Earnings from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs tip markets lower
Today's earnings and (especially) revenue reports for the first quarter of 2019 from Citigroup (C) and Goldman Sachs (GS) say that Friday's good news from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) shouldn't be extrapolated to the entire banking sector. This morning before the New York...
Citigroup begins fourth quarter earnings season with a revenue miss
This morning Citigroup (C) kicked off earnings season for the big banks and stocks in general with a report that first, argued that the banking sector hasn't fixed its big problem--no toppling revenue growth--and, second, that those traders and investors who are leery...
Estimates for bank earnings continue to move lower ahead of next week’s earnings reports
Bank stocks aren't doing badly today ahead of the start of earnings reports from the biggest banks starting on Monday. But to me it looks like today's slightly upward bias is a bet not on good earnings but that analysts have gone too far with their cuts to bank...
Selling Citigroup out of my Dividend Portfolio
I've done a decent job in 2018 of staying away from the plunging financial sector--except in my Dividend Portfolio. There, sucked (or "suckered" if you prefer) by high dividend yields and the prospects of rising net interest margins as the Federal Reserve raised...
Citigroup warns of revenue growth shortfall for full 2018
At a time when we're worried about whether companies can deliver even low currently projected earnings growth in the fourth quarter of 2018 and for 2019, this wasn't what investors wanted to hear from Citigroup (C) yesterday. The big banks will dominate the early days...
Citigroup earnings demonstrate the market’s problem this earnings season
This morning before the open in New York Citigroup (C) reported third quarter earnings of $1.73 a share, 7 cents a share above the $1.66 Wall Street consensus. At $18.39 billion for the quarter revenue was slightly below projections of $18.47 billion. Wall Street...
Reaction to big bank earnings not good way to start earnings season
Earnings from Citibank (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Wells Fargo (WFC looked solid this morning but the more the market thought about them the more disappointed it got. The Financial Sector Select SPDR ETF (XLF) was up 1.6% in the early going but as of 2:30 p.m. New...
Reaction to JPM Chase earnings today small red flag for continued earnings season rally
The reaction to Wells Fargo (WFC) earnings released before the open this morning was perfectly fitting. The bank lagged its peers again on key metrics (revenue fell 3.1% year over year and earnings per share were down 9% as average loans fell 1%) and the stock was...
I’m adding Citigroup to my Dividend Portfolio
Citigroup (C) is among the big banks that passed the most recent stress test from the Federal Reserve. That means the bank can go ahead with its plans to raise its quarterly dividend to 45 cents from 32 cents and to buyback $17.6 billion in shares. The plan would take...
Looking for the setup to a potential options trade on Bank of America after fourth quarter earnings
Will bank stocks in general–and shares of Bank of America (BAC) in particular–take a hit when they report huge fourth quarter “adjustments” and create an opening for a call options play on the 2018 earnings story? Bank stocks have been soaring on the belief, first, that the election of Donald Trump, would provide them with substantial relief from costly regulations and, second, on the belief that banks would be big winners from the tax bill that is now so close to passing Congress. But, to get to those golden days in 2018, banks first have to pass through a fourth quarter from hell. Adjustments to earnings–as result of provisions in the tax bill–will take billions out of bank earnings.
Unexpected bad news in bank earnings reports
What came as a genuine surprise to me–and what has far bigger negative implications for the U.S. economy than any continued slump in trading revenue–was news that Citigroup and JPMorgan, two of the biggest banks in consumer finance (read credit cards) had taken big new hits in their consumer lending businesses. Citigroup, for example, booked $252 million in credit losses. JPMorgan Chase’s credit costs rose by $200 million from last year because of higher charge offs in its credit card business.
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