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Jay Jenkins

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  • The Future of the Bank Branch in an Increasingly Digital World

    By Jay Jenkins - April 26, 2013 | Tickers: COF, JPM, WFC

    The world has gone mobile. iPads, smart phones, 3G and 4G wireless, and a thousand other technologies are shrinking the world, making it possible to unchain ourselves from our office and our home.

    Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins publishes her annual "Internet Trends" slide presentation each year to much anticipation, largely because it paints such a compelling picture of the future of the internet -- dynamic, robust, and mobile that enhances more »

  • Mortgage Lenders in the Throes of a Changing Real Estate Landscape

    By Jay Jenkins - April 24, 2013 | Tickers: JPM, WFC | Editor's Choice

    Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) are the nation's largest mortgage originators. These two banks are both behemoth's with diversified businesses spanning multitudes of asset classes, geographies, and income streams. But in the shadow of the real estate bubble (and subsequent crash), their mortgage portfolios command a lot of attention.

    And, frankly, this attention is warranted.

    Every month, it seems, economists publish contradictory reports--one exuding more »

  • 7 Charts Show Why This Bank Is Best of Breed

    By Jay Jenkins - April 21, 2013 | Tickers: BAC, C, JPM, USB, WFC | Editor's Choice

    Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) is by and large considered the best in breed of all the major US banks. Warren Buffett is certainly an outspoken fan of the company. But outside of a few investment managers who periodically sing the bank's praises, Wells tends to stay out of the spotlight (which over the past five years is a definite positive, see here, here, and here for just a few more »

  • Sheila Bair Calls End of "Too Big To Fail"

    By Jay Jenkins - April 19, 2013 | Tickers: BAC, C, JPM | Editor's Choice

    Sheila Bair, former Chairperson of the FDIC, has been in the news this week after writing an article for Fortune magazine where she argues that the era of "too big to fail" banks is over.

    The notion of a stable financial system with diversified risk and effective regulatory checks and balances is certainly noble -- but is there any evidence to support the former Chairperson's idealistic conclusions?

    Point 1: The more »

  • A Tale of Two Banks - Understanding the Market Reaction to Goldman and Citigroup Earnings

    By Jay Jenkins - April 18, 2013 | Tickers: C, GS

    This week both Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) reported better than expected earnings. Citi's stock responded with strong early gains Monday that tapered only slightly despite the 1.5%+ decline in the S&P, followed by gains north of 3% trading midday on Tuesday. Goldman's stock has fared much worse in spite of the strong earnings announcement, trading down over 2.5% in mid-morning trading more »

  • Sheila Blair calls end of "Too Big To Fail"

    By Jay Jenkins - April 16, 2013 | Tickers: BAC, C, JPM

    Sheila Blair, former Chairperson of the FDIC, has been in the news this week after writing an article for Fortune magazine where she argues that the era of "too big to fail" banks is over.

    The notion of a stable financial system with diversified risk and effective regulatory checks and balances is certainly noble -- but is there any evidence to support the former Chairperson's idealistic conclusions?

    Point 1: The more »

  • A Tale of Two Banks - Understanding the Market Reaction to Goldman and Citigroup Earnings

    By Jay Jenkins - April 16, 2013 | Tickers: C, GS

    This week both Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) reported better than expected earnings. Citi's stock responded with strong early gains Monday that tapered only slightly despite the 1.5%+ decline in the S&P, followed by gains north of 3% trading mid day on Tuesday. Goldman's stock has faired much worse in spite of the strong earnings announcement, trading down over 2.5% in mid more »

  • Understanding the Upside Potential of B of A's Earnings Engine

    By Jay Jenkins - April 11, 2013 | Tickers: BAC, WFC

    Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was the best performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2012. Shares have climbed a truly impressive 111% over the past 16 months. With the summer months approaching and the economy sputtering along, is there any steam left in the B of A engine?

    A Brief Comparison to a Best in Class Bank

    Bank valuations are driven by earnings. Warren Buffett agrees, so more »

  • The Big Bank Temptation in 7 Charts

    By Jay Jenkins - April 5, 2013 | Tickers: BAC, GS, JPM, WFC | Editor's Choice

    Everywhere you turn someone has an opinion about the big banks. On one channel you hear about "too big to fail", on another you hear about "too big to jail", and in the morning paper you read about record year end profits despite a $6 billion+ trading loss earlier in the same year. What, exactly, are we to think of the big banks?

    To answer that question I've compiled more »

  • Why Tesla's "Bad" News Could Be a Buying Opportunity

    By Jay Jenkins - April 4, 2013 | Tickers: TSLA

    To much fanfare on Tuesday, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk announced what the company is calling a "revolutionary automotive financing product" that would allow an individual to buy a Tesla Model S for only $500 a month with no money down.

    The reaction from the markets and media was like the sound of air rushing out of a balloon.

