Category: Banking Stocks
The analysis published under this category are as follows.Monday, June 02, 2008
Bradford and Bingley- Another Bank Cracks Under Credit Crunch Pressure / Companies / Banking Stocks
The Bradford and Bingley, Britain's biggest buy to let mortgage lender is expected to announce another profits warning later today as its Chief Executive abandoned the sinking ship ahead of a £300 million originally heavily discounted rights issue at 82p, which given Friday's close of 86p and today's expected price slump looks increasingly vulnerable.
Way back in August 2007, well before the credit crisis broke across the mainstream media, I specifically warned of three mortgage banks that are especially vulnerable during the next housing bust Of the three the first one to go was Northern Rock in spectacular style and much earlier than one could have imagined during Sept 07, by way of the first run on a British bank in 150 years. The Government eventually did another u-turn by nationalising the bank in January 08.
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Friday, May 30, 2008
Banking Stocks Pointing to Initial stages of long-term Bottoming Process / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
Global stock markets topped out on the back of the sub-prime/credit debacle in October 2007. Prices subsequently moved lower until reaching climatic bottoms in January/March this year, triggering rallies throughout the world until a few days ago. The big question investors are grappling with at this stage is whether the rise in prices has simply been a bear market rally, or whether we are back in a primary bull market.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, May 09, 2008
The Falling US Dollar is No Friend to the US Financials / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
The affects of the declining U.S. currency goes beyond simply providing inflationary pressures, stronger foreign currencies and high gold prices, it also has a direct impact on how portfolios should be weighted. Since the beginning of the waterfall drop of the world's reserve currency, funds have rotated into energy stocks and out of financials. And this action is never favourable for the S&P 500.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Financial Stocks Break Out / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
This morning the Financial Select SPDR (AMEX: XLF) broke out of a 6-week bullish coil pattern that represents the digestion period after the initial upmove from the 3/17 low at 22.1 to the 3/24 high at 27.37 (+23%). With today's surge out of the coil, the XLF has started a new upleg that should propel the financial index towards a test of resistance at 27.80-28.00 next, on the way to an optimal target zone of 29.50. Only a break below 26.40 will wreck the developing upside follow-through from the March low. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Bottom for the Banking and Financial Stocks? / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
Investors who regularly beat the market are always careful not to jump into a sector to early. In the last few weeks there has been unprecedented action in the financial markets as several banks have received infusions of capital to help them cover their significant credit losses. Last month the Fed lowered the Fed Funds and Discount rate, increasing the slope of the yield curve which should help banks. They also opened its lending window to investment banks giving them a new, stable source of funding. Then the regulators allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to boost their investments in U.S. mortgages by $200 billion, trying to give the mortgage market a boost.Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Will Citibank Survive? / Companies / Banking Stocks
The center of focus this past week on Wall Street – and indeed, much of the financial world – was whether or not Bear Stearns will go belly-up. As questions arose about the quality of its $395 billion of assets that were carried on only $12 billion of equity, its customers and other brokers became unwilling to accept the counterparty risk that arises from transacting with Bear, while its lenders began worrying about repayment. Being leveraged to that extent, even a small decline in the value of its assets can significantly erode the firm's equity base. But given that Bear is no more than the fifth largest broker in the US , it is a relatively small fish in the financial world.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, March 17, 2008
UK Mortgage and Commercial Banks Decimated by Bear Stearns Bust / Companies / Banking Stocks
Panic selling of the financial sector gripped the stock market today following news of the bailout of Bear Stearns over the weekend. The FTSE ended the day down over 200 points. The banks hit the hardest were the mortgage banks followed closely by those with large mortgage backed bonds and derivatives exposure as the deleveraging of the $500 trillion market continues. The Bank of England stepped in to provide emergency lending of £5 billion which was oversubscribed by more than 5 times, and indication of the desperate state of the UK banks.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Financial Stocks Retest of Lows Looks Bullish / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
Deep retest of Monday's low or another tease? Technically I have lots of indicators telling me it is the former and that the Financial Selecct SPDR (AMEX: XLF) is now in the early stages of revisiting Monday's high at 25.91 on the way to 26.50 thereafter.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Financial Stocks Gaining Upside Momentum / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
The Financial Select SPDR (AMEX: XLF) is gaining some upside strength as it emerges from its 3-week sideways but base-link congestion area that projects a measured upside follow-through towards the 28.50 target zone. A climb above 27.50 should trigger upside acceleration. Only a decline that breaks 27.00 will begin to compromise the developing upside breakout.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Financial Stocks Make Tradeable Low / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
Judging by the improving technical condition of some of the members of the Financial Select Sector SPDR (AMEX: XLF), such as Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), AIG, GS, and MS, perhaps this morning's low at 26.20 will suffice as the third such low of a near-term triple bottom completion of the pullback off of the Feb 1 high at 30.00? If that proves to be accurate, then confirmation that a significant corrective low has been established will come only upon a hurdle of the key Feb down trendline resistance now at 27.00. Until then, I only have indications that a tradable low is in place.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Pullback in Financial Stocks Appears Complete / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
Now for a look at Financial Select SPDR (AMEX: XLF), which technically indicates that we should expect renewed price recovery. Components Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) all exhibit similar chart structures that argue for higher prices in the financial sector.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Financial Service Shares Turned Significantly Lower Today / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
Shares Of Investment Risk Manager Blackrock Fall Significantly Lower
Blackrock, BLK, is one of wall street's premier risk management and financial services companies with over 1.3 trillion dollars in assets under management.
