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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


Trading Points: Banks, Interest Rates & MSRs
Some of the smaller holders of MSRs may ask themselves if selling right now is not the best strategy over a 36-48 month horizon.

R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 168 min read
437 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
664 views


Trading Points: Trump, Housing & Private Credit
President Trump is using the threat of tariffs to change the behavior of some of our trading partners, particularly Canada and Mexico.

R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 57 min read
436 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
192 views


QT + Lower Federal Outlays = ?
Banks continue to show a strong preference for late vintage loans over securities, a fact which may cause loan yields to continue falling

R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 115 min read
367 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
553 views


Fed Duration Trap Threatens Banks, SOMA
It’s time for the Fed to get smart on duration risk before circumstances create another money market crisis.

R. Christopher Whalen
Nov 1, 20248 min read
1,096 views


Should TD Bank Rethink US Retail?
WFC is not even out of dodge yet, but TD has cut off the fingers of one hand in yakuza style and is now headed for years of misery

R. Christopher Whalen
Oct 16, 20246 min read
684 views


Will Rohit Chopra Kill Basel III? Shrinking NIM at JPM and WFC
In opposing Basel III, Chopra is doing the bidding of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) but big banks are very happy to have no rule at all.

R. Christopher Whalen
Oct 14, 20245 min read
642 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
417 views


New & Old Names in Nonbank Finance
In dollar terms, the moves in 2023 were tiny vs the post March rally in 2020.

R. Christopher Whalen
Aug 21, 20247 min read
479 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
700 views


Update: New York Community Bank & Mr. Cooper
Joe Otting does not seem to understand the value of the Flagstar correspondent lending and mortgage servicing business...

R. Christopher Whalen
Jul 27, 20248 min read
635 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
1,446 views


Update: BMO + Bank of the West = ?
BMO arguably has the weakest reserve position among the large Canadian banks....

R. Christopher Whalen
Jun 17, 20246 min read
988 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
570 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
2,618 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


Banks Slow Walk Commercial Real Estate Losses
As reflected in the valuations for JPM, WFC and BXMT, institutional investors are still not that concerned about commercial real est losses

R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 18, 20247 min read
772 views
Christopher Whalen
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