ThinkstockThe housing market is clearly improving. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales have risen and distressed mortgages account for a smaller part of those sales. Close to a…
ThinkstockThe Federal Reserve is finally out with its results of the bank stress tests. This is not the formal decision that will allow all the banks to increase their dividends and share…
ThinkstockDick Bove is now with Rafferty Capital, and he was on CNBC this morning with yet another very positive call in the banking sector. His view is ahead of the stress test…
ThinkstockThe U.S. banking sector is looking better in 2013 than it did in 2012, 2011 and so on. Balance sheets, credit metrics and underlying asset values continue to recover. Still, the recession…
ThinkstockInterest rates have been kept at historically low levels by the Federal Reserve since the Great Recession began in 2008. The intent behind this was to spur loan activity and borrowing to…
White House Photo by Pete SouzaBerkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, BRK-A) and Warren Buffett may have surprised the markets with the $28 billion purchase of H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ), but there…
ThinkstockOnce again investors are faced with the fact that the politicians in Washington D.C. cannot get anything done. With the president’s State of the Union address tonight, the focus turns again to…
ThinkstockIn the strong rally in the stock market since the beginning of the year, financials and transports have provided exactly the kind of leadership that many equity strategists look for and that…
Jon OggThese are some of this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall St. research calls. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) cut to Market Perform at William Blair. AOL Inc.…
Jon OggThese are some of this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall S. research calls. We have calls in banks, solar, tech, biotech and more. Arch Coal Inc.…
Jon OggThese are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall St. research calls. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) cut to Outperform at CLSA and maintained Outperform and target raised…
ThinkstockThe banking sector has by and large traded at a discount to its stated book value for quite some time. Many banks are still trading under their tangible book value, meaning that…
U.S. equity markets opened mixed this morning with the Nasdaq Composite slightly higher, while the DJIA and the S&P 500 were lower. Earnings from several U.S. financial institutions were due today and…
U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning following an announcement from Germany that its economy had contracted by 0.5% in the fourth quarter (more coverage here). U.S. data was released on producer…
ThinkstockWith banks having been the best DJIA sector in 2012, the outlook versus the valuation has started to play a game of catch-up as we are getting deeper into earnings season this…
