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…
October Jobs Report Beats Expectations
Economic News The October Employment Report is out and it beat the headline expectation, along with a notable decline in the unemployment rate. For the month, 638 thousand jobs were created versus the 580 thousand median estimate. Private sector gains were even larger at 906 thousand as government jobs fell by 268 thousand as…
Election Still Undecided But Equities and Bonds Rally
to win) but the make or break states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania remain out with Arizona flipping to Biden and Georgia still counting and close. Tabulating absentees could take a couple days and given the closeness in those states it could be tomorrow Friday before a victor is called. Meanwhile, Biden has just moved…
Election Dominates Busy Week
The Election and Other Stuff We’ve finally arrived at election week and tomorrow’s results will certainly have an impact on trading not only this week but for some time to come. The one scenario that probably is prone to generate the most volatility would be an inconclusive result on election night. If that were to…
Combining Satellite Imagery and Machine Learning In Banking
In the last five years, one of the new disciplines in banking that has emerged is the combination of machine learning and satellite imagery to gather bank intelligence on fraud, credit, and bank marketing. While this sounds daunting, in this article, we will show you some relatively simple applications of both artificial intelligence (A.I.) and…