Stocks in the financial sector have seen their fair share of difficulties. At some point, bargains will certainly surface in this beaten down sector. As an investor, one will want to analyze these investment opportunities in order to determine the attractiveness of these investments. Following are some of the key metrics one should review when analyzing financial firms.

INVESTORS were waiting for news of yet more potential rescue deals in the US banking sector today as reports suggested that Morgan Stanley would be the next to succumb to the credit crunch.

After the US government put out a forest fire with the takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae last week, Wall Street’s troubles were far from over. As they say, when you see a rat in the house, you can bet there are hundred more rats lurking in the dark corners. Slowly but surely, they are being flushed out now.

Lehman Brothers burdened $60 billion in soured real-estate holdings, filed a Chapter 11
bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after attempts to rescue the 158-year-old firm
failed. Bank of America is bailing out Merril Lynch in a $50 billion all-stock transaction.
In addition, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have fell hard and so are many other respectable banks.

A group of global banks and securities firms announced late Sunday a $70 billion loan program that financial companies can tap to help ease a credit shortage that threatens global financial markets.

Speaking of fear, stark naked fear has descended on stock markets everywhere. Wall Street is in a bloodbath and Asian markets are not having an easy time either. The Straits Times Index dropped over 30% from its zenith and Shanghai ‘A’ index tumbled over 65%. Seen from a positive lens, it is a sign that we are closer to bottoming out though.

A postmortem on Silver State Bank seized by the FDIC yesterday.

Mortgage-related troubles continue to haunt regional banks. The melt down of the housing market has created a self-reinforcing spiral where lower prices lead to more defaults and unsold inventory, which in turn causes prices to slide further and depress demand because investors shy away from such devaluing assets.

FirstFed Financial Corp (FED) is one the most heavily shorted financial stocks in the market. It is the parent company of First Federal Bank of California, and the bank is considered one of the Option ARM triplets along with Downey Financial (DSL) and BankUnited Financial Corporation (BKUNA)

Korea Development Bank said Tuesday it is in the hunt for troubled U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, confirming weeks of speculation over its intentions amid expectations the Wall Street institution is in dire need of a capital injection.

Have you ever thought about which banks makeup the list of top 50 banks in the world?
Well if you haven’t then read on.Of the world’s top 50 banks, 17 are available to invest in the US as they as ADRs. The following table contains these stocks with their current price and yield rates.

In this post, lets review the top banks of Canada.Specifically we will analyze the Canadian bank stocks that trade as ADRs in the US.A brief overview of the to five banks are listed.

Many of us including myself have decided to raise cash during these volatile markets. I have put together a few pointers for the best cash management. For more details, go to CapitalistCow.com

The Uptick Rule is wrecking havoc and killing the banks.

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