While waiting on the February jobs report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), I noticed that the big 4 banks (Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo) are drowning in net realized losses as The Federal Reserve combats 1) too many years of loose monetary policy under former Fed Chair Janet Yellen and 2) too much spending under Pelosi, Schumer and … McConnell.
At a micro level, we have Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) SVB Is racing to prevent a bank run as funds advise pulling cash.
Panic is spreading across the financial world as concerns about the financial stability of Silicon Valley Bank prompt prominent venture capitalists including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund to advise startups to withdraw their money.
The turmoil followed a surprise announcement from Santa Clara, California-based SVB that it was issuing $2.25 billion of shares to bolster its capital position after a significant loss on its investment portfolio. The stock plunged 44% in premarket trading before exchanges opened in New York on Friday, set to extend its 60% decline on Thursday. Bonds had posted record declines, igniting a broad selloff in US bank shares that also spread to Asia and Europe.
In the US, the KBW Bank Index on Thursday had its worst day since June 2020, as its members shed more than $90 billion of value. In Europe, the biggest banks lost more than $40 billion from their market caps on Friday.
Are banks the canary in the economic coal mine?
