Citigroup
JPMorgan first to pass Fed stress testPosted by RJ and Makay on Mar 13, 2012 |
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. was the first bank today to announce that Federal Reserve regulators have finished stress tests of its balance sheet and approved both a dividend increase and stock buybacks. This afternoon, the Wall Street Journal issued a WSJ Markets Alert: JPMorgan, Bank of America Pass Fed’s Stress Tests. JPMorgan said that it will up its quarterly dividend by 5 cents, to 30 cents, and buy back up to $12 billion of stock this year.
Watson, the IBM-developed supercomputer that was victorious against human champions of the game show Jeopardy last year, will soon be strutting its stuff in an advisory role on Wall Street. Citigroup Inc., the nation’s third-largest lender, became Watson’s first financial services client, IBM announced yesterday. In its risk management, portfolio and client role, Watson will analyze customer needs and process economic, financial and client data to grow Citi’s banking and investment services.
Financial stocks are off to a hot start this year. The easing of the European debt crisis, improvement in the U.S. economy and the recent $25 billion settlement by large U. S. mortgage lenders has had a bullish effect on asset managers. During the seven-week period ended February 15, fund managers purchased about $3.2 billion net shares in banks, according to fund tracker EPFR Global.
