizens Bank & Trust, based in Raleigh, N.C., assuming the Florida banks assets and almost all of its deposits. Sun American had assets of $535.7 million and $443.5 million in deposits. Since July, First-Citizens has acquired the assets of four failed banks, the others being First Regional Bank of Los Angeles, Venture Ban (Lacey, Wash.) and Temecula Valley Bank (Temecula, Calif.).

Continue reading Bank Failure Tally Hits 25

Bank Failure Tally Hits 25 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading JPMorgan Leads in Year Bankers Make Money on Each Other

JPMorgan Leads in Year Bankers Make Money on Each Other originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Lending Drops to Multi-Year Lows

Lending Drops to Multi-Year Lows originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Imagine that you go to withdraw funds from your checking account, only to find that you must give your bank seven days prior notice of the action. Does that sound outlandish? This regulatory fine print has been made all too real for customers of Citibank (C).

In an informational snafu that got out of hand, Citibank notified its customers that it has the right, or the responsibility, to delay customers from retrieving their own money in certain rare instances. The misstep occurred when Citibank included this revelation on the statements of its customers nationwide.

Continue reading Citibank Trips over Regulations

Citibank Trips over Regulations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading First Niagara: A Low-Profile Gem

First Niagara: A Low-Profile Gem originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.