By MarketNewsVideo Tiffany & Co. (TIF) had its numbers increased by Citigroup (C) as the firm believes that new product lines should add to earnings.
From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketnewsvideo/2013/04/15/analyst-moves-tif-wfc/
Tag Archives: WFC
JPMorgan Chase Plans to Limit Payday Lenders' Fees
Filed under: Family Money, Checking Accounts, How to Save Money, Loans, Payday Loans, Saving
NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase said Wednesday that it will take steps to protect its customers from fees and other charges that payday lenders may slap on them.
The bank said it will limit the fees that customers are charged when they overdraft their accounts to make payments to payday lenders.
It will also “enhance communication and require additional training” for employees, to make it easier for customers to stop payments. The bank will also make it easier for customers to close their accounts even when there are pending charges, including payday lender payments.
Payday lenders are a controversial sliver of the financial system. They offer short-term loans, usually targeting the cash-strapped poor. They have high interest rates, making it hard for customers to repay the loans, and the spiral worsens when the payday lenders charge extra fees.
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and other mainstream banks don’t make so-called payday loans. But they do allow the payday lenders access to their customers. The New York Times reported last month that JPMorgan, Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) allow payday lenders to automatically withdraw money from customers’ accounts, even in states where payday lending is banned. In some cases, the Times reported, the banks allow lenders to tap checking accounts even after the customers have begged for a reprieve.
Ryan McInerney, the bank’s head of consumer banking, said in a statement that the bank intended to protect customers from “unfair and aggressive collections practices.”
“Some customers agree to allow payday lenders or other billers to draw funds directly from their accounts, but they may not know some of the aggressive practices that can follow,” he said.
After the Times story last month, CEO Jamie Dimon described his reaction while speaking at the annual investor conference: “This is terrible, we’re going to fix it.”
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24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 14, 2013: Markets Climb to New Highs Today (AMZN, EBAY, WFC, VMW, ETFC, BFAM, MW, VRA, LODE, SOL, AEO, MCP, ZUMZ, BWS, MGM, SD)
Filed under: Investing
U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning following a better-than-expected report on new jobless benefits claims in the U.S. and a mostly inline report on producer prices (more coverage here). In Europe, eurozone unemployment fell a bit more than expected and Spanish retail sales were not as bad as expected. In Asia, key interest rates in New Zealand and South Korea remained unchanged. The Shanghai index closed higher for the first time in six days. The DJIA closed with a tenth straight day of gains and the S&P closed within a couple of bucks of its all-time high.
The U.S. dollar index fell 0.41% today, now at 82.553. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.4% at 647.17, with commodities prices mostly higher today on the weaker dollar. WTI crude oil closed up 0.6% today, at $93.03 a barrel. Brent crude trades up 0.7% at $109.00 a barrel. Natural gas is up 3.8% today at about $3.82 per million BTUs following a relatively large draw on stocks last week (more coverage here). Gold settled up 0.1% today at $1,590.70 an ounce.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 82 points to 14,538.99 (0.58%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 14 points (0.43%) to 3,258.93, and the S&P 500 rose 0.56% or nearly 9 points to 1,563.20.
There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) cut to ‘neutral’ at J.P. Morgan; eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a price target of $65 at Argus and raised to ‘overweight’ at Evercore; Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) started as ‘market perform’ at BMO Capital; VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) raised to ‘outperform’ at William Blair and maintained on Focus List at Credit Suisse; and E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) cut to ‘underperform’ at KBW.
Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE: BFAM) is up 11.2% at $33.35 after posting a post-IPO high of $33.49 earlier today; Men’s Wearhouse Inc. (NYSE: MW) is up 19% at $34.60; Vera Bradley Inc. (NASDAQ: VRA) is down 8.4% at $22.81; Comstock Mining Inc. (NYSEMKT: LODE) is down 7.1% at $1.97; and ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) is up 1.4% at $2.17.
Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: AEO), Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP), Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ), and Brown Shoe Co. Inc. (NYSE: BWS).
Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:
MGM Resorts International Inc. (NYSE: MGM) is up 6.5% at $13.21. The casino and resort operator is a likely target for further investment by Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp. More coverage here.
SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) is down 3.3% at $5.66. The energy exploration and production company caved in to demands from a large investor and it looks the company’s CEO is headed for the door. More coverage here.
E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) is down 8.3% at $10.84. The online financial firm got battered after its largest investor said it would …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Can This Monster Bank Rise Above Its 52-Week High?
By Eric Volkman, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Shares of banking powerhouse Wells Fargo reached a 52-week high on Monday. Let’s take a look at how it got here to find out if the company’s stock price can grow even higher.
How it got here
The immediate spur to Wells Fargo‘s market price was last week’s bank stress test results from the Federal Reserve. To everyone’s relief, 17 of the 18 test subjects passed, some quite easily. Wells was safely within that 17 (in case you hadn’t heard and were wondering, by the way, the one failure was Ally Financial). The passers even included the klutzy incumbents Bank of America and Citigroup , both of whom continue to have their share of problems after emerging from last decade’s financial crisis.
The tests assumed plenty of stress — the key figures the Fed used for its worst-case scenario were an average 4% cratering of real GDP this year, unemployment pole-vaulting over 12% by Q2 2014, and home prices losing 20% of their value in the next two years. That’s not an easy exam to pass, and the fact that nearly all banks made the grade has lifted bullish feeling for the sector as a whole.
It’s also provided a jolt to the stock prices of nearly every winner.B of A, Citi, and Wells have all jumped past the S&P 500 from just before the tests till now. As have fellow big gun JPMorgan Chase and — let’s pick a solid representative among the regional players — BB&T .
Nearly all of these stocks are, like Wells, teasing their one-year highs(save for BB&T, which is still a few bucks short of its $34.37 peak ). Yes, even B of A and Citi, who suffer from an apparently chronic shortage of investor love, have traded up recently.
Home equity
Beating the stress test was the most recent in a series of nice wins for Wells Fargo. Since the comeback of the housing market, the company has been driving ahead on the fuel of mortgages. It is, famously, far and away the top housing lender in the country, holding about one-third of the market — and boy, is that market big.
And growing. On a quarter-over-quarter basis alone in its 4Q, Wells Fargo‘s mortgage originations leaped 35%. This helped the bank break its records for net profit — in both the quarter and the full year. For the former, revenue grew 7% on a year-over-year basis to nearly $22 billion, while the bottom line advanced a sweet 24% to $5.1 billion ($0.91 diluted EPS, almost needless to say, another all-time high). The full-year tally was $86.1 billion in top line (6% better than 2011’s result), and a net that popped 19% higher to $18.9 billion ($3.36 diluted EPS).
Not all of Wells’ numbers are so impressive; in spite of the low-rate times we live in, investors would probably be cheered by a higher …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
My Top 2 Stocks: Berkshire Hathaway and Waste Management
By Robert Eberhard, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
I haven’t been in the investing “game” for that long, but my two largest holdings are among the first shares that I purchased when I started getting serious about investing. One is a behemoth with revenue streams among multiple industries, while the other leads the way in its very important industry. It is easy to see why they’re leading the way in my modest portfolio.
Barring any major surprises, Berkshire Hathaway and Waste Management should maintain the top two spots in my portfolio for the near future and are on my short list for receiving more of my investing funds in the next couple of months. Though the reasons I chose the companies were different, I have been pleased with my decision thus far and hope for continued great performance from both companies.
Why Berkshire Hathaway?
When I became serious about investing early last year, I was looking for a strong foundation to start out my small portfolio on the right foot. I was looking for a company that had a long track record of market-beating performance, but also one that I thought would continue to do so for the foreseeable future. As a fan of value investing, particularly Benjamin Graham, I figured a great place to start would be with the company run by Warren Buffett, perhaps Graham’s most famous student and one of the world’s best investors.
