WFC

Tech Stocks Long Overdue Comeuppance – Insiders are the Ultimate Value Buyer

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Nothing like a thousand point drop in the Dow to remind you that stocks don’t go up forever.  Neither do insiders blindly chase their stock price higher.  Just the opposite. They are the ultimate “value” buyer. Tech crashed and burned last week all because an impulsive Japanese billionaire, Masayoshi Son, gambled $45 billion in call options on big tech names. At least that’s what they’d like you to believe.  According to traders, there have been mammoth options trades that include buying call options on stocks like Amazon.com Inc., Adobe Inc., Netflix Inc., Facebook Inc. Microsoft Corp, generating chatter across Wall Street.The following companies … Read more

Energy Lending Caught in a Squeeze

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Banks have sold off recently on a variety of perceived woes, some real, some not so real.  One of them is their exposure to energy loans.  This article shows the exposure the major banks have.  CiitiGroup has 3.48% of their loan portfolio, JPM 5.56%,BAC 2.48%,and WF C 1.91%.  All in all this looks manageable to me. Banks are clashing with regulators over loan reviews that could crimp the flow of new credit to the oil patch. Source: Energy Lending Caught in a Squeeze

Blue Chip Is The New Alpha – Seeking Alpha

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We loved this provocative article from Seeking Alpha, especially the quote from Alexander Graham Bell.  We may be biased though as we are also long JPM,K,MSFT, INTC, MCD, PG and BP and the author, Stephen Perry, is interning for us this summer. Blue Chip Is The New AlphaJuly 30, 2012  | 3 comments  |  includes: AAPL, ABT, CL, CVX, DD, GE, IBM, JNJ, JPM, KO, MCD, MDT, MMM, MRK, MSFT, PEP, PFE, PG, T, TGT, VZ, WFC, WMT, XOMIts been difficult to find alpha in a market that is so volatile and dependent on global macro events, but I think Ive … Read more

An ETF To Capitalize on Growth in Regional Banks

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Guest Post By: Benjamin Shepherd Thus far, 2012 has been a great year for the money center banks; shares of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) have all gained more than 30 percent year to date. Solid balance sheets, growing profits and a strengthening domestic economy have underscored the fact that, thanks to aggressive intervention by government and banking authorities at the peak of the financial crisis, American banks are now the strongest in the world. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) most recent quarterly assessment of the banking industry, the sector posted its tenth … Read more

Pension Pulse: Hidden Burden of Ultra-Low Interest Rates?

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Guest Post By: Leo Kolivakis via Pension Pulse: Hidden Burden of Ultra-Low Interest Rates?.   Matthew Philips and Dakin Campbell of Bloomberg report, Banks Join Pensions in Squeeze as Federal Reserve’s Low Rates Erode Profit:   The Federal Reserve, which cut its target for the federal funds rate to a zero-to-0.25 percent range on Dec. 16, 2008, said last month that rates would remain “exceptionally low” at least through late 2014. While the unprecedented period of near-zero rates is meant to aid an ailing economy, it poses challenges for banks, insurers, pension funds, and savers. The hope is that by making mortgages and … Read more