Thursday, December 23, 2010

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Goldman (NYSE:GS) Rise with Bank Mania

With a number of the regional banking stocks soaring on M&A activity, it seems the large-cap bankers are getting in on the investor action as well, with JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) all closing Wednesday in positive territory, on basically no catalysts.

Regional banks like SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI), Zions (Nasdaq:ZION), Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq:FITB), Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) and First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) all closed up as well, and at higher percentages, for the most part, than the large caps, with the exception of Bank of America, which jumped over 3 percent.

It's getting a little disconcerting to hear the depth of the bullishness being poured on the banking sector, as it seems there are far too many economic questions lingering in the background to justify this type of exuberance.

But the bank bulls are stampeding, and until they get some of the air out of their nostrils, they're going to continue forward on momentum with not much more than wishful thinking as their impetus.

Regionals may have some reasons for jumping, but large caps are pretty much where they have been, and it's unlikely anything sustainable is going to push them up for long, at least from a fundamentals way of looking at it.

Bank of America closed at $13.38 Wednesday, gaining $0.40, or 3.08 percent. Wells Fargo closed at $31.31, up $0.49, or 1.59 percent. JPMorgan ended the session at $42.16, up $1.16, or 2.83 percent. Goldman closed the day at $169.60, up $1.37, or 0.81 percent.

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