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JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) Soars on Pricing Plan Reversal
Ron Johnson’s reign as Chief Executive Officer of retail giant JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) has been rife with criticism. Same store sales have plummeted, the stock has faltered, and many observers have openly questioned the viability of... More of this article »
Target (NYSE: TGT), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), and Lowes (NYSE: LOW) Brace for East Coast Port Strike
Strikes at the docks are something often not on the national conscience, but for retailers, any rumbling at the ports is significant enough to send shockwaves through stocking plans. For the Minneapolis based discount giant Target... More of this article »
MasterCard (NYSE: MA) Report Dims Holiday Retail Expectations
The holiday season is now over, and retailers are left to count the receipts as the market eagerly awaits the results. Overall, the numbers are mixed, and it is difficult to get a clear picture of the fourth quarter performance. National... More of this article »
Citigroup (NYSE: C), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Lead Financial Sector Higher in 2012
Despite a year plagued by lawsuits and fretting over the cost of regulation, financial firms have performed solidly in the stock market during 2012. In fact, the sector as a whole has rebounded from being the worst industry to invest... More of this article »
Shares in Citigroup (NYSE: C), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) Fall As Fiscal Cliff Looms
The fiscal cliff appears to be an impending calamity, and financial markets seem to be responding now, even if they largely ignored it during the previous twelve months. If a deal is not reached, within the next few days the United... More of this article »
Fines Top $10Bn for Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Barclays (NYSE: BCS), and Competitors
When we look back at the year 2012, we may one day consider it the year of bank lawsuits. There have been literally thousands of lawsuits filed against the nation’s largest banks. That lawsuits have stemmed from a myriad of issues... More of this article »
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Closing Branches in Massachusetts
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), the Charlotte based banking giant, continues its reorganization plan to cut costs heading into 2013. Part of that plan is the closure of branches, in an effort to consolidate and raise profits in their... More of this article »
Citigroup (NYSE: C) Website Plagued By Denial of Service Errors
Bank websites have been plagued by outages in recent months, with waves of hackers seemingly targeting the sites and causing DNS errors to sprout up again and again. While the denial of service attacks haven’t actually resulted in... More of this article »
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Others Taking SeaWorld Public
SeaWorld is going public. Earlier today, the Orlando based SeaWorld Entertainment filed for an initial public offering, paving the way for an offering in 2013. SeaWorld, owned by Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX), has long been rumored... More of this article »
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) Wins in Appeal
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), the San Francisco based banking giant, has been plagued by lawsuits for most of the past four years, along with its rivals. While many judgments have gone against them, some reprieve is coming. After getting... More of this article »
Former Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Director Rajaratnam Settles SEC Lawsuit
Former Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) director Raj Rajaratnam has settled the civil suit pending against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The former director continues his prison sentence for insider trading, but has a litany... More of this article »
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Execs Reap Gains Exercising Options
Stock options have long been a key compensation metric for executives in the banking sector – although falling stock prices in recent years have limited some exercising, the rebound in stock prices are putting many of those options... More of this article »
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Upgrades RIM (NYSE: RIM)
RIM (NYSE: RIM) shares have enjoyed an unlikely rebound this year. Following the release of third quarter results, investors were surprised by the positive results and strong cash flow positions, which sent the stock price up. Now,... More of this article »
Lawsuit Dismissed Against JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM)
JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), the New York based banking giant, has won a dismissal of a lawsuit brought against the firm stemming from the financial crisis. The nation’s largest bank by assets had been embroiled in a lawsuit with... More of this article »
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) Eyes Opportunities in Brazil
With sluggish growth in the United States and Europe, the nation’s largest banks are looking towards expansion opportunities in more unconventional markets – for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), that means Brazil. A decline in interest... More of this article »
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Plans Layoffs for Fresno Call Center
