Posted on 04/12/2016 7:31:46 AM PDT by Lorianne
Financial shares are down sharply in 2016 even as broader markets have recovered; central-bank policies squeeze interest margins --- Bank stocks are having a terrible 2016, as central-bank policies, which for years lifted asset prices, are hurting the financial sector. The impact of economic stimulus efforts on lenders will get a fresh airing this week, as big U.S. banks begin reporting their earnings for the first quarter. Trading revenue is expected to have taken a hit, but the more enduring problem will be visible in the lenders’ net interest margins, the basic measure of bank profitability that gets flattened by low interest rates. Easy-money policies have fueled a rally in risky assets.
They are also squeezing profits at financial companies, inflicting pain on a sector that is fundamental to the health of the economy. Earnings for S&P 500 financial companies during the quarter ended March are expected to be down 8.5% from the same period last year, according to FactSet. Analysts have cut their projections for almost three-quarters of the companies in the financial sector, including J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America, both of which are scheduled to release earnings this week. “At the end of the day, it’s just a more difficult earnings environment for financials,” said Jeremy Zirin at UBS Wealth Management Americas.
Financial companies are the worst performers in the S&P 500, down 7.6% in 2016 as the broader index has risen 0.2%.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
You wouldn’t be able to fill the cap on your pen with all the tears that will be shed.
aud usd still holding at .76 That’s impressive for the Aussie
Eur Usd holding 1.14. This is weeks now, not days.
Which will be the LEAST horrible according to interpretation by traders in the coming months?
The economy isn't going to recover if middle class folks can't save and increase that amount with accumulated interest. Folks aren't paying down debt, as they either can't (student loans) or have no incentive to do so (mortgages). And, believe it or not, the banks are hawking low interest variable home equity loans again!
The middle class is on a downward death spiral. We're FINALLY getting articles connecting no real recovery to low interest rates? Maybe if the folks writing this stuff were living a middle class economic reality, they'd have some common sense smarts.
>The middle class is on a downward death spiral. We’re FINALLY getting articles connecting no real recovery to low interest rates?
Oh, the stories are ready and prepped. They will be published ONLY if a non-DEM is elected though.
Same for the homeless, troops killed in action, inflation rate, unemployment rate, budget/deficit, ....
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