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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

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
180 views

Update: Has Jane Fraser Redeemed Citigroup? Nope.
Citi seems to be tracking the group now, whereas pre-COVID the stock significantly underperformed in terms of market beta. But performance?
R. Christopher Whalen
Dec 18, 20247 min read
551 views


WGA Bank Top 10 Index | Time to Short Financials?
When SCHW surpassed U.S. Bancorp in size in 2021, you knew that SCHW’s leadership had gotten lost.Â
R. Christopher Whalen
Dec 9, 20249 min read
478 views

Citigroup + (Cenlar - Black Knight) = ?
The Citi decision to exit mortgage servicing perhaps made sense in 2017, but today not so much.
R. Christopher Whalen
Oct 9, 20247 min read
416 views

The Top Seven Banks: JPM, BAC, C, WFC, USB, PNC & TFC
Banks lose money every single day by holding onto a below market security from the 2019-2021 period.
R. Christopher Whalen
Aug 18, 20249 min read
696 views


USSC Kills Chevron | Zombie Banks Pass Stress Tests?
The Fed bank stress tests are another sign of magical thinking in Washington.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jul 1, 20248 min read
915 views

Q2 2024 Earnings Setup: JPM, BAC, WFC, C, USB, PNC, TFC
Citigroup leads the pack with a net loss rate of 133 basis points (bp) that is almost five times the average for Peer Group 1 at 27 bp.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jun 23, 20249 min read
1,439 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
568 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


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


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


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


Update: U.S. Bancorp
Net interest income at USB was down again for the fourth consecutive quarter, confirming a trend across the banking industry
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 22, 20245 min read
546 views


Bank Earnings Setup Q4 2023
Look for falling rates sooner rather than later as the Fed and other agencies prepare to resolve more bank failures in 2024.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 11, 20245 min read
619 views


Update: Citigroup Fights for Credibility
Citigroup picked up almost 10 points of book value since the end of Q3 2023.
R. Christopher Whalen
Dec 21, 20237 min read
616 views


What Does PNC Financial Say About Commercial Real Estate?
What does PNC tell us now about commercial loan exposures in 2024?
R. Christopher Whalen
Dec 12, 20236 min read
1,021 views

Update: Bank of America
If you conduct a fire sale analysis of BAC's balance sheet as of Q3 2023, the result more than wipes out the bank's tangible equity
R. Christopher Whalen
Nov 8, 20235 min read
1,099 views


ACH: The Bank Deposit Ain't in the Mail
Was the breakdown of the normally stable and, indeed, routine workings of the Clearinghouse the result of bad actors?
R. Christopher Whalen
Nov 6, 20234 min read
1,195 views
Christopher Whalen
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