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), the Charlotte based banking giant, plans to close its Fresno call center in August 2013. Jennifer Darwin, a corporate spokesperson with Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, confirmed the closure, but... More of this article »
Layoffs Coming For Citigroup (NYSE: C)
The banking sector continues to shed jobs, with the latest news coming out of the New York based banking giant Citigroup (NYSE: C). Rumors swirl that the firm’s trading and investment-banking division will eliminate 150 more jobs... More of this article »
Only State Missing JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)? That Would Be Hawaii
Hawaii may be considered paradise for vacationers, but apparently, not so much for the nation’s largest banks. Hawaii’s distance from the U.S. Mainland, the state’s small population and high real estate costs are among... More of this article »
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) Adds Former PWC Partner to Board
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), the San Francisco based banking behemoth and largest home lender in the United States is expanding its Board. Howard V. “Rick” Richardson will be joining the board of directors, bringing the total... More of this article »
CIFG Sues JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)
Legal issues continue to plague the banking sector, with the most recent now focused on New York based JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). CIFG Assurance North America Inc. has dragged the company to court over losses suffered by... More of this article »
Visa (NYSE: V) Taps JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) Exec For CEO Spot
Credit card giant Visa (NYSE: V) announced Wednesday that its Board of Directors has appointed the firm’s new Chief Executive Officer, turning to a seasoned banking executive to do so. The change comes at an important time for... More of this article »
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) Hires New Head of Financial Institutions Mergers & Acquisitions
During weak economies, mergers and acquisitions tend to be on the rise. To that end, there is no better time then the present to equip a firm with industry veterans to seek out and execute potential deals, as they may start heating... More of this article »
LIBOR Scandal Extends from Barclays (NYSE: BCS) to UBS (NYSE: UBS) and Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS)
The LIBOR rate fixing scandal that rocked financial markets earlier this year and cost Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond his job now seems to be appraoching other LIBOR market participants as well. European banks UBS (NYSE: UBS)... More of this article »
Citigroup (NYSE: C) Leadership Going in Right Direction
Vikram Pandit, the former Chief Executive of Citigroup (NYSE: C), isn’t a bad guy. He didn’t do anything egregiously wrong while heading up the New York based bank, and few investors attack his performance personally, even... More of this article »
LIBOR Investigations Continue Beyond Barclays (NYSE: BCS)
The LIBOR scandal that rocked global financial markets this past summer has largely disappeared from the news, though the investigations continue and may soon entwine more banks. After the allegations of price fixing in the LIBOR... More of this article »
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) Loses Overdraft Fee Arbitration Bid
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), the San Francisco based banking giant, also happens to be the biggest U.S. home lender. Through their many lines of business, one source of revenue in particular has been jostled by recent regulations – overdraft... More of this article »
Citigroup (NYSE: C) Fined Over Facebook Disclosure
Citigroup (NYSE: C), the New York based banking behemoth that has faced a tumultuous four years, has been fined $2 million by Massachusetts regulators today for failing to prevent analysts from illegally leaking confidential information... More of this article »
Moynihan Touts Strength of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)
By all reasonable measures, Brian Moynihan inherited a mess as Chief Executive of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). Since taking over in January 2010 from outgoing CEO Ken Lewis, Moynihan had the unenviable task of ridding his firm of toxic... More of this article »
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Targets Private Bank Expansion in London
Earlier this year, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein announced the creation of a private bank-within-a-bank to serve its wealthiest customers. At the time, Blankfein went out of his way to say... More of this article »
New CEO Corbat Seeking to Right Ship at Citigroup (NYSE: C)
Following the ouster of former Citigroup (NYSE: C) Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, speculators have run wild on what the future of the bank holds, and who will lead it. Preliminary indications are that Michael Corbat is stepping up... More of this article »
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) Joins Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Others Hit By Cyber Attacks
In the past weeks, the US banking industry has been a target for a growing number of cyber attacks. While cyber attacks are nothing new for the industry, the scale and coordination of the recent events are somewhat unprecedented, putting... More of this article »
UBS (NYSE: UBS) Succeeds Where Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Fails, Avoids Costly Settlement
In the past four years, there has been a significant spike in the amount of shareholder lawsuits. Investors have grown increasingly leery of firms as they worry they have been misled as the firms they own are mismanaged. In the past... More of this article »
