Advertisement

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Citigroup, Bank of America, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 29, 2014 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the Citigroup Inc. (C-Free Report), Bank of America Corp (BAC-Free Report), Fannie Mae (FNMA-Free Report), Freddie Mac (FMCC-Free Report) and Wells Fargo & Company (WFC-Free Report).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Bank Stock Roundup

Efforts by major banks to conclude litigation issues pertaining to their past business conduct remained the key trend in the last five trading days. Litigations and probes dominated the headlines. The law-enforcement agencies are trying to resolve such issues in order to avoid lengthy litigations.

Nevertheless, the pessimism was somewhat offset by the restructuring initiatives announced by some banks during the week. Amid ongoing pressure on revenues, the strategy of streamlining operations and focusing on core businesses to drive operational efficiencies have been prominent.

(Read last week’s developments: Bank Stock Round up for Sep 19, 2014)

Recap of the Week’s Most Important Developments:

1. Caught between the Argentina government and a U.S. court order, Citigroup Inc. (C-Free Report) is struggling for some reprieve. The bank is seeking U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa to permit it to make payments on bonds, which were issued under Argentine law following the South American country’s default in 2001. The company said that it would face regulatory and criminal sanctions by the country and its Argentine banking license may be revoked upon failure to process the $5 million interest payment, which is due to bondholders by Sep 30. (Read more: Citigroup Seeks U.S. Judge to Halt Argentine Bond Order)

2. Bank of America Corp (BAC-Free Report), the second-largest bank in the U.S., continues to hog the limelight, thanks to several litigations and legal issues that it is embroiled in. The major regional bank had appealed against the court verdict that imposed a penalty of $1.27 billion on it for selling dubious loans to Fannie Mae (FNMA-Free Report) and Freddie Mac (FMCC-Free Report) prior to the financial crisis. The U.S. government, after having failed to find any logic in BofA’s appeal, wants it to be rejected.

Notably, the penalty was levied by the U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff at Manhattan in July. The Federal prosecutors charged the bank’s Countrywide unit for creating the program ‘high-speed swim lane’ (:HSSL) or ‘Hustle,’ which rewarded employees for quantity rather than quality of loans. (Read more: BofA Plea against $1.27B Penalty Shunned by US Government)

3. Wells Fargo Advisors LLC – the brokerage wing of Wells Fargo & Company (WFC-Free Report) has been slammed with a fine of $5 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC.TO). The SEC alleged that the brokerage unit failed to maintain sufficient controls to prevent an employee from insider trading based on private information of a customer. The SEC also alleged that Wells Fargo made unreasonable delay in producing related documents in course of the SEC’s investigation and provided “an altered” document related to a compliance review of the broker’s trading.

Wells Fargo violated several federal securities laws that “require broker-dealers and investments advisers to establish, maintain, and enforce policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the misuse of material nonpublic information.” The company also violated laws that make necessary for broker-dealers and investment advisers to produce correct documents and records to the SEC in due time.

Notably, Wells Fargo has accepted its wrongdoing and agreed to the penalty payment. Also, it has agreed that an independent consultant would review its policies and procedures. (Read more: Wells Fargo Accepts Control Failure Charges, to Pay $5M)

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

About Zacks Equity Research

Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

Get the full Report on C - FREE
Get the full Report on BAC - FREE
Get the full Report on FNMA - FREE
Get the full Report on FMCC - FREE
Get the full Report on WFC - FREE

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
support@zacks.com
http://www.zacks.com


Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.


Read the analyst report on C

Read the analyst report on BZC

Read the analyst report on FNMZ

Read the analyst report on FMCC

Read the analyst report on WFC


Zacks Investment Research