by Sam Haskell | Oct 20, 2021 | Corporate Governance
As banks rally at the same time many of them are making poor ROI loans, we’re spending a minute this morning to encourage proper allocation decisions among the sector. Is banking a good business? A good business generally returns more than its cost of capital...
by Sam Haskell | Sep 13, 2021 | Corporate Governance
Last week Pacific Enterprise (PEBN) announced it was selling to Bay Commercial (BCML). Pacific Enterprise is a $650 million, 1-branch bank in Irvine, CA with 1/3 of loans in PPP, typically earning 7% ROE at 65% efficiency. Normally PEBN holders would read the merger...
by Sam Haskell | Jun 29, 2021 | Corporate Governance
We have gotten a number of questions about what digital currencies mean, so below is a brief primer on their current status and potential impact. While this topic may seem wonky today, we will all at some point in the next few years likely have the option of a digital...
by Sam Haskell | Apr 5, 2021 | Corporate Governance
The secrets of the proxy are a few clicks away Skip Hageboeck runs one of the banking industry’s most consistently profitable banks – City Holding in West Virginia (CHCO) – but he was frustrated during a recent conversation. Too many of his merger...
by Sam Haskell | Mar 1, 2021 | Banks, Corporate Governance
Does the bank rally stall? Reading Warren Buffet’s letter this past weekend, bank investors might wonder why Berkshire’s investment heads dumped so many banks near the bottom. After all, banks are not far behind airlines and wildcatters in line to benefit...
by Sam Haskell | Feb 16, 2021 | Banks, Corporate Governance
The friendly folks at Goldman recently ran a regression of which sectors do well with rising rates. If you can’t read the chart below, rising rates are bad for stocks in the consumer, utilities, and software sectors, while they tend to support energy and...
