10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014

Credit Suisse was pilloried by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for allegedly helping 22,000 Americans hide up to $10 billion from the IRS. Now, the first of seven of its indicted Swiss bankers has plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the IRS. Andreas Bachmann, 56, of Switzerland, took a plea and claims bank execs knew all about it.

It portends tougher times for a bank that so far suggests there were a few rogue bankers. In 2011, Mr. Bachmann and seven other Credit Suisse bankers were indicted for conspiring to hide billions for rich Americans. But the overseas bankers were beyond U.S. law enforcement, which was good for them and good for Credit Suisse.

On February 26, 2014, Credit Suisse got a shellacking, although CEO Brady Dougan did damage control. He testified that a small group of Swiss-based bankers appear to have broken U.S. law and fooled top managers. Mr. Dougan decried the rogue conduct, but his bank may soon be asked to explain Mr. Bachmann�� view of the facts.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Watch For 2015: Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (BMPS)

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA is an Italy-based company engaged in the banking sector. It provides traditional banking services, asset management and private banking, including life insurance, pension funds and investment trusts. It operates though three business segments. The Retail Banking segment covers consumer lending, insurance, provision of financial and non-financial services to retail customers, wealth management, tax planning, financial advisory and planning for private customers. The Corporate Banking division oversees the Group's business strategies targeted to small and medium enterprises, institutions and large corporate for which it offers leasing, factoring, lending and financial products, among others. The Corporate Center segment includes the cancellation of intergroup entries, treasure, governance and support functions. In January 2014, the Company completed the sale of its entire shareholding in Sorin SpA, equal to approximately 5.7%. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Kesko Oyj, Finland�� biggest publicly traded retailer, rallied 9 percent. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (BMPS) added 2 percent as Italy�� third-largest lender set out a plan to return to profit after cutting costs and raising capital as part of its restructuring plan. Speedy Hire Plc sank the most since 2009 after the construction-equipment leasing company said it found evidence of false accounting at one of its units.

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Cecil Bancorp Inc (CECB)

Cecil Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Cecil Bank (the Bank). The Bank is a Maryland chartered commercial bank, is a member of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Atlanta, and is an Equal Housing Lender. Its deposits are insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The Bank conducts its business through its main office in Elkton, Maryland, and branches in Elkton, North East, Fair Hill, Rising Sun, Cecilton, Aberdeen, Conowingo and Havre de Grace, Maryland. On August 16, 2013, Cecil Bank completed the sale of its Aberdeen, Maryland branch office to Howard Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Howard Bancorp, Inc.

Lending Activities

The Bank offers mortgage loans on one-to four-family residential dwellings. Most of the loans are originated in amounts up to $350,000, on single-family properties located in the Bank�� primary market area. The Bank�� mortgage loan originations are generally for terms of 15, 20 and 30 years, amortized on a monthly basis with interest and principal due each month. The Bank offers adjustable-rate mortgage loans with terms of up to 30 years. The Bank also originates conventional fixed-rate mortgages with terms of 15, 20, 30 or 40 years. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Bank originated $2,145,000 in adjustable-rate mortgage loans and $7,157,000 in fixed-rate mortgage loans. The Bank also offers second mortgage loans. These loans are secured by a junior lien on residential real estate. The total of first and second liens may not exceed a 90% loan to value ratio.

The Bank�� construction lending has primarily involved lending for construction of single-family residences, although the Bank does lend funds for the construction of commercial properties and multi-family real estate. Land loans granted to individuals have a term of up to 10 years and interest rates adjust every one, three or five years. Land loans granted to developers have te! rms of up to three years. The Bank originates loans on multi-family residential and commercial properties in its market area. The Bank�� permanent multi-family and commercial real estate loans are typically secured by retail or wholesale establishments, motels/hotels, service industries and industrial or warehouse facilities. Multi-family and commercial real estate loans generally have terms of 20 to 40 years, are either tied to the prime rate or have interest rate adjustments every one, three or five years.

The Bank offers commercial business loans and both secured and unsecured loans and letters of credit, or lines of credit for businesses located in its primary market area. The business loans have a one year term, while lines of credit can remain open for longer periods. The Bank�� consumer loans consist of automobile loans, deposit account loans, home improvement loans, and other consumer loans. Consumer loans are generally offered for terms of up to five years at fixed interest rates.

