Benzinga - by David Pinsen, Benzinga Contributor.
Why Bet Against Banks Now? Two main reasons. First, the Federal Reserve’s new, post Silicon Valley Bank collapse assistance program, The Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP), has expired. And second, the Fed’s first rate cut—initially expected in the first quarter of this year—has been pushed off indefinitely due to persistent inflation. So banks still have to compete for depositors with higher yielding money market funds.
A Simpler And Cheaper Approach Last year around this time, I used a banking expert’s approach to try to figure out which regional banks were most likely to go bust. I made money betting against Bank of Hawaii Corporation (NYSE: BOH) and First Foundation, Inc. (NYSE: FFWM), and added more bearish positions after the crashes of PacWest Bancorp (now Banc of California) (NASDAQ: PACW) and Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE: WAL),
Betting Against More Regional Banks