I'm Risking 15% of My Portfolio in These 9 Bank Stocks: Brilliant Move or Future Regret?
2023 has been the year of bad news for many banks. Despite the conventional wisdom that rising interest rates is good for banks, the extreme move higher over the past couple of years by the Fed to fight inflation has worked backwards. The housing business has ground to a halt, and depositors are looking for higher yield. As a result, banks are facing probably the toughest operating environment they've seen since the Global Financial Crisis over a dozen years ago.
We've seen numerous banks have their credit ratings downgraded by both Moody's (NYSE: MCO) and S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI). Bank regulators are now proposing additional regulations for many larger banks that will increase their costs at a time they're already facing pressures on their bottom lines.
All of this has sent bank stocks down. The S&P Banks Select Industry Index is down 14% in 2023, while the S&P 500 has gained over 17% at this writing. Plenty of investors are either selling or avoiding bank stocks all together.
Source Fool.com
