Peter Kovalski

CME Merger Talks Raise Fee Concern That May Stymie Deal

CME Group Inc.’s overtures toward Deutsche Boerse AG are likely to raise the same concern among customers about higher fees that helped scuttle last year’s deal with NYSE Euronext.

CME $17 Billion Decline No Barrier to Deutsche Boerse Bid

While $17 billion of lost market capitalization has cost CME Group Inc. the title of world’s most valuable exchange owner, its stock commands a valuation that would make buying Germany’s Deutsche Boerse AG a bargain.

Profit Drop at U.S. Banks Imperils Rally

The six largest U.S. lenders, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., may post an 11 percent drop in first-quarter profit, threatening a rally that pushed bank stocks 19 percent higher this year.

Lehman Still Haunts Wall Street Efforts to Rebuild Broken Model

Two years after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed under $613 billion of debt, investors are questioning whether the investment-banking model that fueled record profits in the middle of the decade can be repaired.

Citigroup Productivity Worst of Big Banks Shows Challenge

Michael Corbat, Citigroup Inc.’s new chief executive officer, says he wants to run a more efficient bank. That means rousing or cutting one of Wall Street’s least productive workforces.

Trading Eludes Dodd-Frank as Investors See Black Box

It took a Congressional inquiry this year to force Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to disclose how much it made in the mortgage market -- and that was only for 2007.

Pandit Recruits Citigroup Army as Costs Erode Bank Margins

Citigroup Inc. and U.S. banks that hunkered down following 2008 bailouts are expanding into new businesses and markets, bringing higher expenses that may erode profit margins before they yield shareholder returns.

Deutsche Boerse's $9.53 Billion NYSE Purchase May Lead to More Takeovers

Deutsche Boerse AG’s $9.53 billion all-stock purchase of New York Stock Exchange parent NYSE Euronext creates the world’s largest owner of equities and derivatives markets, and may spur additional mergers.

Banks in U.S. Face Main Street Squeeze as Sputtering Economy Saps Earnings

Two U.S. Treasury secretaries and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke provided capital and cheap loans to banks during the last three years to help fuel an economic revival. It hasn’t worked out.

BofA, Citigroup Among Banks Facing Margin Pressure From Fed’s Rate Stance

Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. are among lenders that may find it more difficult to boost profits and capital after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep its benchmark interest rate low until at least late 2014.

"Mortgage banking this quarter had a great quarter, so if you have a bank that had a large percentage of their revenues coming from mortgages their numbers will look better than businesses that do not."

- Peter Kovalski on Oct 24, 2012

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Federal Reserve

Israel to Halt Weapons Flow to Hezbollah, Analyst Says

Berkshire Cash Hits Record $49.1 Billion as Profit Climbs

Fusion Scientists See Progress as Obama Shows No Ardor

Billionaire Kaiser Exploiting Charity Loophole With Boats

China’s Cyberspies Outwit Model for Bond’s Q