One of the fastest rallies for Australian banks in six years is prompting fund managers to stop and catch their breath. Randal Jenneke of T. Rowe Price is pausing after moving overweight in the banking sector before the U.S. elections.
Category: Financial Services
BlackRock Quants Sustain Record Losses in Setback to Fink Plan
Like so many fund titans these days, Laurence D. Fink is betting on machines to turn around BlackRock Inc.’s beleaguered stock-picking business. BlackRock’s main quantitative hedge-fund strategies — which use computer models to sort through vast amounts of data to pick out patterns — were on track for losses in 2016, according to a monthly client update sent out in late December.
How Will the Latest Government Lawsuit Affect Bank of America?
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation filed a complaint in federal court on Monday against Bank of America, alleging that the bank improperly accounted for counterparty risk. By doing so, the FDIC claims that Bank of America was able to reduce the premiums it pays for deposit insurance.
ICU Medical Shares Keep Climbing As BlackRock Ups Stake To More Than 10%
ICU Medical Inc. shares continued climbing in the extended session Monday after BlackRock Inc. disclosed earlier it had increased its stake in the medical device maker to more than 10%. ICU Medical shares surged 15% to $158.05 after hours, after closing up 4.3% in the regular session.
Banks, Oil Stocks Hinder Dow’s Pursuit of 20,000
Declines in bank and energy companies weighed on Wall Street on Monday, distancing the Dow from the 20,000 mark, while gains in technology stocks pushed the Nasdaq to a record intraday high. Two-thirds of the 30 Dow components were lower, with Goldman Sachs’s 0.7 percent decline weighing the most.
Bank of Americas Biggest Wildcard for 4Q Earnings
In fact, that’s only half its identity; it’s also an investment bank with a sizable presence on Wall Street. Being a so-called universal bank is good for Bank of America because it diversifies its revenue streams.
Morgan Stanley, UBS Said to Plan Boosting China JV Stakes
Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG are in talks with local partners to boost holdings in their China securities businesses, a sign of growing confidence in those operations, according to people familiar with the matter. The banks are engaged in separate discussions on raising their stakes to 49 percent, the maximum allowed under current regulations, the people said, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential.
Week Ahead: Wall Street Welcomes Fourth-Quarter Earnings With the Big Banks
The fourth-quarter earnings season will kick off in the coming week with a number of high-profile companies reporting their performance over the last months of 2016. With a new year comes a look at the old.
Goldman’s Donovan Said to Be Top Contender for Key Treasury Post
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Jim Donovan is the front-runner to be Donald Trump’s pick for undersecretary of domestic finance, a key position in the Treasury department, according to a person familiar with the decision. If chosen and confirmed Donovan would be the fourth appointee with ties to the investment bank tapped to serve in the president-elect administration, and would be responsible for coordinating policies on banking, capital markets and regulation, and managing the issuance of the country’s debt.
Interactive Brokers or TradeKing: Comparing Online Brokerage Accounts
Are you ready to start investing in stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds? You’ll need to open a brokerage account , which can be a lengthy and time-consuming process. But to avoid getting lost in the weeds, we think you can save some time and mental energy by focusing on the differences that are most meaningful to investors.
Goldman’s Donovan Said to Be Contender for Top Treasury Job
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Jim Donovan is the front-runner to be President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for undersecretary of domestic finance, according to a person familiar with the decision. He’d be the fourth appointee with close ties to the investment bank tapped to serve in the administration.
Morgan Stanley Said to Cut Bonuses, Jobs for Equities Traders
Morgan Stanley, Wall Street’s biggest stock-trading firm by revenue, is cutting its global bonus pool for the equities division by as much as 4 percent and dismissing some employees after the industry’s results flagged last year, according to people with knowledge of the plans. The firm, which is set to pay annual bonuses next month, has been fine-tuning calculations for pay packages since November, according to the people, who asked not to be identified describing the deliberations.
Corzine Agrees to Futures Industry Ban in CFTC Settlement
Jon Corzine has agreed to a lifetime ban from the futures industry to settle a U.S. lawsuit that he failed to properly oversee MF Global Holdings Ltd. as the brokerage spiraled toward failure in 2011. Corzine, an ex-governor and U.S. senator from New Jersey and the former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., also agreed to pay a $5 million penalty from his own pocket to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, under a consent order approved by a federal judge in New York Thursday.