Investment Activities

The Bank maintains a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities in the form of Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) participation certificates. GNMA certificates are guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States, while FHLMC certificates are guaranteed by the agency.

Sources of Funds

Deposits are attracted principally from the Bank�� market area through the offering of a range of deposit instruments, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit ranging in term from 91 days to 60 months, as well as regular checking, negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW), passbook and money market deposit accounts. Deposit account terms vary, principally on the basis of the minimum balance required; the time periods the funds must remain on deposit, and the interest rate. The Bank also offers individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Deposits have been the primary so! urce of f! unds for the Bank�� lending and investment activities and for its general business activities. The Bank is authorized, however, to use advances from the FHLB of Atlanta to supplement its supply of lendable funds and to meet deposit withdrawal requirements.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, CECB remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $.410 thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 1:10PM EDT August 30, 2013).

  Howard Bancorp, Inc. and Cecil Bancorp, Inc. jointly previously reported their respective banking subsidiaries, Howard Bank and Cecil Bank, have completed the sale of Cecil Bank�� branch located at 3 West Bel Air Ave., Aberdeen, MD 21001 to Howard Bank pursuant to a purchase and assumption they entered into in March 2013.

  Pursuant to the sale, Howard Bank has acquired $37.1 million in loans and $35.2 million in deposits from Cecil Bank.

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Valiant Holding AG (VAT)

Valiant Holding AG is a Switzerland-based regional bank engaged in the provision of products and services in retail banking, small and medium sized enterprises (SME) banking, private banking and asset management. The Company�� products include operating loan, investment loan, collateral loan, lease, construction loan, variable mortgage, fixed rate mortgage, flexible mortgage, savings account, time deposit account, medium-term notes, pension fund management, current account, maestro card, business card, corporate card, travel cash, payment services and e-banking services. The Company operates through a network of branches and automated teller machines (ATMs). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Nitish]

  The iPhone remains Apple's most important product by far, accounting for close to half of the company's value, according to our estimates. For this quarter, Apple shipped about 35 million iPhones, representing a 12.7% jump over the same quarter a year ago, although revenue growth was slightly lower at around 9% possibly due to a greater mix of lower-end handsets. Business remained healthy in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, where iPhone shipments grew by around 55% year-over-year. China turned out to be particularly strong market, with overall revenues (from all products) growing by roughly 28% year-over-year and iPhone sales growing twice as fast as the broader Chinese smartphone market. However, sales in Japan, which had been one of the iPhone's fastest growing markets in recent quarters, were impacted by an increase in value added taxes (VAT) and some changes to the regulatory environment for mobile carriers.

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Bank of America Corporation(BAC)

Bank of America Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and nonbanking financial services and products to individuals, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, and governments in the United States and internationally. The company?s Deposits segment generates savings accounts, money market savings accounts, certificate of deposits, and checking accounts; and Global Card Services segment provides the U.S. consumer and business card, consumer lending, international card and debit card services. Its Home Loans & Insurance segment offers consumer real estate products and services, including mortgage loans, reverse mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and home equity loans. It also provides property, disability, and credit insurance. The company?s Global Commercial Banking segment offers lending products, including commercial loans and commitment facilities, real estate lending, leasing, trade finance, short-term credit, asset-based lending, and indirect consumer loans; and capital management and treasury solutions, such as treasury management, foreign exchange, and short-term investing options. Its Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial products, advisory services, settlement, and custody services; debt and equity underwriting and distribution, merger-related advisory services, and risk management products; and integrated working capital management and treasury solutions. The company?s Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and brokerage services, estate management, financial planning services, fiduciary management, credit and banking expertise, and asset management products. Bank of America Corporation serves customers through a network of approximately 5,900 banking centers and 18,000 automated teller machines. It was formerly known as NationsBank Corporation and changed its name on October 1, 1998. Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1874 and is based in Charlott e, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Koppenheffer]

  Bank of America� (NYSE: BAC  ) has been near-mortally wounded. But that may be good news.

