today's newsletter is by Brian Sozzi, executive editor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozy on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn, Read this and more market news on the go yahoo finance app,
There's no doubt that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and pretty much every single person involved in the financial services sector could use a drink (or five) after a crazy week in the business world.
The long-troubled Credit Suisse (CS) siphoned off $54 billion from the Swiss government. The fast-melting First Republic (FRC) received a $30 billion uninsured deposit injection by 11 rival banks. The assets of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB) are still being purchased by the FDIC following its collapse a week ago.
Banking sources have told the Yahoo Finance newsroom that more bank busts could be in the cards. The KBW Bank ETF is now down 29% for the month.
And yet, analysts still love financial stocks!
Did we mention there's a Federal Reserve meeting next week? One in which Nomura (NMR) thinks the Fed will cut interest rates.
Here are some of the things that caught our attention during this wild week on Wall Street:
1. Credit Suisse buyer?
UBS (UBS) may make moves to buy ailing Credit Suisse, JP Morgan analyst Qian Abuhossein speculated in a client note.
“We see a resolution scenario as the most likely in our view and a higher likelihood of intervention with the third option of acquisitions as the most likely scenario, particularly by UBS,” the analyst said.
Just what UBS needed in the midst of a banking crisis – to assume the assets and culture of a deeply troubled rival.
2. First Republic Downgrade
Wedbush analyst David Chiaverini cut his rating on First Republic to neutral from outperform and sees the stock falling to $5. First Republic stock changed hands at $25 as of Friday afternoon.
Chiaverini added, “We believe that the distressed M&A sale could result in minimal, if any, residual value to the common equity holders of FRC taking into account the fair value mark-ups on FRC's debt and securities.” The significant negative is due to tangible book value.” “We note that the assets of the M&A target must be marked down at fair value in the acquisition.” Cruel.
3. Kellogg CEO sees no change from ending food stamp benefits
Kellogg CEO Steve Cahillane told me (video above) he doesn't see people spending less since the pandemic ended earlier this month emergency food stamp payments. Those checks put an extra $95 per month in the hands of low-income consumers.
4. FedEx Sorting
FedEx executives casually slipped into their earnings call, almost begging, that they were cutting jobs to ultimately deliver better profits to investors. “By the end of this fiscal year, we expect US headcount to be down approximately 25,000 year-over-year,” the exec said.
5. Fed rate cut call
The future favors the bold. To that end, Nomura strategist Aichi Amemiya was the first to call for a rate cut ahead of the Fed's next policy meeting. Their view: “In response to crippling financial stability risks, we now expect the Fed to cut a 25 bp rate hike at the March FOMC meeting, where we expected a 50 bp rate hike before Feb. 24.”
6. MPs keep an eye on banking rules
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, appeared to swing against the banks in a conversation with Yahoo Finance's Jennifer Schoenberger. “It's all about regulation, and it's all about the fact that at some point, there was great advocacy to make sure that regional banks and smaller banks didn't have to comply with certain regulations that probably wouldn't they are allowed to enter [this situation]Waters said on Yahoo Finance Live. Read: The return of tighter banker regulation lurks.
7. Bank to the rescue
Curious about how the $30 billion deal for First Republic panned out? The Yahoo Finance team of Dan Fitzpatrick and David Hollerith has you covered.
Brian Sozzi is the executive editor of Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozy on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn,
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