How to Sign Up for a TradeStation Online Brokerage Account: A Step-by-Step Guide
Setting up an online brokerage account may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Most online brokerage applications are easy to understand, but if you need help with the process, The Motley Fool’s got your back.
BofA Said to Boost Bonuses for Bond Traders, Cut Equities
Bank of America Corp. is poised to boost bonuses for many of its bond traders and trim payouts for those handling stocks, people with knowledge of the matter said. The combined compensation pool will drop significantly, though fewer workers will divvy the rewards.
Interactive Brokers vs. TradeStation: Comparing Ways to Buy Stocks Online
Once you’ve mastered the basics of personal finance, it may be time to start thinking about how you can start growing your wealth for the future. You’ll need to open a brokerage account to get started, a dizzying process that can be complicated by the many different features of modern brokerage services.
SoftBank Fund Said to Draw Up to $15 Billion From Mubadala
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co. is considering committing $10 billion to $15 billion to partner with SoftBank Group Corp. and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in a new vehicle to invest in global technology, according to people familiar with the matter.
Vanguard’s $305 Billion Take From Investors in 2016 Sets Record
Vanguard Group, the world’s largest mutual fund manager, said it attracted a record $305 billion last year — an annual total that some firms need decades to reach. Vanguard’s take, which tops the firm’s previous record of $276.4 billion in 2015, includes $93 billion that went into exchange-traded funds, up from $76 billion the year before, spokesman John Woerth wrote in an e-mail.
Brokers for Long-Term Investors: Interactive Brokers vs. Charles Schwab
When you’re ready to start investing, you’ll need to open a brokerage account to place your orders. Many investors now use online discount brokers for self-directed accounts to make trades quickly, conveniently, and inexpensively.Today we’ll look at two of the largest brokers out there, Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab , to see how they compare on factors that are important to investors.
Cramer: What Sets Dominion Resources Apart?
For an “Executive Decision” segment, Cramer spoke again with Tom Farrell, chairman, president and CEO of Dominion Resources , a stock that rose 13% in 2016 and currently yields 3.7%. Farrell said that Dominion is different from other utilities because of its natural gas infrastructure, which includes a new export terminal set to come online later this year.
Former Fed board member J. Dewey Daane has died
J. Dewey Daane, a noted expert on monetary policy who was nominated to serve on the Federal Reserve board by President John F. Kennedy, has died. He was 98. His death Tuesday in Nashville was announced by Vanderbilt University where Daane had been a longtime professor at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management.
Credit Suisse Moves to Block Jefferies Bid to Hire Bankers
Credit Suisse Group AG is seeking to thwart an attempt by Jefferies Group LLC to lure away a group of senior bankers. Five of eight Credit Suisse bankers who had been in talks to join Jefferies have instead agreed to stay on, according to a spokeswoman for the Swiss lender.
Apple to Invest $1 Billion in SoftBank Fund to Support Tech
Apple Inc. is planning to invest $1 billion in SoftBank Group Corp.’s giant new technology fund, adding its name to a growing list of interested parties and giving the iPhone maker a new avenue to tap up-and-coming technologies. Qualcomm Inc. also said it will participate in the fund, but the terms and the amount of its investment are still under discussion.
TradeKing vs. TradeStation: A Complete Brokerage Comparison
When you want to start investing, you’ll find a number of brokerages that would be happy to have you as a customer. But selecting the best brokerage out of the pile isn’t easy to do, especially given the many ways in which they can differ from one another.
Deutsche Bank Crime Fighter Said to Step Down After Six Months
Deutsche Bank AG’s global head of anti-financial crime and group money-laundering reporting officer, Peter Hazlewood, will step down only six months after assuming the post, a person familiar with the matter said. Hazlewood will probably stay with Deutsche Bank in a different role, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
Despite 50% Gain, Banks Yet to Win Over Europe Fund Managers
Banks may have beaten every industry group on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index since a July low in share prices, but European fund managers are still underweight. While money managers have turned less bearish and now own the most bank shares since mid-2015, lenders still make up a smaller proportion of portfolios than they do in equity benchmarks, according to HSBC Holdings Plc.
Deals Lawyer Said to Be a Contender to Lead SEC Under Trump
President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating Sullivan & Cromwell partner Jay Clayton to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, potentially positioning a top lawyer to banks and hedge funds to lead Wall Street’s main regulator, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Clayton, who met with Trump last month, has represented Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and investment firms ranging from Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC to Oaktree Capital Group LLC, according to Sullivan & Cromwell’s website.
