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The Institutional Risk Analyst
© 2003-2025 | Whalen Global Advisors LLC All Rights Reserved in All Media | ISSN 2692-1812
Banks | Markets | Finance


Fear & Loathing on Wall Street: GS, MS, AMP, SCHW, RJF, SF
Some of the largest banks by assets have dropped from the top quartile into the bottom half of the distribution for the top 100 banks
R. Christopher Whalen
3 days ago8 min read
315 views


How Will Consumer Lenders Fare in a Serious Recession?
Many voices in the media and elsewhere have been predicting an economic slump since 2023. Didn’t happen, but 2025 is very different.
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 2811 min read
405 views


Q: Which Top Seven Bank is Most Vulnerable in a Recession?
If we consider the larger picture, we already have years of pent-up credit expenses awaiting realization, but add to the sauce Donald Trump.
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 2314 min read
626 views

Trump, Powell and the Banks
Even as President Donald Trump demands rate cuts, the Powell FOMC is sharply reducing US economic growth estimates
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 206 min read
374 views


Housing Finance Outlook | Q2 2025
There is an old rule on Wall Street that industry sectors like airlines and auto manufacturers are trades rather than investments...
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 1611 min read
1,030 views


Banks Slide as Asset Sales Accelerate
If we told you that the Trump White House was planning to end the issuance of all agency MBS, how do you think this will impact financials?
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 115 min read
610 views


Silicon Valley and the Large Bank Dead Pool
When you see a bank with more than 10% of total assets in MBS, that's a big red flag in our book.
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 97 min read
697 views

WGA Releases Q1 2025 Bank Industry Survey | Higher for Longer May Throttle Deposit Growth
Industry results in 2024 were reasonably good, but the banking industry is still 200 bp below 2019 levels of asset and equity returns
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 282 min read
187 views

Logan Riffs on SOMA; XYZ and SYF Say No Recession Yet
Like 2023 and 2024, the year 2025 may end up being relatively stable, yet investors remain worried about stealth externalities.
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 258 min read
236 views

HOOD: Is the Bloom off the Rose?
And just why do financial firms like HOOD, SoFi Technologies (SOFI)Â and Block (XYZ)Â talk about EBITDA in their investor materials?
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 134 min read
261 views

Trump Attacks the Administrative State
Folks in the financial sector are beginning to wonder if certain parts of the government apparatus will continue to function.
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 96 min read
648 views

The Bottom Quartile: FLG, KEY, LOB & TCBI
A look at the bottom quarter of WGA Bank Top 100 Index. We view TCBI as a work in progress. But kudos to KEY...
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 67 min read
187 views

Is Ameriprise Overvalued? Is PennyMac Cheap vs the REITs?
We think it is notable that AMP has underperformed the other members of the group other than SCHW over the past year.
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 37 min read
178 views

WGA Bank Top 100 Index | Q1 2025
GS had not appeared in the top 25 since we began the indices a year ago, while MS had made it three times.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 294 min read
187 views

Credit Teeters as President Trump Roars
When President Donald Trump says that interest rates are too high, he may not fully understand just how right he is about the cost of credit
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 276 min read
862 views

Update: Charles Schwab | SCHW
The SVB duration management from 2020 onward was recklessly negligent by any reasonable standard
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 225 min read
340 views

GSE Release? Really. What Do JPM and BAC Say About 2025 Earnings?
Without profits from commissions and capital markets, BAC would have reported a down quarter due to higher funding and operating expenses.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 166 min read
442 views


Big Losses in Commercial Real Estate & PE in 2025?
Private equity portfolio companies are about 10 times as likely to go bankrupt as non-PE-owned companies.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 136 min read
1,133 views

Taxing Crypto? And Just Where Is That Consumer Recession?
Yes, net loss rates in percentage terms post default are back up to 2010 levels, but the dollar volume of net charge-offs remains very low.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 58 min read
412 views

Update: Top Bank Asset Managers
As and when GS can exit the loss leading credit card relationship with AAPL, the performance of the business should improve significantly.
R. Christopher Whalen
Dec 30, 20248 min read
231 views
Christopher Whalen
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