Euro Bank Bashing Comes Back With Force (BCS, DB, STD, BBVA, IRE, NBG)

European banks are taking it right on the chin, or maybe the chin and the nose.  The reports of a bad Spanish debt auction managed to push up borrowing costs again and it only makes one wonder what the Europeans will do when every European is taking their two to three-week holidays in the summer rather than buying government bonds.  Some may try to again blame the end of the stimulus from Ben Bernanke and friends but this is frankly something we take serious issue with.

Today’s move has been brutal on the key ADRs out of Europe, and oddly enough the damage may seem counterintuitive if you just look at the ADRs.  Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) is down 4.9% at $14.04 against a 52-week range of $8.38 to $20.32, but Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is down 3.9% at $46.40.  How are the drops of the top British and German banks worse than Spain?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is down 2.4% at $7.18 against a 52-week range of $6.77 to $12.57; Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) is down 2% at $7.40 against a 52-week range of $7.02 to $13.01.

Head north to Ireland and The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) is down 4% at $6.03 versus an adjusted 52-week trading range of $3.99 to $24.90.  Then head back into the Mediterranean and National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is down the worst of the Euro-Zone banks with a drop of 10.2% at $2.118 against an adjusted 52-week range of $1.64 to $9.40.

Another day, one less Euro…

JON C. OGG