This is a ChatGPT-free Zone
Banks/financials have been announcing earnings and they have been looking pretty good even though there is debate about the quality of some of the earnings (reserve releases etc.). There is a lot to talk about but I just thought I’d make a quick update on Wells Fargo (WFC) and J.P. Morgan (JPM) as I have…
So the JPM annual report was put up yesterday. There is not much new here but as usual I’ll just make some simple comments and highlight things that struck me. One thing, though, is that at the front of the annual report (and at the end of Dimon’s letter to shareholders), they mentioned that they…
So I listened to the JPM investor day via the internet today. My internet connection, or the PC or something somewhere kept dropping out so I missed a lot, but that’s OK. Anyway, I know I do talk an awful lot about financials and banks. That’s partly because I do tend to have a sort of comfort level…
Bank of America (BAC) BAC announced earnings too, and things there are looking interesting. Like other banks, there is a problem with NIM pressure. But the investment bank / brokerage business seems to have done really well. I won’t go into any details here, but I just want to jot down what I was looking…
JP Morgan Earnings So JPM announced earnings and things look pretty good to me. Sure, there is still steady NIM pressure and this will be an issue this year too. I think they said it will be a $400 million or so headwind in 2013. But otherwise, things look pretty good. I know people say…
Bank of America announced their earnings and it looks OK. Of course, there is still an issue with low interest rates and loan growth like at other banks. This is not intended to be a full recap of BAC’s second quarter. I don’t want to comment on every quarterly announcement of companies I talk about…
So I keep hearing people say that Wall Street firms exist only for their employees. One guy on Bloomberg TV said that GS only exists for it’s employees; why not get that compensation down and return some of it to shareholders? As proof that GS exists only for the employees, he states that compensation is…
This must have been one of the most anticipated corporate conference calls ever. I have to admit to looking forward to it too. Anyway, we finally see the big number. This is not a summary of the conference call which lasted two hours, but just some thoughts. Whale Loss Rumors of losses were as high as…
I mentioned recently that what I fear most for U.S. banks is what happened in Japan; low interest rates for a long time. If long term interest rates keep going lower, this will put pressure on bank net interest margins and therefore profits. So I decided to take a quick look at this and found…
Interest rates are plunging yet again in the U.S., and there is talk now of QE3 again. I’m happy to see things being done to help the economy, but one thing I fear about QE3 is that it will destroy the banking industry. What Worrys Me Most About Banks The JPM trading loss doesn’t worry…