November Job Growth Expected to Slow
Election Aftermath While the presidential election results are mostly settled, the Senate remains uncertain until Georgia’s twin run-offs on January 5. For now investors are assuming the Senate will stay in Republican hands, and thus in some sort of goldilocks gridlock, and that has the attention returning squarely to the virus. The outlook on case…
5 Skills We Learned In a Recent Remote Selling and Coaching Training
In a recent training, the recording of which is below, our Bank participated in an intro class on how to get better at remote selling and coaching put on by Jack Hubbard of St. Meyer & Hubbard. Given the pandemic and the fact that we believe remote selling is here to stay, we found it was…
Commercial Lender Compensation for Fee Income
We have blogged about how low-interest rates, COVID-19 credit strain, and tough competition for quality commercial loans create a challenging environment for community banks. One way that community banks are responding to deterioration in net interest margin (NIM) is by embracing commercial loan hedging programs. These hedging programs can appeal to borrowers in today’s interest rate…
Mnuchin/Powell Disagree On Fate of Emergency Lending Programs
The market is being buffeted this morning by news of a split between Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Fed Chair Powell on the future of several emergency lending programs. Fed Chair Powell wants the programs, namely the corporate credit facility, the muni liquidity program, and Main Street program carried over through year-end; whereas, Mnuchin says the…
Virus and Vaccine News Swings Market
We’ve mentioned the recent bi-polar nature of stocks and it has been on full display this week. The Monday rally was fueled in no small part by the positive vaccine news from Moderna (95% effective). In the words of Dr. Fauci the results couldn’t have been better. The Moderna vaccine joins similarly positive Pfizer results…
Managing CRE Risk – What Will Happen to Office Space?
Office lending for banks has been one of the better-performing sectors of commercial real estate (CRE) for banks for some time. Even during the pandemic, the credit on office loans is doing surprisingly well. The question arises, what happens in the future? Will it be business as usual post-pandemic? Will companies take more space to…
Why Its Time For A Hedge Program At Your Bank
Between low-interest rates, the concerning rise in COVID-19 cases, and tough competition for quality commercial loans, community banking is a tough business. While there has been a nominal deterioration in credit quality thus far, a deterioration in the business environment related to the pandemic and lack of fiscal stimulus may change that. Net interest margins…
Virus and Vaccine News To Drive Markets This Week
Virus Trends Regain Spotlight With the election results coming into clearer focus, even though the Senate remains uncertain until Georgia’s twin run-offs on January 5, for now investors are assuming the Senate will stay in Republican hands and that has their attention returning squarely to the virus. The outlook on vaccines, case trends and hospitalizations…
Friday The 13th In 2020, What Could Go Wrong?
It’s Friday the 13th in the year 2020, so what can possibly go wrong today? Just giving you fare warning to keep your eyes open and your head up. From the market’s perspective it’s become somewhat bi-polar in trading around positive vaccine news one day with a risk-on rally only to be reminded of record-breaking…
Vaccine News Has Stocks Challenging All-Time Highs
Election Aftermath Positive news from Pfizer on a vaccine that could treat 90% of virus cases has global stocks rallying and bonds on the back foot. A piece too on 60 Minutes about the government’s military-led effort to manage distribution has also helped the risk-on mood this morning. The 10-year Treasury has backed up to…
A New Skill For Bankers – Selling, Leading, and Learning Remotely
Being able to adapt and pivot is the hallmark of success in 2020. There are many new skills that we picked up, how to work various video conferencing applications, how to do remote check-ins, and, of course, how to run your entire bank from your home dining room table. One skill that still can use…
Why Banks Are Loosening CRE Underwriting Standards During A Pandemic
It may seem counter-intuitive, but many banks are loosening CRE underwriting standards instead of continuing to tighten them. With a new presidential administration, it is likely that we will face more stringent pandemic mitigations in the near future. While this is likely good for public health, it increases the short-term risk for commercial real estate…