Bank Stocks

There are thousands of banks in the U.S., with a few big banks. Bank stocks are publicly traded financial firms that are involved in taking deposits and issuing loans and mortgages, along with other financial services. Big banks tend to cover the entire nation, including an international presence, while regional banks cover only a small section of the country. Bank stocks generally pay a dividend. Some bank stocks are more involved in asset management and therefore are more at risk to the overall market.

Is It Time to Book Profits in Bank Stocks?

By Sasha Cekerevac for Investment Contrarians | May 14, 2013

Time to Book Profits in Bank Bank stocks have been one of the strongest sectors in the market over the past year. Bank stocks have rallied sharply after many investors dumped shares on fears that the financial crisis might worsen. Those fears obviously never materialized, and many bank stocks have begun to resume paying dividends and generating profits.

There are two questions I am often asked: 1) is it too late to incorporate bank stocks into one’s investment strategy; and 2) if someone has already owned bank stocks over the past couple of years, is this the time for that investor to start taking profits?

Since the fall of 2011, an index of bank stocks has almost doubled in value. Clearly, an investment strategy that owns a number of bank stocks has seen significant gains in this sector. But no one can rationally expect this type of return to continue forever.

Part of my cautious view on bank stocks, in terms of reducing the sector weighting in an investment strategy, is the fact that there is a limit to upside capital appreciation in every sector. A big question when developing an investment strategy: what is the future outlook for the sector?

Obviously, the low-hanging fruit has already been picked when it comes to bank stocks. Regardless of what was thought about bank stocks in the past, as an investor you are only interested in the potential for growth in earnings and revenues. Large gains have already been realized; now we need to consider how bank stocks fit into an investment strategy over the next decade.

Large concerns for bank stocks shareholders are increased regulation and a … Read More

Danger: Market Sentiment Too Bullish in This Sector?

By Sasha Cekerevac for Investment Contrarians | Apr 11, 2013

Danger: Market Sentiment Too Bullish in This Sector One of the most dangerous periods for an investor is when they become too complacent. As the combined view of all investors, market sentiment ends up becoming overly bullish, running far ahead of the fundamentals. This has now occurred in several sectors, but one that investors should be aware of is in bank stocks, especially in Europe.

Bank stocks around the world have risen tremendously, pushed higher by a wave of positive market sentiment. The general consensus is that following the financial crisis over the last few years, the worst is over. I would caution investors that there are still significant hurdles for many global bank stocks.

Recently, the Bank of England stated that many investors are underestimating potential risks. As we all know, the global economy is still weak, yet share prices have soared, including bank stocks. Market sentiment has shifted from massively bearish to extremely positive over the past couple of years.

As the minutes of the Bank of England’s last meeting note, the committee recommended that bank stocks in the U.K. raise an additional $38.0 billion for potential pitfalls related to the euro area as well as their real estate exposure. (Source: Moshinsky, B., “BOE Says Investors May Be Taking ‘Too Rosy’ a View of Stresses,” Bloomberg, April 5, 2013.)

Investors have piled into bank stocks with positive market sentiment on the belief that the worst is over, especially in Europe. Many bank stocks within Europe are closely intertwined with other nations on that continent. As we’ve just seen from the recent Cyprus fiasco, there are still significant pitfalls ahead.

Market sentiment is clearly being pushed upward … Read More

Banking Sector Isn’t in a Downturn

By George Leong for Investment Contrarians | Mar 5, 2013

Banking Sector Isn’t in a Downturn Bank stocks are providing excellent leadership this year. In fact, if it weren’t for the credit crisis that surfaced in 2008, financial institutions, such as banks, credit, and insurance companies may still be playing Russian roulette on their balance sheet as far as risk.

It now appears that bank stocks are cutting down on the amount of risk that they are willing to take on. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE/GS) is now at a point where the potential loss that can occur from trading is at a seven-year low. The other major Wall Street banks are also seeing a reduction in their risk. (Source: LaCapra, L.T., “Goldman trims risk-taking to lowest level in 7 years,” Reuters, March 1, 2013.)

The major bank stocks all closed 2012 near their respective 52-week highs and have started 2013 with a bang, with the KBW Bank Index up 5.8%, slightly below the comparative return of the S&P 500 and the Dow, but above the NASDAQ. The attraction to the bank stocks has been driven by an improving banking industry that is assuming less risky businesses while shoring up their balance sheets and producing stronger units.

The chart of the Philadelphia Bank Index below shows the upward move of bank stocks from their 2011 bottom. Bank stocks staged a nice rally but retrenched in March to May 2012 on the European bank concerns, and Moody’s Investor Services downgraded the sector. The group has since staged a rally back above the 50- and 200-day moving averages (MAs). But there was some topping on the charts, followed by the recent selling, as indicated by the blue … Read More

What Can You Do with Your Bank Stocks?

By Sasha Cekerevac for Investment Contrarians | Feb 22, 2013

One of the strongest market sectors in the stock market over the past year has been the financial market sector. Bank stocks have been on a tear, moving up massively since the lows in June. Looking at the entire market sector through the Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca/XLF) exchange-traded fund (ETF), the index is now up almost 36% from the lows in June.

Bank stocks have benefited from several factors. Low Treasury yields make the dividend yields from bank stocks highly attractive; the entire market sector has also reduced its risk profile, while eliminating costs. The end result has been a group of companies that offer significant upside.

However, the hunt for safety by average citizens might hurt bank stocks going forward. The latest data by Credit Suisse Group AG shows that for the top-eight banks, the average loan-to-deposit ratio fell in the fourth quarter 2012 to 84%, compared to 87% during the same time period in 2011. In 2007, the loan-to-deposit ratio was 101%. (Source: Dexheimer, E., “JPMorgan Leads U.S. Banks Lending Least of Deposits in 5 Years,” Bloomberg, February 20, 2013.)

The loan-to-deposit ratio shows how much of the deposits bank stocks have lent out. Bank stocks are having trouble lending due to several reasons. These include a lack of demand as well as an increase in regulations to try and reduce risks.

For investors in the financial market sector, this is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is positive that bank stocks are being more selective in who they are doing business with. This means that any loans that have been issued over the past … Read More

Finding Money-Making Opportunities with Bank Stocks

By George Leong for Investment Contrarians | Feb 14, 2013

Opportunities with Bank Stocks The major bank stocks all closed off 2012 near their respective 52-week highs; and they’ve started 2013 with a bang. Driven by an improving banking industry that is assuming less risky businesses while shoring up their balance sheets and producing stronger units, the KBW Bank Index is up eight percent, outperforming both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones.

The subprime credit crisis that surfaced in 2008 and drove the U.S. and the global economy into a recession was not what we wanted to see; but in some sort of twisted way, the events have led to an industry that has restructured the way banks do business—more specifically, the amount of risk that is assumed by a bank via sophisticated strategies. So far, this shift in structure, coined the “Volcker Rule” because it was set in place by economist and ex-Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, appears to be capping the number of speculative trades made by the banks, which is good.

Banks have altered the way they do business, and they’ve shown positive strides along the way.

In my view, the operating results have been fairly good, and this indicates that the banks will be able to grow their business volume across the board during the U.S. economic recovery.

Moreover, with the housing market and the U.S. economy continuing to improve, I feel bank stocks will also see some gains.

Most of the big banks have paid back part or all of their government loans. Overall, bank stocks are showing promise and delivering better results.

While risk surrounding the bank stocks has declined, there are still issues that could hamper … Read More