  B of A's evisceration came by its own hand. An unintentional�seppuku�attempt,�if you will. You may have heard a bit about this already, but this all went down in January 2008, when the bank agreed to buy a little mortgage outfit known as Countrywide Financial.�

• [By John Divine]

  Despite missing growth expectations projected by economists, pending home sales in April still rose 0.3% from March -- and 13.9% from April of last year. With foreclosures falling more than 20% in the past year and real estate prices on the up-and-up, the housing recovery is no longer some distant phenomenon of the future. It's happening right now, and that means much healthier balance sheets for big time lenders such as Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , which led the Dow with 2.6% gains Thursday.�

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) is certainly no Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) or Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), but then again, that may be a good thing - both larger banks are still dealing with the headaches of their sheer size. The smaller bank is far more nimble, and better still, appears to be on the verge of doling out a huge reward for shareholders.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Getty Images Two big banks have recently been caught collecting fees for services of dubious value to customers of their credit cards. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Sept. 25 ordered U.S. Bancorp (USB) to return $48 million to 420,000 customers who held credit cards or loans with the bank. The reason? U.S. Bank had charged customers for add-on products such as identity theft protection and credit monitoring services, but the federal agency found that customers didn't receive any services from buying those products. The CFPB took issue with the way in which U.S. Bank tried to acquire customers for those services. Rather than getting the necessary written authorization for the access to credit information that it would need to provide what it called "Privacy Guard" and "Identity Secure," U.S. Bank simply accepted inadequate enrollment paperwork and automatically started charging fees to those customers' accounts. As a result, U.S. Bank's third-party service provider wasn't able to fulfill its end of the deal, neither monitoring customers' credit nor taking action in the event of certain breaches. In addition to the full refunds to customers, U.S. Bank will pay $9 million in penalties: $5 million to the CFPB and $4 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Confusion Over Add-On Services U.S. Bank isn't the first financial institution that the CFPB has found in violation of laws and regulations covering credit card use. In April, Bank of America (BAC) faced much broader allegations of deceptive marketing and unfair billing practices and eventually paid $727 million to customers, with 1.4 million people who faced deceptive marketing efforts receiving $268 million and the other $459 million going to 1.5 million consumers who enrolled in credit-monitoring products. CFPB took issue with the way that Bank of America started charging customers during a 30-day review period, and the regulator criticized the misleading enrollment proc

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Citigroup Inc.(C)

Citigroup, Inc., a global financial services company, provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a range of financial products and services. The company operates through two segments, Citicorp and Citi Holdings. The Citicorp segment operates as a global bank for businesses and consumers with two primary businesses, Regional Consumer Banking and Institutional Clients Group. The Regional Consumer Banking business provides traditional banking services, including retail banking, and branded cards in North America, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Institutional Clients Group business provides securities and banking services comprising investment banking and advisory services, lending, debt and equity sales and trading, institutional brokerage, foreign exchange, structured products, cash instruments and related derivatives, and private banking; and transaction services consisting of treasury and trade solutions, and securiti es and fund services. The Citi Holdings segment operates Brokerage and Asset Management, Local Consumer Lending, and Special Asset Pool businesses. The Brokerage and Asset Management Business, through its 49% stake in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture and Nikko Cordial Securities, offers retail brokerage and asset management services. The Local Consumer Lending business provides residential mortgage loans, retail partner card loans, personal loans, commercial real estate, and other consumer loans, as well as western European cards and retail banking services. The Special Asset Pool business is a portfolio of securities, loans, and other assets. Citigroup Inc. has approximately 200 million customer accounts and operates in approximately 160 countries. The company was founded in 1812 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Zeiler]

  According to a Government Accountability Office document, some of the major beneficiaries included Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), which received $2.513 trillion in loans; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), $2.041 trillion; Merrill Lynch, $1.949 trillion; Bank of America (NYSE: BOA), $1.344 trillion; Bear Stearns, $853 billion; Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), $814 billion; and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), $391 billion.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Not that Bank of America is alone in that regard. The National Mortgage Settlement -- the pact that introduced the term "robo-signing" into the post-financial crisis lexicon -- was a direct result of all manner of mortgage-servicing shenanigans on the part of Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) , JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) , and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) , as well as Bank of America. Notably, a recent report from the settlement's monitor has observed that all of these banks still need to clean up their acts, since none of the above signatories received a perfect score for correctly administering the terms of that agreement.

