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Better than expected
Morgan Stanley's third quarter profit rose 20% versus a year earlier to $2.15 billion as revenue rose to $9.87 billion. Earnings per share were $1.17, beating forecasts of $1.01.
Going out on top
Goldman Sachs easily beat Wall Street per share earnings expectations for the third quarter, its last during Lloyd Blankfein's tenure. The bank
Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Riding the wave
Bank of America’s 32% jump in third quarter profit on just a 4% increase in revenue was largely driven by higher interest rates, which fattened its lending margins. For the Wall Street Journal, that was good enough. “The lender has long been known to analysts as one that does particularly well in a rising rate environment. Its large and loyal deposit base shields it somewhat from competition on the funding side, while rates on its credit card and business loans adjust upwards quickly.” Regarding its stock price, it “can head higher if the bank just keeps doing what it has been — riding the wave of higher rates while controlling costs. Any new growth drivers it develops would be icing on the cake.”
But investors were more focused on the bank’s “struggling investment bank and
Withdrawn
Three more bank CEOs pulled out of Saudi Arabia’s Financial Investment Initiative conference following questions about the kingdom’s possible role in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. HSBC Chief Executive John Flint, Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, and Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters join JPMorgan Chase CEO James Dimon, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink and Blackstone Group's Stephen Schwarzman, who previously announced they will not go to the meeting.
In the middle
Visa, Mastercard and American Express have become “unwilling warriors in a budding conflict between America’s technology giants and the Indian government.” On Tuesday, the companies officially violated a new Indian law that requires payments companies to store all of their transaction information on Indian customers inside the country. "The rule and the hubbub over it are part of a debate over a concept known as 'data localization,' in which a country places restrictions on data as a way to gain better control over it and potentially curb the power of international companies." The companies argue they need more time to comply, since the regulation was issued in April. Their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Stay tuned.
Wall Street Journal
Defining ‘abuse’
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working on a
Going crypto
Fidelity Investments announced Monday that it will store and trade cryptocurrencies for hedge funds and other professional investors, “becoming one of the first Wall Street giants to step into this volatile corner of the financial world” and “a move [that] will lend the cryptocurrency world some mainstream credibility.” The mutual fund giant is setting up a unit called Fidelity Digital Asset Services that will allow money managers, family offices and other institutional customers to
No influence
Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said President Trump’s recent verbal attacks on Fed monetary policy could “undermine” confidence in the Fed and “politicize it,” “essentially damaging the Fed and financial stability.” However, Yellen, speaking at the MBA convention, said she didn’t think the Fed or Jerome Powell, her successor as Fed chair, would be influenced by the president’s criticism. As to whether the president has a right to make such comments, Yellen said, “There’s no law against that. But
Quotable
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