Berkshire Hathaway is a unique company, and investors in it get rewarded in a multitude of ways. One way is to reap the benefits of its multitude of wholly owned subsidiaries across a variety of industries. Berkshire is perhaps best known for its insurance operations, led by GEICO, but the non-insurance companies it owns also add a lot of money to the Berkshire coffers. Last year, Berkshire’s five most profitable non-insurance companies — including the BNSF railroad and Mid-American Energy — earned more than $10 billion for Berkshire and its shareholders last year. Quite an impressive number.
Investing in Berkshire Hathaway also allows you to share in the performance of the company’s stock portfolio, which is full of stock picks from not only Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, but also Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, two men Buffett picked to manage an ever-growing portion of Berkshire’s investment funds. Berkshire’s four largest holdings all saw gains during the past year, helping to boost the performance of Berkshire as a whole:
Berkshire Hathaway is a company that I’m comfortable owning for a very long time and one that I don’t really worry about. Despite its recent run to new heights, I’ll be adding more to my holding over the next few months to truly benefit from one of the greatest companies out there.
Why Waste Management?
I added Waste Management to my portfolio when I was looking for a strong and sustainable …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Wells Fargo Raises Dividend by 14%
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) raised its quarterly dividend 14%, as the bank looks to increase shareholder return.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox Business Headlines
Wells Fargo 4th-Quarter Net Rises, But Mortgage Pipeline Falls
Wells Fargo & Co.’s (WFC) fourth-quarter profit rose 24% and revenue exceeded expectations, but the bank continues to suffer from low interest rates and a mortgage boom showed signs of fading.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox Business Headlines
Wells Fargo Net Pops 24% on Strong Mortgage Banking
Wells Fargo & Co.’s (WFC) fourth-quarter profit climbed 24% as the nation’s fourth-largest bank by assets recorded strong mortgage-banking income and credit, although its closely watched net interest margin declined more than expected.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox Business Headlines
Wells Fargo 4th-Quarter Net Pops 24% on Strong Mortgage Banking Income
Wells Fargo & Co.’s (WFC) fourth-quarter profit climbed 24% as the nation’s fourth-largest bank by assets recorded strong mortgage-banking income and credit, although its closely watched net interest margin declined more than expected.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox Business Headlines
Noteworthy ETF Inflows: VTV, WFC, JPM, INTC
By ETFChannel.com Looking today at week-over-week shares outstanding changes among the universe of ETFs covered at ETF Channel, one standout is the Vanguard Value ETF (AMEX: VTV) where we have detected an approximate $213.3 million dollar inflow — that’s a 2.9% increase week over week in outstanding units (from 119,534,485 to 123,037,764). Among the largest underlying components of VTV, in trading today Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is off about 1.5%, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is down about 1.2%, and Intel Corp (NASD: INTC) is relatively unchanged. For a complete list of holdings, visit the VTV Holdings page »
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Markets
Wells Fargo 4th-Quarter Net Interest Margin Under Scrutiny
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) will open the fourth-quarter earnings season for U.S. banks Friday and investors will keenly focus on the profit margin in the bank’s lending business, a key measure of revenue growth that sorely disappointed Wells investors three months ago.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox Business Headlines
Notable ETF Inflow Detected – VTV, CVX, PG, WFC
By ETFChannel.comLooking today at week-over-week shares outstanding changes among the universe of ETFs covered at ETF Channel, one standout is the Vanguard Value ETF (AMEX: VTV) where we have detected an approximate $105.9 million dollar inflow — that’s a 1.5% increase week over week in outstanding units (from 117,034,485 to 118,834,485). Among the largest underlying components of VTV, in trading today Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is up about 0.2%, Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) is off about 0.6%, and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is higher by about 0.1%. For a complete list of holdings, visit the VTV Holdings page »
Source: Forbes Markets
Wells Fargo Cuts Borrowing Costs in 5-Year Bond Sale
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) returned to the lending well Tuesday, selling $1.25 billion worth of five-year bonds in its seventh U.S. offering this year.
Source: Fox Business Headlines