Blackrock turned much lower, in late afternoon trading, falling 2.42%.
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Sunday, February 03, 2008
Looking Past the Current Stock Market Crisis for Strong Financial's / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
The news keeps getting more disturbing for America's financial system.Just minutes after the US Federal Reserve slashed rates by half a point this week, the market turned its focus to an announcement by Fitch that it was slashing ratings of major bond insurance group Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC), triggering fears that it had others in its sights as well. That was compounded by the horrific fourth quarter earnings turned in by rival insurer MBIA, which was forced to defend itself against rumors that it could be headed toward insolvency.
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Saturday, January 19, 2008
Financial Sector Crash Continues with Gigantic Bad Debt Write-downs / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
Mike Larson writes: The stock market is in a state of near-panic. The Dow tanked another 307 points yesterday, continuing a string of triple-digit declines that have marred the new year. The latest action is proof positive that the credit problems that began in the housing and home mortgage market are spreading out in concentric circles.
They're forcing builders to cut back furiously on home construction. They're causing companies to slash jobs. They're weakening the broader economy, helping drive losses on credit cards, auto loans, and other products higher.
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Friday, January 18, 2008
Northern Rock Bank Bust and the UK Mortgage Banking Sector Crash / Companies / Banking Stocks
"...All investing is risky – all the way down to zero. And if government steps in to bail out a business, it should've gone to the wall in the first place..."
JUST IN CASE YOU'D forgotten – or you've set up a hedge fund in London lately – shareholders come last in line when a listed company goes bust.
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Tuesday, January 15, 2008
CitiGroup $10 billion Devastating Quarterly loss - Still Just Tip of the Bad Debts Iceberg! / Companies / Banking Stocks
Citigroup the United States second largest bank posted a record quarterly loss of $10 billion due to the continuing fall out from the subprime mortgage crisis that continues to depress US housing market as Adjustable Rate mortgages adjust to higher interest rates.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Citigroup Results To Coincide with Major Upside Reversal - Buyers Will Prevail / Companies / Banking Stocks
Tuesday morning ahead of the open, Citigroup (C) reports earnings, which needless to say, could be problematic for the company, the financial sector, and for the entire market.
On the other hand, based purely on my technical work, C is at or is very
near to a major upside pivot reversal from within the 26.00-28.00 price
zone. The bank will have to produce disastrous results acutely worse than
the write-downs and losses currently built into the price. When I juxtapose
the chart of C with the pending news, my conclusion is that a falling price
from here will be subject to the "beachball effect," which means that a
negative price reaction will not be able to be sustained -- and the buyers
will prevail (from 26.00-28.00 area).
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Banking Index Sounding Stock Market Alarm Bells / Stock-Markets / Banking Stocks
Too often, investors only look at the short and medium term trends in the markets. When we have had a year with exceptionally damaging sub-prime problems, it is time to step back and look at 5+ and 15+ year views. It is only the longer term views that can give you a clear picture of how much damage has been done.
Today, we will look at 6 and 16 year views of the Banking Index ... symbol: BKX.
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Monday, December 10, 2007
Time to Buy Banking and Financial Stocks? / Companies / Banking Stocks
Looking over the news this morning, it seems the big story in the US market is an $11.5 billion "capital injection" for subprime-beleaguered bank UBS.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Paragon Buy to Let Mortgage Lender Crashes 40% On Credit Crunch / Companies / Banking Stocks
Paragon , Britian's third largest buy to let mortgage financing company crashed 40% yesterday and appears to be following a similar path to Northern Rock Bank. Both financial institutions relied heavily on the credit markets to finance loans to mortgage borrowers and both have been hit by the credit crunch. However not being a bank with no customer base, Paragon appears did not go the whole hock down the short-term funding route as Northern Rock and hence has managed to stumble along until yesterday.Read full article... Read full article...