Correspondent Blog

While financial markets are focused on reopening developments and rising virus case counts, we did get May Personal Income and Spending  this morning and it offered a fairly as-expected read on the state of the consumers income and spending in May. Personal income for the month was down –4.2%, as the one-time stimulus checks from…

The up and down staccato of risk-on, risk-off is off this morning as a fresh tariff proposal of $3.1 billion against EU goods and rising virus case counts have global stocks lower and our stock futures pointing in the same direction.  Yesterday, the market was able to ignore the case counts as thoughts of a…

The release of the new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Forgiveness application 3508EZ (EZ Form) will cut down on processing time for both the borrower and the bank but merits a quick review in order to optimize processing efficiency. If you are a fintech, or a bank creating their own technology, the EZ Form threw a…

Since March of this year, many community banks have been working to provide cash flow relief to customers who have sound business models but require some temporary payment restructuring caused by business disruption as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. CenterState has been involved in those same restructurings both as a lender and as a…

Expect a Range-Bound Market This Week Last week we mentioned the market was torn between wanting to believe the rebounding May economic numbers would continue, setting the stage for a robust recovery, versus news of increasing viral case counts and the implication that has on a recovery. This tug-of-war has played out in both equities…

Markets are torn right now between wanting to believe wholeheartedly in the spate of recent economic releases that point to a sharp rebound in activity versus concern over rising virus cases and all that that could mean for squashing the recovery. Yesterday, the concerned side won as Treasuries rallied and stocks suffered narrow losses. This…

This week is the first week banks could potentially take Paycheck Protection Program Forgiveness applications. However, most banks are holding off as we do not have a final application, due out this week. WHEN you release your process merits some analysis, and in this article, we discuss 10 important considerations to decide on as you…

After a week where the Fed took some of the spotlight away from reopening developments it returns as the number one driver of market direction this week, with the added bonus of renewed fears that virus case counts are headed higher. Equities took a header last week, and look to open down this morning, as…

The now-famous Ally Bank commercial of 2012 that asked two kids if they want a pony goes down as one of the most effective in banking history. Two girls are asked if they want a pony, and while the girl in blue gets a toy pony, the girl in orange gets a real pony. Disappointment…

The Fed probably didn’t intend to set in motion a risk-off trade after it’s Wednesday meeting but that’s what  happened after investors had an evening to digest the Fed’s concerns that flowed through their forecasts, the first since December, and in some post-meeting comments. Rising case counts in several states raised concerns too that a…

In a surprise to no one the Fed left the fed funds rate unchanged today, but did return to forecasting the economy and rates for the first time since the December meeting and the bottom line there is the Fed doesn’t expect to hike rates through 2022. Chair Powell is expected to address at the…

Investors will mark time until 2:00pm ET when the FOMC releases its post-meeting statement. While the statement will probably be a fairly mundane affair without too much to surprise the market, more attention will be paid to the post-meeting press conference with Fed Chair Powell. While there isn’t any monetary policy dial-twisting expected today, the…