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9 Announcements and Events Bank Investors Must Watch Next Week

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By Jessica Alling, The Motley Fool

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In this series, we’ll explore the data announcements and events that may impact the performance of bank stocks during the upcoming week.

It’s the beginning of earnings season for the banks, and with two already under our belts, it’s important that bank investors keep an eye on the news for the next week. As we saw, record earnings weren’t enough to propel the reporting banks higher — so watch out for more declines in the days to come.

Monday

  • Earnings — Citigroup announces its first-quarter earnings Monday morning. Following on the heels of two record-high earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase  and Wells Fargo , Citi will be under a lot of scrutiny from shareholders. Though the record earnings didn’t save the other two banks from falling Friday, largely because of investors looking for more quality along with the quantity of profits.
  • Housing Market Index — as the housing market continues its slow but steady recovery, bank investors should look for signs of increased activity. One of the biggest takeaways from this week’s batch of earnings reports was a decrease in mortgage activity — a lead generator of revenue for the banks. This index provides a glimpse of the prospective buyer trend, giving bank investors a feel for how much new business could be coming to the banks.

Tuesday

  • Housing starts — another sign of the rebounding housing market, housing starts give investors the data on how many new homes will be entering the market shortly. This provides a continued look at the stream of new mortgage loans that may be originated by the banks.

Wednesday

  • Earnings — Bank of America announces earnings for the first quarter. With plenty of pressure on the bank to show shareholders more progress, the news from JPM and Wells Fargo‘s earnings calls are not giving investors much confidence in what B of A will report. Continued pressure on net interest margins are expected, which creates increased stress on the banking sector’s ability to generate more revenue.
  • MBA purchase applications— Last week saw a big improvement in mortgage applications, with a 5% increase overall. Refinancings were the main driver of the gain, but this is important news for the banks, which generate most of their revenue through loans and application fees. Bank investors should watch this week’s numbers as a continued trend higher could signal returning business to the banks.
  • Bank reserve settlement — it’s that time again. Every two weeks, the Federal Reserve requires banks to check in with their capital reserve balances. While some banks have no problem meeting their required threshold, others may have to scramble to gather up enough cash to meet the requirements — leading to increases in inter-bank lending, which can influence movement in the Federal Funds Rate.

Thursday

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

7 Announcements Bank Investors Must Watch Next Week

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By Jessica Alling, The Motley Fool

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In this series, we’ll explore the data announcements and events that may affect the performance of bank stocks during the upcoming week.

This weeks has been a tough one for America’s bank stocks. With three separate reports showing a weakening labor market, investors are unsure whether banks can continue growing their loan portfolios, or if consumer spending and saving will fall. Let’s take a look at next week’s data announcements that may help the banks recoup some of their losses from this week.

Tuesday

  • NFIB Small Business Optimism Index: Investors should take a close look at this month’s survey of small business outlook since much of the information provided may point to changes in the labor market as well as business growth. Giving insight into how businesses plan to spend, hire, and expand are truly important to banks who work with small businesses — like Bank of America . The bank has been trying to extend itself to small businesses, especially in its backyard of Charlotte, NC. If we continue to see a slowing labor market, business lending may become an important form of growth for the banks.

Wednesday

  • MBA purchase applications: Mortgage applications fell 4% last week, disappointing bank investors who had hoped the prior week’s improvement would become a trend. Refinancing applications were also down 4%. Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase  were among the leaders of the mortgage originations during the second half of 2012, and without continued growth in applications, their record profits will not continue to grow. On the upside, year-over-year growth in applications is up 4%, which does match the trend seen in home sales. 
  • Federal Open Markets Committee minutes: The last time that the FOMC released its minutes, bank shares tumbled because of rising concerns that the Fed’s QE policy would end sooner than expected. The minutes showed there was a growing number of members concerned with the cost of continuing the policy. But with the recent meeting’s results (no changes to policy) there may be less to worry about this time around. Since the policy is in effect for the purpose of driving increased job growth in the economy, this past week’s labor market data may generate more interest in what the minutes have to say.

Thursday

  • Jobless claims: Since this week was a disappointing one for the labor market, bank investors may want to pay special attention to next week’s jobless claims. It’s the only labor market data being released, so it will have a big impact on sentiment toward the overall economy.
  • Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index: Considering the importance of consumer spending and saving to banks, this week’s consumer comfort index may be important to follow. The index surveys the feelings of selected consumers about the overall economy, their finances, and their intentions of buying goods or services. With the labor market weakening, consumers may begin to tighten their belts, with new loans at …read more

    Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

7 Announcements and Events Bank Investors Must Watch Next Week

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By Jessica Alling, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

In this series, we’ll explore the data announcements and events that may impact the performance of bank stocks during the upcoming week.

