"The hands-down choice for growth in the insurance sector is in China, where the industry is just getting off the ground." says says growth stock expert Timothy Lutts.

In The Cabot Stock of the Month Report, he suggests, "CNinsure (CISG) is the king of the Chinese insurance industry. We believe the stock most attractive insurance industry investment in China today.

"When properly managed, a property and casualty insurance company is an excellent vehicle for participating in a region's growth. However, the average age of top insurance companies in the U.S. is 108 years and their assets of the U.S. are growing slowly.

"Direct Investment Plans -- or DRIPs -- are a great way to investor regardless of the market environment; in fact, avoiding the emotional decisions usually made by the typical investor may be their greatest strength," observes DRIP specialist Vita Nelson.

In her MoneyPaper's Direct Investing, she reviews the basics of DRIP investing and discusses her latest "Bargain Corner" stock pick -- Regions Financial (RF).

Vita Nelson explains, "This strategy involve the four Ds -- dividend reinvestment, dollar-cost averaging, diversification, and discipline.

Wednesday morning kicked off with news that Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) saw third-quarter earnings rise to $3.24 billion (56 cents per share) from $1.64 billion (49 cents per share) last year. The results handily trounced the consensus estimate of 37 cents per share.

Wells Fargo also reported revenue of $22.47 billion , which was better than both a year ago and the consensus estimate. The company stated that net charge-offs for the quarter came in at $5.1 billion (2.5% of average loans), compared to $4.4 billion (2.11% of average loans) in the second quarter. The bank did note that it expects credit losses to continue increasing, but at a slower pace thanks to a slowing of the pace of deterioration.

I don't think anyone could have had a positive reaction to Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) third-quarter report, which was released on Friday. According to Bloomberg, management lost $1 billion in the past three months. Big ouch on that one. The financial institution bled 26 cents per diluted share. No earnings beat here, either. Wall Street sent shares down 4.6% by the end of yesterday's trading session.

The year-ago period was a happier time. Back then, Bank of America was rolling in the dough, posting a profit of 15 cents per share. What a difference 12 months makes. Looking at the nine-month record perhaps gives a small amount of comfort to shareholders. The company made 39 cents per diluted share. Of course, that doesn't sit too well next to the $1.09 per diluted share booked in the comparable period. But at least it's not a loss, know what I mean?

In his Invest with an Edge, he explains, "One bank in particular is exerting itself again as a dominant player: Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC)." Here's his review.

"The painful declines in bank stocks appear to have stopped for now, as bank stocks have exploded off the March lows. As we've observed, financials have 'friends in high places.'

"Banks in general are showing promise as credit becomes easier. There's still a long way to go for complete recovery, but the trend is pointing up.

"Citigroup (NYSE: C) used to be the world's #1 bank; it is now ranked #15 after the financial crisis," points out long-standing investing and trading expert Mark Skousen.

Yet, in his premium Hedge Fund Trader service, the leading advisor ranks the bank as a speculative buy. Here's his review.

"The stock fell to $1 a share from $40 a share two years ago. But now Citigroup is showing some breathing room after selling Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley for $6.7 billion and pushing revenues up to $34 billion.

Interesting article from the Associated Press this morning, taking a look at how fast banks expanded during the past five years. The article states that banks added more than 10,000 full-service branches in the past five years, with nary a bank in the inner city (actually, one of every 10 was in a minority neighborhood).

The banks were "racing" to plant themselves in various parts of the country deemed exclusive or growing. The problem that the article looks at is the dearth of banks located in inner-city locations, which could lead to more charges for customers. This is a very real problem, and warrants the discussion; however, I want to take a look at the problem of overexpansion for the banking industry.

"While I continue to avoid bank stocks and bank ETFs , I very much continue to recommend that you buy and own plenty of nicely high-yielding bank preferreds and bank minibonds for your retirement investing," says Neil George.

In his income-focused Stocks that Pay You, the advisors reviews his favorites among these lesser-known investment vehicles.

"Why invest in banks at all? Because -- as they continue to clean up and bolster their balance sheets -- banks are getting even better credit risks, which means that you'll be even more likely to get paid your high-yield dividends and interest payments.

For those seeking exposure to the India markets, Paul Goodwin looks to HDFC Bank (NYSE: HDB), the leading private-sector bank in India.

In his The Cabot China & Emerging Markets the advisor explains, "The company puts itself at the top of its class with its relentless revenue growth, which has averaged over 42% a year." Here's his review.

"The bank became an independent company as part of the liberalization of the Indian banking industry that began in 1994.

"Hudson City Bancorp (NASDAQ: HCBK) is a fortress of safety with plenty of upside potential," says value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks, he explains, "The 140-year old bank is a classic example of the tortoise and hare fable. Its slower, measured approach has paid off handsomely and keptit at arms length from the problems plaguing other banks."

"Hudson City manages a network of 130 bank branches spread throughout affluent regions of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. At last count, the firm had over $20 billion in deposits and approximately $56 billion in total assets.

"According to an independent study, this tight-knit institution has been rated one of the nation's three strictest mortgage underwriters. So when most other banks relaxed their standards in recent years to attract riskier clientele, Hudson City stuck to its conservative roots and refused to budge.

The earnings crunch is on. Among the many companies scheduled to report quarterly results this week are such so-called bellwether stocks as Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), DuPont (NYSE: DD), and United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS), all of which analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect to report lower earnings for the recent quarter. Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO), McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD), and Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN), on the other hand, are expected to post marginal earnings growth.

"Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) surprised investors with better-than-expected earnings while also raising equity to help replay $10 billion in TARP money," says Bill Martin In BullMarket.com.

"On the earnings front, Goldman swung back to solid profitability after turning in its first-ever quarterly loss at the end of its last fiscal year, which ended November 28th, 2008.

"Goldman earned a net profit of $1.66 billion, or $3.39 a share, compared to a Q1 2008 profit of $1.47 billion, or $3.23 a share. The results are a vast improvement over the loss of -$2.29 billion, or -$4.97 a share, reported for Q4 2008.

"Goldman Sachs has long been the best run of what were previously Wall Street's top investment banks and the strength of its trading operations were evident in the quarter.

In his The Ticker Tape Digest, technician Leo Fasciocco looks for stocks that have broken out of basing patterns; his latest breakout stock is credit card processing firm Visa (NYSE: V).

"Visa manages a group of global payment card brands. It licenses them to financial institutions that issue cards to their customers. The company maintains the largest card service in the world with annual revenue of $6.5 billion.

"The stock soared after it came public. It peaked at 90 and then was swept lower with the bear market. The stock has put in what seems to be a good bottom. The key is for it to kick in an up trend. That is quite possible now, but not a given.