Banks are among the first to kick off the upcoming U.S. earnings season. Several of the largest U.S. banks are reporting on Jan. 15, including Citigroup, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Along with most of the financial sector, banks were among the hardest hit during the Covid-19-induced bear market. However, many have recently regained some favor – with price performance outpacing even some of the most popular tech sector stocks in recent weeks, as can be seen in Exhibit 1 below. By contrast, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 has been essentially flat over this four-week period. Exhibit 1 shows

The unofficial kickoff to the 20Q3 earnings season occurred today, Oct. 13, when the S&P 500 banks industry’s Citigroup Inc (C.N), First Republic Bank (FRC.N), and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), delivered quarterly results. Analysts had been expecting declines in both net interest income (NII) and net interest margin (NIM) for the banks industry. However, expectations were too high for the large diversified banks sub-industry constituents, as both Citigroup and JPMorgan missed analysts’ expectations for these metrics. Citigroup reported NII of $10.49 B vs. the consensus of $10.61 B and NIM of 2.03% vs. an expectation for 2.17% while JPMorgan

In the face of geo-political tensions, market volatility, and high expectations for earnings investors have been on the edge of their seats awaiting corporate earnings. The highly anticipated earnings season for the first quarter of 2018 unofficially kicked off Friday, Apr. 13, when four of the large banks reported earnings. The S&P 500 is expected to benefit from global growth and tax reform. As a result, the index is expected post the best first quarter YoY revenue and earnings growth since 2011 Q1. Exhibit 1: S&P 500 YoY Growth Rates Amplified Growth S&P Q1 2018 YoY earnings expectations for the

Citigroup has learnt from its past mistakes in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. lender is seeking a new banking licence, just as Riyadh starts doling out mandates to consult on reforms and help sell stakes in its state-owned assets like Saudi Aramco. The bank’s exit some 13 years ago – which came as higher oil prices were about to boost the economy – proved poorly timed. Once again, oil will decide whether this is a good bet. Even if the Capital Market Authority lets Citi return fully to Saudi, the bank may still have to rebuild bridges. Its decision to leave