Bank of America Corp.

Bank stocks defied rate cut fears and have considerably outperformed analysts' estimates in third-quarter 2019 so far. […]

A surge in U.S. mortgage applications has left Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co and other large banks scrambling to meet demand, leading to longer closing times and unhappy customers. The industry has faced an unexpected swell of demand since the U.S. Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates in July, bankers and industry analysts said. Bank of America, one of the largest U.S. mortgage originators, now takes 41 days, on average, to close a purchase loan, a person familiar with the matter said. […]

DEEP DIVE J.P. Morgan Chase has a reputation as the “best in class” among the Big Four U.S. banks, but Bank of America might be a better investment if you hold the stock for the next few years, according to Edward Jones analyst James Shanahan. […]

(Bloomberg) -- Franklin Templeton star bond investor Michael Hasenstab, who saw two of his biggest investments flop in August, is loading up on safe-haven currencies and winding down massive holdings in emerging markets.The fund manager doubled exposure to the yen to 40% in the $30 billion Templeton Global Bond Fund in the third quarter, according to a recent filing. He’s also added long positions in the Norwegian krone and Swedish krona and is increasing liquidity by boosting cash across his funds, he said in an October note.Total net assets in the global bond fund dropped by $3 billion in the three months through September as a massive holding in Argentina was pummeled by the country’s default. The fund was also holding a huge short position in U.S. Treasuries as yields sank to a three-year low.“A number of global risk factors have increased, raising the need to hedge some of our foreign exchange risk exposures and counterbalance our U.S. rate hedge,” said Hasenstab, who oversees more than $100 billion. “The potential for a geopolitical event appears higher than it has been in decades, given ongoing tensions among major world powers.”Templeton’s Global Bond Fund has underperformed more than 80% of peers this year, losing 1.6% compared with a return of about 7% from Treasuries. The fund has returned 2.3% in the past three years, data compiled by Bloomberg show.Cash and cash equivalents represented around 23% of assets in the fund as of the end of September. A Bank of America survey of global fund managers published this week showed cash holdings averaged about 5%.Treasury ShortThe fund is holding on to its Treasury short, but shifting the focus to those with longer maturities, according to the report. Hasenstab argues that markets continue to overvalue long bonds given rising deficit spending and rising debt. He is also betting that the yen will appreciate against the dollar as monetary-policy divergence narrows between the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.Average duration in the Global Bond Fund, a measure of sensitivity to shifts in rates, increased to minus 1.39 years as of the end of September, the filings show. At the end of June it was a record low of minus 2.82 years.While Hasenstab continues to see value in emerging markets, he says he is now “sizing and hedging” positions for individual risks. A 14% holding in Brazilian bonds, for example, is being offset by a net-negative position in the Australian dollar, according to the report.“Investment strategies that may have worked well over the last decade are not as likely to be effective in the next one,” Hasenstab said. “Investors need to prepare for today’s challenges by building portfolios that can provide true diversification against highly correlated risks present across many asset classes.”(Updates with cash position in sixth paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Natasha Doff in Moscow at ndoff@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Cecile Gutscher, Samuel PotterFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P. […]

(Bloomberg) -- For the first time in four years, interest rates hurt instead of helped the biggest U.S. banks. It wasn’t enough to knock them off pace to top last year’s profit record.Revenue at the six largest firms climbed from a year earlier for the 12th time in the past 13 quarters, helped by better-than-expected gains in trading and a surprise jump in investment banking. JPMorgan Chase & Co., the nation’s biggest bank, notched a new revenue record. That all came in spite of the group’s net interest income posting its first drop since 2015 as the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates twice in the quarter.For all the hand-wringing about low rates, trade wars and a possible economic slowdown, the biggest banks are still riding high. A healthy consumer, lower corporate tax rates and stock markets at all-time highs have the firms on track to break the all-time earnings high of $120 billion in 2018.“The banks had set low expectations in September, and it turned out that the results were pretty strong,” Julien Courbe, financial services advisory leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “I think a big question would be whether the rate cuts would actually stimulate loan demand, and we heard from the earnings that it did.”While capital rules introduced to make banks safer after the financial crisis have ended the glory days, when return on equity often topped 20%, all six banks have clawed their way back to double-digits this year for the first time since the crash.Investors are taking note: shares of all the banks except Citigroup Inc. climbed this week, with Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan all surging more than 3.5%. Here are the week’s main takeaways:TradingBanks upended forecasts by posting strong revenue in their trading businesses this week.Every firm beat analysts’ estimates as volatility in fixed-income markets created opportunities for trading desks. Morgan Stanley was the biggest surprise, with debt trading jumping 21% instead of dropping 5% as analysts had predicted. Fixed-income trading at JPMorgan rose by the most in almost three years.At Bank of America, strong trading results added to good news on the investment-banking front, where revenue shot up almost 26% from a year earlier and beat expectations. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. suffered the opposite fate: It posted strong trading results but investment-banking fees took a bigger hit than expected.ConsumerThe top four retail banks pulled in record revenue for the fifth straight quarter, a sign that the U.S. consumer remains healthy even as some economic indicators have sparked fears of a coming recession.“The U.S. economy is still in solid shape, despite the worries and concerns about trade wars, capital-investment slowdowns or other global macro conditions,” Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said on a conference call with analysts. “Across nearly every line of business, we are seeing strong consumer activity.”JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo & Co. collectively made $40.6 billion in consumer revenue this quarter. JPMorgan led the group with the most consumer revenue it’s ever had in the third quarter.Still, there were notes of caution. JPMorgan and Wells Fargo increased loan-loss reserves for the second time in the past seven quarters and Citigroup increased its reserves by the most in two years.Wealth ManagementThe push by discount brokerages to eliminate commissions on many types of trades did little to dent confidence at the big banks.Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, which both own U.S. brokerages with almost $3 trillion in assets apiece, said they’re focused on longer-term relationships with wealthier customers -- the ones who are willing to pay up for better service and advice.Almost 90% of Bank of America’s self-directed trading business is already handled without commissions, Moynihan said Wednesday.Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said his company is aiming at households worth more than $1 million, and especially those with more than $10 million.\--With assistance from Lananh Nguyen, Michelle F. Davis, Sridhar Natarajan and Jenny Surane.To contact the reporter on this story: Gwen Everett in New York at geverett10@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Steve DicksonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P. […]