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Financial Services
Investing & Finance - Max G Publishing

Brokerages Lose Volume

14/08/12 16:06
E*TRADE (NASDAQ: ETFC) recently announced that CEO Steven Freiberg is on his way out and chairman Frank Petrilli will be taking over as interim chief executive.  The board has formed a committee to oversee the process of searching for a long-term chief executive.  Raymond James analysts “believe this was a decision based on finding a different skill set at the CEO position.”  The company is searching for a new CEO to focus on strengthening its financial position as it adjusts its business strategy.  As individual consumers pull money out of the stock market, this online brokerage has been struggling.  E*TRADE’s net income dropped 16% in the second quarter year over year as there was lower trading activity.  The company is now trying to focus on managing costs and decreasing risk to strengthen earnings.
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The Rise of Digital Wallets

03/07/12 13:17
A digital wallet, or e-wallet, allows users to make e-commerce transactions quickly and securely. The digital wallet has evolved into a service that provides mobile, online users with a convenient way to store and use online shopping information as well as a way to make and receive payments. With the ever-increasing popularity of smartphones, digital wallets have evolved even further as readily available applications to mobile phone subscribers.
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FXCM Leads the Way in Forex

20/06/12 14:44
Forex refers to the market in which currencies are traded. The forex market is the largest, most liquid market in the world with an average traded value that exceeds $1.9 trillion per day and includes all of the currencies in the world. The market is open 24 hours a day and currencies are traded worldwide. When forex trading first started popping up, the markets were very risky. It was new and so the rules and regulations were a bit confusing and a bit slim. The high volatility of the currency markets was, and for the most part still is, a factor that most investors have trouble stomaching. The internet is flooded with trading systems promising to make you rich. Everyone claims to be an expert. However, as more and more reputable sources are touting the successes of forex trading, the market is slowly growing.

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Citigroup and HSBC Take on China

18/06/12 13:00
Stifled by regulation in China, foreign banks are missing out on an epic lending boom.  Five years after China said it fully met World Trade Organization obligations to open its economy to global financial firms, Citigroup (NYSE: C) and HSBC (NYSE: HBC) are among banks still largely shut out of China, the world’s biggest banking market.  Foreign financial companies hold less than 2% of assets in China.  This represents the lowest market share among the major emerging markets.  Meanwhile state-owned firms such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have been transformed from insolvent into profitable firms with the assistance of large government bailouts.  The Chinese market is simply dominated by Chinese lenders.
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EverBank Offers Good Products and Good Value

15/06/12 07:29
EverBank Financial Corporation (NYSE: EVER) has been on my radar for quite some time. The product that originally drew me to this bank was their CDs. Most banks offer CDs, but with the recent recession the rates have continually slid downhill. What makes EverBank so special is that they offer foreign currency CDs. Depending on the currency this allows them to offer much better rates than most U.S.-denominated CDs. For example, their Brazilian real CD currently provides an APY of 4%, while the Indian rupee and South African rand each come in at 3.5%. One would be hard-pressed to find a better rate than those in U.S. Currency CDs. This is what sets EverBank apart from the rest.

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Motley Fool Blog Network "New Investment Could Secure Long-Term Competitive Advantage"

30/05/12 14:08
Online securities firm SecureKey Technologies announced Friday that it has received an investment of $30 million into the company.  This investment came from a group led by Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) investment unit.  The group included Mastercard (NYSE: MA), Visa, (NYSE: V), and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS).  SecureKey Technologies is a privately-owned company.  It addresses online security issues for banks, governments, and businesses around the world.  Their technology is unique in that it uses cryptographic authentication to leverage existing investments in smartcard and NFC technologies, making SecureKey's technology an easily integratable solution.
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Seeking Alpha "MetLife To Increase Emerging Markets Sales"

28/05/12 05:18
MetLife (NYSE: MET) is planning, among other things, to increase sales in emerging markets. The New York-based insurer is looking to increase sales in emerging markets to approximately 20%. It has stated that the opportunity to earn higher returns is greater in emerging markets. It expects this plan to leverage its global footprint and capitalize on trends and opportunities in key markets. This is a great plan for MetLife. It wishes to continue this growth pattern until 2015, increasing sales in emerging markets 20% each year. That is a sensible plan. Not too fast, but not slow enough to miss out on the opportunities either.

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Seeking Alpha "Barclays Sells its 20% BlackRock Stake"

24/05/12 13:58
Well, it appears that a couple of long-time buds will be going their separate ways. Barclays PLC (BCS) announced Monday that it will be selling its entire stake in BlackRock, Inc (BLK). The market value of Barclays investment in BlackRock, based on the closing price on May 18 of $171.91, was $6.1 billion. Barclays current holdings represent a 19.6% ownership interest in BlackRock. Barclays, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America will jointly oversee the sale of shares. This is a mammoth deal between two large financial institutions. Pricing terms for this transaction were expected to be determined on May 23.
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Motley Fool Blog Network "Banking On The Rise In London"

22/05/12 13:42
Several bank shares were on the rise in London, driving positive sentiments heading into the U.S. market opening on Tuesday.  Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE: LYG), Barclays (NYSE: BCS), and The Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) were all participants in these gains.  Shares of both Lloyds and Barclays increased by 1%.  Shares of RBS increased by 2.2%.
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