It was a tough day for bank stocks today, and tomorrow Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) will get its chance to impress Wall Street when it reports its fourth quarter results.

The market was disappointed today by weak earnings report from Goldman Sachs and by news of job cuts coming from American Express.

Continue reading Capital One to Report Its Q4 Results

Capital One to Report Its Q4 Results originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares of financial giant American Express (AXP) are trading lower in after hours trading despite a stronger than expected earnings report for its third quarter.

Going into this afternoon's earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see American Express announce earnings of $0.86 per share, while actual earnings came in above estimates at $0.90 per share.

Continue reading American Express Trades Lower Following Earnings Report

American Express Trades Lower Following Earnings Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This past Friday, which happened to be an options-expiration session, was not a good day for the markets. Among the casualties was Bank of America (BAC). The stock lost over 9% of its value, closing down $1.41 to $13.98. The volume was very high.

Over the past twelve months, the shares have been trading in a narrow range. And they've pulled back from the 52-week high of $19.86 in significant fashion. Back in April, I was cautious on Bank of America. Should I change my mind now? After all, you want to buy when other investors are selling, correct?

Continue reading Bank of America Taken Down After Earnings Report

Bank of America Taken Down After Earnings Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:40:00 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 Legg Mason Reports Strong Fiscal Fourth Quarter Earnings

Legg Mason Reports Strong Fiscal Fourth Quarter Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 May 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Although Goldman Sachs (GS) was beaten down recently on news of a civil fraud investigation by the SEC, don't count this Wall Street giant out. The fact is that the bad press has driven down shares to bargain levels, and long-term investors could make the buy of a lifetime snatching up GS shares at current valuations.

Consider that Goldman is now trading at 1.3 times book with its current price of around $157. GS should trade at 1.6 times book -- putting shares somewhere in the $210 range. Despite the fact that Goldman's troubles have resulted in numerous stock downgrades across the financial sector, that's a 34% return for anyone with the guts to buy in right now!

Continue reading Three Reasons Why You Should Buy Goldman Sachs

Three Reasons Why You Should Buy Goldman Sachs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"The effect of this capital assessment will be to help replace uncertainty with transparency. ... We chose a strategy to lift the fog of uncertainty over bank balance sheets and to help ensure that the major banks, individually and collectively, had the capital to continue lending even in a worse-than-expected recession." -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, May 2009

These tests did NOT bring transparency to the banking sector. They were practically designed to prove the banks were fine, and simply ignored off-balance-sheet and other dodgy assets. It was as if they were saying, "We will do whatever it takes (even lie) to make sure the big banks do not fail since Congress won't give us more money to fix them."

Continue reading Lie #1: The Stress Tests Provided Transparency in the Banks

Lie #1: The Stress Tests Provided Transparency in the Banks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The market staged an impressive rally this year, but it was predicated on some very big lies, as opposed to solid fundamentals or the beginnings of a real recovery in the U.S. economy.

The biggest lie investors were fed? That, statistically, the recession "officially" ended in Q3 when we saw 3.5% GDP growth. Sure the Bureau of Economic Analysis revised their number substantially in November, saying we only saw 2.8% growth, but this was growth nonetheless ... according to the statistics.

Continue reading 2009's Biggest Wall Street Lies

2009's Biggest Wall Street Lies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For the first half of 2010, almost two thirds of money managers are bullish, according to Barron's. In fact, 54% are bullish, and 5% are "very bullish." Responses suggest that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to gain another 5% by the end of the year.

According to Barron's, "Today's bullish investors see the major stock indexes making steady progress through next June, amid signs the U.S. economy is on the mend after a searing recession."

Continue reading Healthcare, tech and energy to outperform in next 12 months

Healthcare, tech and energy to outperform in next 12 months originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading ING reports a quarterly loss; discusses repaying the Dutch government

ING reports a quarterly loss; discusses repaying the Dutch government originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Late yesterday, MetLife (NYSE: MET) announced a second-quarter net loss of $1.74 per share, compared to earnings of $1.26 per share a year ago. The company blamed the loss on derivative losses of $1.8 billion, $1 billion of which was related to an increase in the company's own debt in the second quarter. Excluding charges, MET earned 88 cents per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate by 20 cents. The insurer's premiums, fees, and other revenue increased 4% to $8.38 billion thanks to a record amount of money spent in variable annuity products.

Variable annuities can be described as a contract between the purchaser and the insurance company. The insurer agrees to make payments to the purchaser either immediately or at a future date. Investment options for variable annuities are usually a mutual fund that invests in stocks, bonds, money market instruments, or a combination of the three.

Continue reading MetLife's second-quarter earnings top the Street's expectations

MetLife's second-quarter earnings top the Street's expectations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:30:00 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.

