Too Much Money
U.S. mutual funds are sitting on a record $10 trillion in assets–a big increase from the $6 trillion they held only in 2002. This money has to make its way into investments. Thus, we have a severely...
View ArticleA Key Consumer Group Could Win Big for Stock Holders
The market for Hispanics in the United States is growing, and you may want to take advantage of this. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses increased three times...
View ArticleA Bank’s Costly Love Affair with Debt
It seems it was eons ago that the New York arm of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) fell in love with complicated derivatives tied to mortgage and asset-backed debt obligations. In the late...
View ArticleWhat Are Canadian Banks Waiting for?
I couldn’t believe it has been 10 years ago to the day since the surprise announcement of a merger between Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal. I remember the excitement in the office and on the...
View ArticleThe Stock Market’s Gift
The rally I was expecting form the stock market’s severely oversold condition was delivered yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up a whopping 276.74 points to 11,239.28, or 2.5%. This was...
View ArticleThe Story of the Would-be Taxi Tycoon
It was 2005 and property prices in London, England, had risen to heights never seen in North America. For one million dollars U.S., you could hardly buy a flat in London. I happened to be in London...
View ArticleDon’t Dive into Financial Stocks Yet
On Monday, Credit Suisse Group (NYSE/CS) cut its price target on insurance and financial services company American International Group, Inc. (NYSE/AIG) to $22.00 from $30.00, based on an expected major...
View ArticleSometimes Failure Is the Lesser Evil
— by Inya Ivkovic, MA Double standards abound in Washington and on Wall Street and Main Street, worrying ordinary investors to no end. We have been advised ad nauseam that our economy is so battered...
View ArticleHow Much Can You Trust Earnings Numbers These Days?
— by Inya Ivkovic, MA Research analysis dogma swears by the price/earnings (P/E) ratio. Only, you can’t have the P/E ratio without earnings. So, how about one of the prize benchmarks, the S&P 500,...
View ArticleHaving Trust Issues
— by Inya Ivkovic, MA Nineteen big banks in the U.S. have gone through the Fed- administered financial health tests, some emerging with a passing grade, some with a qualified response, but now all...
View ArticleOne Thousand U.S. Banks Predicted to Fail
— by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA Quietly, without much media coverage, another three U.S. banks failed Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures to 40 for the year. The most recent casualties...
View ArticleWhat to Expect From Banks After the Great Recession
— by Inya Ivkovic, MA Banks around the world have gone through probably the worst banking crisis in the past eight decades or so. Some have navigated their way through the crisis successfully, some not...
View ArticleWhy I Don’t Like the Bank Stocks
— “Profit Confidential” Column, by Michael Lombardi, CFP, MBA. Have you been watching Bank of America Corporation (NYSE/BAC) stock lately? The last couple of weeks have been terrible for Bank of...
View ArticleThe Fed in the Hot Seat
— “The Financial World According to Inya” Column, by Inya Ivkovic, MA I watched a good Sunday movie, “The City of Ember.” Sci-fi movies are not usually my cup of tea, but I liked it for a number of...
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Time to Buy the Financial Stocks?
07/19/10 — Money was flowing on Wall Street last week. Add up the second-quarter profits of Intel (NASDAQ/INTC), Google Inc. (NASDAQ/GOOG), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE/BAC), JPMorgan Chase &...
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Are Foreigners Dictating U.S. Domestic Policy?
Economic issues have a concrete impact on any country’s domestic policy. The problem is that world economies are so intertwined that their relationships and any issues arising from these relationships...
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This Economy’s Black Clouds Dispersing Ever So Lightly
U.S. banks posted their biggest profit in three years for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. According to the FDIC, U.S. banks earned $21.6 billion in the second quarter of 2010. So, the improving...
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Debunking the Depression Myth: Why We Are Not Going There This Time
Some old-time market watchers are still calling for Great Depression II. One research report I read earlier this week by a well-known economist says we are in a depression. I’m in the enviable position...
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Why I’m So Bearish Going into 2011
Wednesday, I wrote how I was immediate-term bullish on the stock market. My three main reasons for being bullish: corporate earnings for the third quarter would surprise on the upside; a cloud of...
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Bank Stocks: Time to Jump in?
All the news this morning is about JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE/JPM) reporting that it made $4.8 billion in profit in its fourth quarter of 2010, beating analyst expectations again. Look at the chart...
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