Citigroup (NYSE: C) Sees Rising Mergers and Acquisition Deals in Korean Market
The global market for mergers and acquisitions has been hampered – as firms strive to assess what future market conditions will demand, M&A activity on the whole has been low. Globally, mergers and acquisitions this quarter have... More of this article »
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) Hires Peregrine Communications Targetting Asia and Europe Media Relations
The Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) brand has been a stable of American west coast financial services for well over a century. While it’s dominance on the west coast has long been held, the firm clearly has bigger aspirations, to achieve... More of this article »
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Reaches $2.43 Billion Settlement Over Merrill Lynch Acquisition
Since the financial crisis of 2008, shares of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) have struggled to regain footing. The firm has been embroiled in literally thousands of lawsuits, while also facing increased scrutiny from regulators. Much... More of this article »
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) Fined by CFTC
Fines and settlements are appearing on epidemic proportions in financial services today. Multiple notable cases are reflecting a troubling trend, of firms violating limits put in place to limit risk in the financial system in off the... More of this article »
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Sees Economic Growth Slowing in China
China’s economic growth for the past decade has been far above the world average, and significantly faster than key counterparts in Europe and the United States. However, the near 10% annual growth they have enjoyed may soon be coming... More of this article »
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Slashing 16,000 Jobs
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), the nation’s second largest bank, plans to cut 16,000 by the end of this year, according to a report published in The Wall Street Journal. The cuts come at a precarious time as the nation continues... More of this article »
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Sees Funds Getting Smaller
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) recently completed the investment stage for its 2007 fund, raising $20.7 billion, but market insiders don’t expect it to return to market seeking a similar sized pool of capital. The firm’s global... More of this article »
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) CEO Moynihan Still Under Fire
With no end in sight, the Charlotte based banking giant Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is once again looking to slash costs in its businesses, this time aiming to take out 16,000 jobs by the end of this year. Chief Executive Officer Brian... More of this article »
Something in the water at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS)
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) may be sporting a gleaming new headquarters building in lower Manhattan, but not everything there is quite perfect. While the building sports the usual amenities of any high end office building in Manhattan,... More of this article »
Management Shake Up at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is executing a management shake up in follow-up to the London Whale trading debacle. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon reshuffled managers just below him, signaling that the biggest U.S.... More of this article »
Bank Deposit Insurance Near Spotlight Again
Deposit insurance has been a stabilizing force in the US banking industry since the formation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). During the financial crisis of 2008, the increase in FDIC levels helped avert... More of this article »
Sandy Weill of Citigroup (NYSE: C) Fame Now Advocates Breaking Up Big Banks
Sandy Weill, the engineer of supermarket banking through his creation of Citigroup (NYSE: C), has now spurned the notion of massive banks and turning his back on what amounted to his career’s crowning achievement. Weill displayed... More of this article »
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) Buys Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate Building
A fund managed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) agreed to buy a building near Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate valued at about $184 million from Commerzbank AG (NYSE: CBK), two people with knowledge of the matter said. While... More of this article »
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) Expanding In Asia
In the banking industry, the market potential for Asia remains as hot a topic as ever. While the major US based banks have sought to expand and grow market share, hoping to gain a piece of IPO action and potentially billions of... More of this article »
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Expanding Mobile Banking Services
The Charlotte based banking behemoth Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) seems to be heeding the client demand for mobile banking products. Today, the firm launched new mobile banking products and service enhancements including Mobile... More of this article »
Citigroup (NYSE: C) Sued Over Executive Compensation
Citigroup (NYSE: C) remains battered by a slew of lawsuits, and now, one has been filed against the firm over the compensation policies in place for their top executives. Specifically, the suit has been filed by a shareholder... More of this article »