Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Cititgroup and Wells Fargo

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – January 20, 2012 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Features: Goldman Sachs ( GS - Analyst Report), Morgan Stanley ( MS - Analyst Report), Bank of America ( BAC - Analyst Report), Cititgroup ( C - Analyst Report) and Wells Fargo ( WFC - Analyst Report).

Banking on a Turnaround?

Can we really have a rally without the financials?

Earnings have been mixed for the financials. Let’s take a deeper look at the players in each segment and see if we can’t come to a consensus as to whether or not a rally can be supported. The Zacks Rank for most of these banks is a #3 (Hold) with only Goldman Sachs ( GS - Analyst Report) having a Zacks #5 Rank (Strong Sell).

Investment Banks

The capital markets have been weak, especially with the “IPO window” getting slammed shut around the time that Groupon was looking to make its public offering. Goldman Sachs beat on the bottom line but missed on the top line and saw revenues decline 30% year over year. The beat was the result of significant cost cutting. Morgan Stanley ( MS - Analyst Report) posted a lower than expected loss but also saw revenues decline by 26%. So the investment banks were weak on the top line and beat on the bottom line due to low expectations. Not much has changed in the way of expectations for that market since the reports.

The big money center banks

The big money center banks are national players in nearly every category. Through mergers over the last several years, these banks end up competing with nearly every financial institution in every segment. Bank of America ( BAC - Analyst Report) posted growth of almost 11% but missed on the bottom line. Cititgroup ( C - Analyst Report) missed, and missed badly as revenues fell 6.4% from the prior year. Wells Fargo ( WFC - Analyst Report) met expectations on the bottom line and saw revenues fall slightly. WFC noted that the lending environment is getting better.

Analysis

To say the least, the picture is not clear as to how the group is doing. Asset Managers will add clarity to the picture, but they will only be one component in a bigger sector. We learned that lending is getting better, the capital markets are not doing well and trading slowed in the quarter. The key from all of this is, are businesses looking for and getting loans to expand.

Conclusion

Some parts of the industry are weak and others are showing some strength. At the end of the day, we need almost all of the segments to show either strength or no growth as opposed to continuous weakness. Without that a sustained rally can happen, but it will be much harder.

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Read the full analyst report on GS

Read the full analyst report on MS

Read the full analyst report on BAC

Read the full analyst report on C

Read the full analyst report on WFC