Continue reading Capital One reports a smaller-than-expected loss -- still a loss

Capital One reports a smaller-than-expected loss -- still a loss originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"This is a great time to be a banker," New York Times columnist Floyd Norris says, somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Jabs about bailouts and huge bonus payments aside, it's true that banking system is finally seeing rational pricing of risk -- and that means earnings power has greatly increased for deposit-taking banks. If you have a savings account or money market, you might have noticed that your interest payments have dried up to a pittance; the interest you aren't being paid is dropping through to banks' bottom lines.

Looking at today's earnings report from Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C), for example, is useful to see how the economics of the industry function, and whether Citicorp -- the "good bank" as Citigroup works to split itself -- will live up to the promise CEO Vikram Pandit attributes to it. In a company press release, Pandit said, "Citicorp is our core franchise and will be the source of Citi's long term profitability and growth. Citicorp is unique with institutional and consumer businesses operating on an unmatched global footprint."

Continue reading Citigroup: what the numbers say about credit cards and mortgages

Citigroup: what the numbers say about credit cards and mortgages originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After a nifty rebound off a 52-week low of $5.73, industrial and financial services giant General Electric (NYSE: GE) is in a weird place. The company's shares are trading at around $11.75, which is well below the $15 levels achieved in early May. This would seem odd as GE appears to be well positioned for the Green Shoots Scenario. The company has a big presence in alternative energy, health care solutions, and industrial products -- all big beneficiaries of both the Obama stimulus package and a nascent economic rebound.

So why does the market seem to be scared of GE? A couple of key reasons. First, GE's investments in commercial real estate (CRE) are looking increasingly toxic as the rate of CRE failures soars and CRE debt remains difficult to roll over.

Continue reading General Electric: Up, down or sideways?

General Electric: Up, down or sideways? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Talk of "green shoots" abounds with the S&P 500 up 40% from its lows in March 2009, but Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein remains cautious in his outlook for the global economy. "I think it's going to be a long, protracted recession," he said while speaking on a panel at the annual International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) conference in Tel Aviv.

Blankfein also emphasized the importance of intelligent regulation and risk management, warning fellow finance executives not to discount the latter. "The culture of risk management is very important and hard to legislate, but at the end of the day, you have to make sure that the people on the risk management side of your operation are just as capable, and maybe therefore, just as well-paid and have the career opportunities as people on the producing side of the business."

Continue reading Goldman CEO Blankfein cautious on recovery

Goldman CEO Blankfein cautious on recovery originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As one would naturally expect, revenues and profits were down. Sales from continuing operations declined 9%, and net income decreased 40% to $0.26 per share. You have to play the analyst game to really see how GE might be doing. In this regard, the conglomerate won. According to this source, Wall Street was calling for something closer to $0.21 per share.

Continue reading General Electric beats in Q1 -- how does the stock look now?

General Electric beats in Q1 -- how does the stock look now? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wednesday's announcement that the Fed would buy into the U.S. Treasury bond market was no surprise to most Fed watchers. In fact, the Fed has been talking about it for weeks.

But the big surprise was the size of the buybacks and the impact on future inflation.

So, with a newly revived concern about inflation, and five days of gains out of seven under their belts, traders decided it was time to cash in some chips.

But, technically, there is much more to the market's reaction to Wednesday's Fed move.

Continue reading Today's technical outlook: Indices following the financials

Today's technical outlook: Indices following the financials originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "More than 40 financial firms have been hit with pay-related proposals, including Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). Most of the targets are recipients of government capital from the Troubled Asset Relief Program."

This is great news and represents an increase of more than 60% over last year, according to RiskMetrics. Of course, it doesn't matter nearly as much as it should: The "say on pay" votes are really just advisory: All that they do is put a little box on the proxy ballot where shareholders can say how they feel about their company's egregious executive pay practices.

Continue reading Shareholder proposals on executive pay slam financials

Shareholder proposals on executive pay slam financials originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Despite the overwhelming tide of bad news from Q4 earnings reports, stocks not only held above the support line at Dow 8,000 and S&P 500 800 Monday, but the stochastic indicator on both the NYSE Composite Index and the Nasdaq issued buy signals.

Our other internal indicators are still oversold, and the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell to 45.69 and appears to be headed lower -- which is generally a bullish sign.

The key, however, to moving the markets higher could be the financial stocks.

This week, a number of closely watched banks, such as Dow members American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), will report earnings. The expectation for all of these former finance powerhouses is low, so upside surprises could have a positive impact on the Dow.

Continue reading Today's technical outlook: Financials hold the key

Today's technical outlook: Financials hold the key originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.