    Talking heads and analysts spent much of Tuesday night more »

  • Tesla Gets Investors All Charged Up

    By Jay Jenkins - April 1, 2013 | Tickers: TSLA

    The news out of Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) Monday morning should not have come as a surprise.

    For those who have not heard, Tesla announced that sales of its Model S all-electric supercar beat company-issued guidance; deliveries for Q1 exceeded 4,750 units, beating prior guidance by 5.6%.

    As a result, Tesla restated Q1 earnings guidance to show profitability on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. Previously, Tesla expected more »

  • The Return of AIG: Deleveraged, Focused, and Undervalued

    By Jay Jenkins - April 1, 2013 | Tickers: AIG, ALL, TRV

    The markets still value American International Group (NYSE: AIG)  through the lens of 2008. But the AIG of today has materially improved its risk profile and generated financial results comparable to its peer group. Now is the time to invest, before the markets realize that today's AIG isn't the same company that got bailed out in September 2008.

    The biggest difference: simplified risk

    Over the past 5 years more »

  • Big Ships, Big Dividends for This Shipper

    By Jay Jenkins - March 27, 2013 | Tickers: NMM

    Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE: NMM) is an international operator of ships -- really big ships. They can carry the equivalent of 45,000 elephants. Some are too big to make passage through the Suez or Panama canals. So it makes sense that this jumbo-sized shipper also offers an outsized dividend: $1.77 per share, with a yield north of 12%.

    The stock's five-year high is just over $21 a share more »

  • Open Heart Surgery for America’s Highways - Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) has the prescription

    By Jay Jenkins - March 18, 2013 | Tickers: CHK, CLNE

    Every year 935,000 Americans have a heart attack, attacks that on average are responsible for 1 of every 4 deaths annually.

    Like the clogged arteries symptomatic of heart disease, the nation's highway and rail transport systems are being clogged by an unhealthy (environmentally) and costly fuel source, diesel and gasoline.

    The prescription

    Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE), like a heart surgeon in an operating room, is working to more »

  • 4 Investing Takeaways From The Fed's Stress Test Results

    By Jay Jenkins - March 15, 2013 | Tickers: BAC, GS, JPM, WFC

    Beyond making great bed time reading, the Federal Reserve's annual bank stress test results provide insights into the health and risk-taking of the nation's most influential banks. Insights from this report may color our collective investing glasses for banks in general, specifically for the lucky banks that were tested.

    Foolish Observations

    1. Overall, the Bank's are looking better

    Of the 18 bank's subjected to the Fed more »

  • Tim Cook on Safari - What will AAPL shoot with all that cash

    By Jay Jenkins - March 14, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, CMCSA, FB, NFLX, DIS

    What do you buy for the person who has everything? Well, if you're Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, you could in theory buy pretty much anything.

    Much has been speculated recently about Apple's ever increasing cash hoard ($137 billion at last count). With the stock trading down 38% from its peak (though still with a market cap of $405 billion) and trailing P/E of just 9 more »

  • Why this hedge fund manager is overweight in the financials

    By Jay Jenkins - March 13, 2013 | Tickers: AIG, BRK-B, BRK-A, C, GS

    Whitney Tilson, former manager of T2 Partners with Glenn Tongue, recently published his first investor letter as the sole manager of his new entity, Kase Capital.

    Tilson has long been known as a value investor in the 14 years since he started T2 Partners. Under his leadership, T2 returned 177.1% cumulatively since its inception in 1999 versus 36.4% for the S&P 500. When Tilson speaks, he deserves more »

  • 3 Reasons to Consider Bank Stocks Instead of Homeownership

    By Jay Jenkins - March 13, 2013 | Tickers: GS, JPM, WFC

    Conventional wisdom says that buying a home is a prudent and smart long term investment. Maybe it is. But maybe it's not.

    If the Great Recession and Real Estate Crisis has done anything, it has caused us to ask the question: is homeownership really as smart as we're told it is?

    3 Reasons to Re-Think Homeownership

    1. Mortgage Loans - a double edged sword

    Consider this: Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GSmore »)

  • The 3 Reasons the Dow Will Move Higher (and the Best Stocks to Buy on Dips)

    By Jay Jenkins - March 12, 2013 | Tickers: KO, ^DJI, GE, IBM

    Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a new all-time nominal high. Sign of an apocalypse? Not likely. Sign that the economy is finally healed? Not really. Until the employment picture returns to pre-Great Recession levels, American's will still feel pain in their day to day lives.

    But from a purely investing standpoint, there are three key macro data points that point toward continued strength broadly across the more »

  • The New Paradigm in Computer Hardware

    By Jay Jenkins - March 10, 2013 | Tickers: DELL, HPQ, IBM, ORCL

    After weeks of rumors, Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) announced a plan to go private in a $24.4 billion buyout last month. Alongside founder/CEO Michael Dell, Silver Lake Management LLC will contribute equity to the leveraged buyout to be financed in part with a $2 billion loan from Microsoft.

    The logic of the transaction is that Dell is in need of a significant transformation. The commoditized personal computer hardware business more »

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