The past two weeks have been very eventful for bank investors. Most got a great result from the boost many banks got after receiving high marks from the Fed’s stress tests. This week, fear of the effects of a Cypriot economic reform and new lawsuit from Freddie Mac caused bank shares to drop. Let’s take a look at what’s going to be announced next week, what banks may be affected the most, and what you should look out for in the coming days.

Monday

  • Cyprus — Though it seemed like the Cypriot crisis might dominate the market landscape this week, investors have been able to overlook the European uncertainty and push the markets higher as the weekend approaches. But next week, if there is no resolution to Cyprus‘ troubles, we may feel the reverberations here in the U.S. Our banks are certainly vulnerable to any negative investor sentiment, especially Bank of America , which continues to trade at very high volumes, making it extremely volatile.

Tuesday

  • New home sales and Case-Shiller Price Index — a measure of closed sales of newly constructed homes, this key piece of data will give bank investors a gauge on how much new mortgage business is available for banks. This also ties into last week’s housing starts data that provides a gauge of the rate of new construction. The price index gives a signal to investors that the housing market is continuing to improve as home prices rise.

Wednesday

  • MBA purchase applications — a weekly look at the mortgage application activity from the Mortgage Banker’s Association. A decline in mortgage applications can be a sign that the banks are not getting new business from the housing sector, but look for a correlation between this data point and the other housing-related data during the week. The last two weeks of data have revealed declines in applications, creating worries that mortgage kings Wells Fargo and JPMorgan may not have the same flow of new loans coming in as they did in late 2012.
  • Pending Home Sales Index — providing additional information on the status of the housing market, the pending home sales numbers are a great indication of how buyers are feeling about the market and the availability of credit.

Thursday

  • Jobless claims — a weekly look at the new unemployment claims, the jobless report has been one of the main factors cited by analysts as to why the markets have been booming despite continued disagreement in Washington over the federal budget. With the labor market in the best condition we’ve seen in five years, it’s no wonder investors are confident.

Friday — markets are closed due to the Good Friday holiday

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

The 8 Announcements Bank Investors Must Watch This Week

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By Jessica Alling, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

In this series, we’ll explore the data announcements and events that may impact the performance of bank stocks during the upcoming week.

This past week was a big week for economic announcements, and though there will be plenty of data released this coming week, bank investors should note that the information released this week may have a bigger effect on how your stocks perform. The announcements will largely come on Wednesday and Thursday, so be prepared for a lot of movement late in the week. Let’s take a look at what’s going to be announced, what banks may be affected the most, and what you should look out for in the coming days.

Wednesday

  • Bank Reserve Settlement — the Federal Reserve has target dates every two weeks on which the nation’s banks must meet their capital requirements. Since some banks may have to scrounge up capital from other banks, the Federal Fund Rate may be affected as banks are willing to pay whatever it takes to meet its threshold. A bank not meeting the Fed’s reserve requirements doesn’t mean it’s in trouble, but it can signal poor reserve management, which is not a favorable sign to investors. Based on their fourth-quarter capital ratios, Bank of America , Citigroup , and JPMorgan were the top three capitalized banks of the nation’s five largest, with 9.25% for B of A and 8.7% for C and JPM.
  • MBA Purchase Applications— a weekly look at the mortgage application activity from the Mortgage Banker’s Association. It is important for bank investors to keep an eye on mortgage activity, since loans are a primary driver of a bank’s profitability. Mortgage king Wells Fargo produced the largest percentage of mortgage originations in the third and fourth quarters of 2012, propelling it to a $19 billion profit for the year. If mortgage activity continues to trend downward, bank will have a harder time contending with the continued pressure in net interest margins, which has mostly been offset by non-interest fees, like mortgage origination fees.
  • Federal Reserve’s Beige Book— produced two weeks before the FOMC‘s monetary policy meeting, the Fed’s beige book provides evidence of the economy’s condition, which influences the Fed’s interest rate policy. Interest rate changes are one of the most influential movers of the markets, and are of particular importance to banks. The recent release of the last FOMC meeting’s minutes sent the banks into a tailspin when it was revealed that members of the committee supported ending the current QE stimulus program early.
  • ADP Employment Report — released monthly, ADP releases data that indicates employment and wage trends, including any wage inflation insights. The release of the ADP report starts of the rest of the week’s employment data announcements, and as employment data can have a big effect on investor confidence it’s important to every bank stock out there.

Thursday