Why NVIDIA Corporation Stock Popped 15.8% in December
For perspective, NVIDIA stock also skyrocketed nearly 30% in November, with the bulk of the month’s gains coming after the company’s third-quarter results crushed the expectations of analysts on Wall Street. NVIDIA founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang rightly called it a “breakout quarter,” with record revenue, margins, and earnings.More specifically, quarterly revenue grew 54% year over year, to $2.00 billion, including broad growth across gaming, , data center , and automotive .
ANZ Sells Shanghai Bank Stake in Unwinding of Asia Expansion
Australia & New Zealand Banking Corp. agreed to sell its 20 percent stake in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank Co. for A$1.84 billion , Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott’s latest move to unwind an Asian expansion that sapped profits.
Jain Joins Cantor as President in Post-Deutsche Bank Restart
Anshu Jain, the former Deutsche Bank AG co-chief executive officer, is joining Cantor Fitzgerald LP as president, restarting his career at a much smaller firm after leaving Germany’s largest bank amid mounting legal and regulatory problems. Jain, 53, will help the closely held company expand in areas including fixed-income and equities trading as well as prime brokerage, Cantor Chairman and CEO Howard W. Lutnick said Monday in a phone interview.
A New York Times editorial: Sprint and Trump’s fictional jobs
President-elect Donald Trump would like everybody to believe that his election is energizing the economy by forcing businesses to create thousands of jobs in the United States. And companies like Sprint seem perfectly happy to go along with this fiction because they know they can profit handsomely by cozying up to Trump.
5 Cheapest Bank Stocks Right Now
After the post-election rally , it’s getting hard to find cheap bank stocks. But it’s still not impossible.
Ex-Deutsche Bank’s Jain to Join Cantor Fitzgerald as President
Anshu Jain, the former Deutsche Bank AG co-chief executive officer, is joining Cantor Fitzgerald LP as president, restarting his career at a much smaller firm after leaving Germany’s largest bank amid mounting legal and regulatory problems. Jain will help with the privately held firm’s expansion, according to a statement from the New York-based firm Monday.
New York Times: Corporations Help Themselves by Playing Along With Trump
American companies are playing along with President-elect Donald Trump’s claims that he is forcing businesses to create jobs in the U.S. in order to benefit themselves, The New York Times editorial board claims . In a Monday editorial, the board wrote, “President-elect Trump would like everybody to believe that his election is energizing the economy by forcing businesses to create thousands of jobs in the United States.
Largest India Bank Sees Loan Growth Jumping From 25-Year Low
State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, is predicting an acceleration in loan growth from a 25-year low after slashing borrowing costs to the lowest level in at least six years. The state-run lender cut lending rates based on the marginal costs of funds by 90 basis points across all tenures on Sunday.
Einhorn’s Greenlight Recoups 9.4% in 2016 as Stocks Rally
Greenlight Capital, the hedge fund led by David Einhorn, rose 1.6 percent in December, riding a year-end rally in U.S. stocks. The performance rounds out a gain of 9.4 percent in 2016 for the firm’s main hedge fund, which mostly makes wagers on stocks, according to an e-mail viewed by Bloomberg.
10 Ways Bank of America Has Changed in the Past Decade
Is it the same bank that it was going into the financial crisis ? Or is it something entirely different? And if it has changed, how would one go about quantifying the difference? Questions like these may seem easy to answer. But as soon as you start digging into the specifics, it quickly becomes clear how complicated it actually is.
Wells Fargo Settles With Brokers Over Claims of Racial Bias
Wells Fargo & Co. settled a dispute with a group of black brokers claiming the bank failed to give them the same career opportunities as their white colleagues.
ECB’s Monte Paschi Capital Bar Would Trip Up 10 Other EU Banks
Deutsche Bank AG, UniCredit SpA and eight other European Union banks would fall short of the European Central Bank’s capital demands on Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA based on stress-test results, highlighting potential objections to the plan. The ECB told Monte Paschi it needed enough capital to push its common equity Tier 1 ratio to 8 percent of risk-weighted assets in the adverse scenario of the stress test, the Bank of Italy said in a statement late on Dec. 29. That’s well above the legal minimum of 4.5 percent.
Tracking Bank of America’s Uptrend Dips
I’ve been selectively adding exposure to financials, energy, and small-caps, as they’ve experienced explosive rallies since November. Despite the pullback, BAC has been on a tear.