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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


Interest Rates, Deficits & Inflation
We think it is reasonable to push expectations of a cut in the target for Fed funds into Q1 2025.Â
R. Christopher Whalen
May 24, 20246 min read
817 views


Joe Biden Goes Subprime; Should Citi Buy NYCB/Flagstar?
Citi is a subprime lender. They should be directly involved in government lending.
R. Christopher Whalen
May 20, 20246 min read
987 views

The Bull Case for Large Banks
Big banks have big CRE exposures, too. So what drives this marvelous progression up the wall of worry?
R. Christopher Whalen
May 15, 20247 min read
569 views


WGA Bank Top 100 Index | Q2 2024
Our Bank Top 10 and Top 25 indices continue to outperform the industry benchmarks, but the broader samples show growing financial stress
R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 29, 20243 min read
580 views


The Death of Leverage; What's the WAC of Bank America?
The yield on BAC's $320 billion commercial and industrial (C&I) book was just 5.4% or more than 150bp below peer at year-end 2023.
R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 24, 20247 min read
936 views

TCBI v Ginnie Mae Goes to Trial | Outlook for Commercial & Residential Mortgage Finance
McCargo's actions and the fact that the case has not been dismissed in its entirety is very unhelpful given current market conditions.
R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 21, 20247 min read
1,279 views

Update: Bank of America & Charles Schwab
BAC is in big trouble, not due to credit but because of sub-par asset returns. BAC’s return on assets has fallen to just 0.8% in Q1 2024
R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 17, 20246 min read
641 views

Zombie Banks & Budget Deficits
The fixation with the idea of resolving large zombie banks without public expense is evidence of our collective delusion.Â
R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 15, 20249 min read
843 views

GSE Release? Really? Update: Ally Financial
You take the GSEs out of conservatorship, the big banks led by JPMorgan and U.S. Bancorp will own the conventional loan market
R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 11, 202410 min read
2,029 views


A Rising Floor on Interest Rates? | Update: Bank OZK
Only in the strange confines of Washington do you still find people who think that the federal budget deficit is not a problem.
R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 7, 20247 min read
1,050 views


Vanguard & Black Rock Control JP Morgan? | PNC & United Wholesale Mortgage
BK and Vanguard are above the 4.9% legal limit on ownership of voting shares of a bank. This fact gives the FDIC et al the power...
R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 4, 20247 min read
934 views


Top-Five Banks: Q1 '24 Earnings Setup
We see higher credit costs, narrowing NIM and still rising funding costs squeezing the banking industry in Q1 2024...
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 19, 20247 min read
586 views


Mnuchin Brings More Questions Than Answers at NYCB
If Mr. Otting et al do try to execute a community bank redux in the New York market, then we'd be inclined to exit the stock.
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 18, 20247 min read
1,260 views

Inside the WGA Bank Top 10 Index
So what makes the WGA Bank Top 10 unique? Below we provide some quantitative and qualitative comments on each of the ten best US banks
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 13, 20247 min read
631 views


Does Kathy Hochul Have a New York Community Bank Endgame?
FDIC Chairman Gruenberg ought to tell New York State to take over the rent controlled loans from Signature, NYCB and other lenders...
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 6, 20247 min read
2,016 views
1 comment

WGA Releases Top 50 Bank Index | What's in Your ETF?
Not all banks or companies are the same and not all follow the herd.
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 25, 20245 min read
1,144 views

Does CapitalOne + Discover Financial = Shareholder Value?
Elizabeth Warren and progressives in Congress should support COF's purchase of Discover as a way to compete with monopoly JPMorgan
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 21, 20244 min read
489 views

Home Mortgage Rates Falling? Really?
If President Trump starts talking about fixing the federal budget deficit and redeveloping moribund urban real estate, he’d win in November
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 18, 20246 min read
1,503 views

Fear & Loathing in Credit; Update: PayPal Holdings
We think that the whole banking industry could be driven into multiple periods of loss as they divert income to loss provisions.Â
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 8, 20247 min read
925 views


Assume Loss Given Default > 100% | PennyMac & Western Alliance Bank
Q: What do Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank, Signature Bank and New York Community Bank have in common? Auditor, KPMG.
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 4, 202410 min read
2,617 views
Christopher Whalen
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