Banking

Lately, mortgage rates and bond yields have shown a weak correlation. Treasury yields have fallen over the past month, while mortgage rates have been steady.

Fallen angel bonds—high-yield bonds originally issued with investment grade credit ratings—are generally known for offering potential value. A big source of this value has been the tendency of fallen angels to be oversold below what may be considered fair value, leading to a downgrade to high yield. A less obvious source of value for fallen angels […]

PNC Financial’s non-interest income for 2Q16 increased by 10% over the previous quarter, mainly due to higher fee income growth.

On July 12, 2016, Celanese’s (CE) consensus 12-month target price was $76.30, indicating a return potential of 11.3% from that day’s closing price of $68.57.

The Federal Reserve’s stress test results indicate that Wells Fargo (WFC) has sufficient capital to absorb the estimated $25 billion in losses it is projected to incur under the test’s worst-case scenario.

In 1Q16, Wells Fargo’s revenue grew 4% to $22.2 billion. Bank of America’s (BAC) revenue fell 7% YoY (year-over-year) to $19.5 billion.

Bank of America’s (BAC) earnings are extremely sensitive to interest rate changes. Low interest rates have weighed on the bank’s top line.

The Walt Disney Company’s (DIS) theme parks and resorts business is doing extremely well in the United States.

After seeing three straight years of losses, gold (GLD) performed extremely well at the beginning of 2016.

The US Department of the Treasury conducted the weekly auction of four-week Treasury bills (or T-bills) on April 26.

China’s love for gold is world famous, and demand had touched its peak in 2013 when gold experienced a steep price fall.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury auctioned 13-week T-bills worth $28 billion on April 11. The offer amount of these bills was the same as the previous auction.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury conducted the weekly auction of 13-week Treasury bills on February 16, 2016. The total issuance was worth $37 billion.

The American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund (AEPGX) has been in existence since April 1984.

Originally incorporated in 1892, General Electric is one of the largest and most diversified industrials and financial services corporations in the world.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was established to protect consumers’ interests by implementing federal consumer financial laws.

Disney expects the equity loss from its investment in Hulu to accelerate since Hulu is increasing its investment in acquiring original content from media companies and producing original programming.

High-yield bonds, also known as Junk bonds, have an iffy repayment ability, even if they are at the higher end of the junk rating scale.

Investment-grade bond yields rose 8 basis points month-over-month and ended at 3.5% on November 30 due to high expectations of an interest rate hike in the December policy meeting.

PLVVX holds fixed income securities in both long and short positions. The fund also holds derivative forward, future, and swap agreements on government securities, indexes, and currencies.

Greece’s debt was around 250 billion euros. It’s nearly 175% of its 2013 GDP figures. The GDP could fall more in 2016. The debt crisis started in 2010.

Analysts who favor the Dodd-Frank Act believe it will protect the investing community and consumers. Critics believe it will hamper economic growth and hurt competitiveness.

During the period between September 2008 and March 2009, US stock markets plunged, and the financial sector fell 60% in value.

The Dodd-Frank Act is a financial reform legislation passed in an attempt to prevent events similar to the 2009 financial crisis from occurring again.

Since the financial crisis, the Fed has enforced regulations for the capital strength and liquidity of 16 systematically important financial institutions.

Preferred stocks are less volatile compared to common equities. This is mainly because a larger portion of the returns comes from dividends, which tend to be stable.

Deutsche Bank operates under five segments. Corporate Banking & Securities contributes 50% to Deutsche Bank’s revenues.

On average, European banks have higher leverage than US banks. An excess buildup of leverage increases a bank’s exposure to the risk of bankruptcy.

On August 20, 2015, Oracle (ORCL) announced the acquisition of Maxymiser. The financial details of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Morgan Stanley divides its non-interest expenses into compensation and non-compensation. It’s compensation expenses (and benefits) are ~80% of this class.

The G10 currencies were impacted positively as the US dollar index dropped in value in the two weeks ending August 21, 2015.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) has two operating segments: Direct Banking and Payment Services. Payment Services is comparatively small.

Visa’s open-loop payments network connects and manages the exchange of information between issuers and acquirers.

The ideal loan-to-deposit ratio for a bank depends on the bank’s business model. Some banks that focus on core banking, like U.S. Bancorp (USB), have high loan-to-deposit ratios.

Refinancing activity affects prepayment speeds. Prepayment speeds occur because homeowners are allowed to pay off their mortgages early and without penalty.

Certain industries typically outperform at various phases of business cycles. This provides important clues to investors and helps them manage their portfolios.

In the US, J.P. Morgan competes with Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Morgan Stanley (MS), the leading players in investment banking.

The number of J.P. Morgan active mobile customers has more than tripled since 2010. As a result, the bank is adapting its digital capabilities.

Consumer and Community Banking is the biggest of J.P. Morgan’s four segments. Corporate and Investment Banking follows, with 34% of revenues.

In this series, you’ll learn what value J.P. Morgan holds for its shareholders, about its various businesses, and how it compares with other big banks.