• [By John Reeves]

  John compares different studies arguing for and against the idea that just being viewed as too big to fail means banks can borrow at artificially low interest rates, which results in a de facto subsidy worth billions. John suggests that this is an effect big banks are looking to downplay. Could this effect actually be worth billions to the biggest banks, such as Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM  ) , and Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) ?

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: GAIN Capital Holdings Inc (GCAP)

GAIN Capital Holdings Inc. (GAIN Capital) is an independent provider of online forex trading. GAIN Capital offers online trading services, specializing in foreign exchange (FX), contracts for difference (CFDs) and equities to retail and institutional traders worldwide. GAIN Capital provides execution, clearing, custody and technology products and services to an institutional client base, including asset managers, broker/dealers and other financial services firms. GAIN Capital�� trading services include FOREX.com, GAIN GTX, GAIN Securities and Asset Management. In September 2012, it acquired Open E Cry, LLC from optionsXpress Holdings, Inc., which is a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation. Effective September 24, 2013, GAIN Capital Holdings Inc acquired the entire share capital of Global Futures & Forex Ltd, a provider of retail forex and derivative trading services.

FOREX.com

GAIN Capital�� FOREX.com is used by self-directed retail traders and professional money managers in over 140 countries worldwide. FOREX.com provides a range of trading interfaces, such as FOREXTrader PRO, Website Trading, FOREXTrader Mobile and MetaTrader4.

GAIN GTX

GAIN GTX offers a range of automated and manual strategies on both the buy and sell side. Automated trading strategies can be programmed and executed using a Java or Financial Information Exchange (FIX)-based Academic Performance Index (API). It is used by individual traders, hedge funds and financial institutions.

GAIN Securities

GAIN Securities is a brokerage firm offering customers access to a full suite of investment products and trading services, including equities, equity and FX options, exchange traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds and fixed income. It is used by individual investors.

Asset Management

GAIN Capital's Managed Forex Account Program (MAC) is offered by GAIN Capital Asset Management LLC (GCAM, LLC). MAC provides qualified institutional i! nvestors access to the FX market.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap stocks FXCM Inc (NYSE: FXCM), Gain Capital Holdings Inc (NYSE: GCAP) and up and coming�Indo Global Exchanges PteLtd (OTCMKTS: IGEX) all offer online trading platforms to retail or institutional traders and investors. Certainly if you have found yourself trading more lately or if markets become more volatile, trading platforms are going to be the big winners.�With that in mind, here is a close look at these three small cap trading platform stocks:�

• [By The GeoTeam]

  We also look for companies going through defining events that can significantly change their growth trajectory. One of these situations is a transformative acquisition, such as one that Gain Capital Holdings (GCAP) is in the process of consummating. We coded GCAP a GeoBargain on June 6, 2013, at $5.30. On June 12, 2013 we released our bullish thesis for GCAP on Seeking Alpha, "Double Your Gains With Gain Capital Holdings." Fast forward just 3 months from the time of our release and the stock has lived up to our title, returning investors over 100% so far.

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Oberbank AG (OBV)

Oberbank AG is an Austria-based commercial regional bank. The Company provides products and services for individual customers, as well as for corporate customers. It divides its operations into four segments: Corporate Customers, Private Customers, Financial Markets and Others. The Company offers credit and debit cards, current and saving accounts, investment services, electronic banking services, as well as financing, leasing, investment and real estate services. It operates through numerous offices in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. The Company�� major shareholder is CABO Beteiligungsgesellschafts mbH with a stake of 32.54%. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Aspray]

  I have always felt it was important to give credit to those who originally developed or used a particular analytical tool. I still refer to the TRIN as the ARMs Index as it was developed by an old friend Dick Arms.  My favorite volume tool, of course, is the on-balance volume (OBV) and I frequently give credit to its creator, Joe Granville.

• [By Tom Aspray]

  The daily on-balance volume (OBV) formed a bullish divergence, line c, at the lows. The bottom was confirmed by the move through the downtrend, line b, and the July high. The next level to watch is the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement resistance at $81.54 and then the 50% at $82.54. This decline in yields should be an opportunity to shorten the maturity of your bond holdings and reduce your exposure to the long end of the bond market.