Citigroup (C) Offering Possible 5.93% Return Over the Next 31 Calendar Days

Citigroup's most recent trend suggests a bearish bias. One trading opportunity on Citigroup is a Bear Call Spread using a strike $67.50 short call and a strike $72.50 long call offers a potential 5.93% return on risk over the next 31 calendar days. Maximum profit would be generated if the Bear Call Spread were to expire worthless, which would occur if the stock were below $67.50 by expiration. The full premium credit of $0.28 would be kept by the premium seller. The risk of $4.72 would be incurred if the stock rose above the $72.50 long call strike price.

The 5-day moving average is moving down which suggests that the short-term momentum for Citigroup is bearish and the probability of a decline in share price is higher if the stock starts trending.

The 20-day moving average is moving down which suggests that the medium-term momentum for Citigroup is bearish.

The RSI indicator is at 28.81 level which suggests that the stock is neither overbought nor oversold at this time.

To learn how to execute such a strategy while accounting for risk and reward in the context of smart portfolio management, and see how to trade live with a successful professional trader, view more here

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LATEST NEWS for Citigroup

HSBC Gets the Cold Shoulder in China
Mon, 19 Aug 2019 07:12:51 +0000
(Bloomberg Opinion) — It’s hard not to see HSBC Holdings Plc’s exclusion from China’s interest-rate reform as a snub.Hong Kong’s biggest bank wasn’t included in a list of 18 lenders that will participate in pricing for a new loan prime rate that the People’s Bank of China will start releasing Tuesday. The roster includes foreign lenders Standard Chartered Plc and Citigroup Inc., which have smaller China businesses than HSBC.It’s the latest sign that all may not be well in HSBC’s relations with Beijing, after a turbulent period that has seen the departures  this month of Chief Executive Officer John Flint and the bank’s Greater China head, Helen Wong. HSBC shares fell 13% in Hong Kong this year through last Friday, compared with a decline of less than 1% in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.London-based HSBC, which is also Europe’s biggest bank, has made China a key plank of its growth strategy. The lender is the third-largest corporate bank in the country by market penetration, according to data provider Greenwich Associates LLC. That places it ahead even of China Construction Bank  Corp. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., two of the nation’s big four state-owned lenders. Standard Chartered and Citigroup don’t rank among the top five, according Gaurav Arora, head of Asia Pacific at Greenwich.It could be argued that HSBC’s focus on big corporate clients means it’s less attuned to the loan market for small and medium-size enterprises that are the focus of China’s changes to its interest-rate regime. That would be a stretch, though. Corporate banking is a scale game. And even though StanChart may have a greater preponderance of smaller clients, HSBC surely has many similar customers. Citigroup’s inclusion makes more sense: It’s the only U.S. bank in China with a consumer-lending business that spans credit cards to SME loans. The list also includes less influential domestic lenders such as Bank of Xian Co. Those searching for reasons why HSBC may have fallen into China’s bad books may point to Huawei Technologies Co. Liu Xiaoming, China’s ambassador to the U.K., summoned Flint to the embassy earlier this year to interrogate him over the bank’s role in the arrest and prosecution of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, the Financial Times reported Monday. The then-CEO told him HSBC had no option but to turn over information that helped U.S. prosecutors build a case against Meng, the FT said. On Aug. 9, an HSBC spokeswoman denied that Wong’s departure as Greater China head was linked to any issue involving Huawei, pointing out that she announced her resignation before Flint’s departure. Still, the bank has faced criticism in China’s state-owned media over its role in the case. The way HSBC helped the U.S. Department of Justice acquire documents concerning Huawei was unethical, the Global Times reported previously, citing a source close to the matter. The bank was likely to be included in China’s first “unreliable entity” list of companies that have jeopardized the interests of Chinese firms, it said.The timing of China’s interest-rate snub won’t do anything to quell jitters, coming a day after Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. CEO Rupert Hogg resigned amid criticism from Chinese regulators over its stance on employee participation in Hong Kong’s protests. Beijing is becoming more muscular in its attitude to the city’s unrest and foreign-owned businesses aren’t being spared. In an increasingly politicized environment, even a business that’s been around for 154 years will have to tread carefully. To contact the author of this story: Nisha Gopalan at ngopalan3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Matthew Brooker at mbrooker1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Nisha Gopalan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and banking. She previously worked for the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones as an editor and a reporter.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

JPMorgan Strategists Plan Call With Clients on Volatility
Mon, 19 Aug 2019 00:15:40 +0000
(Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to host a conference call on Tuesday to help clients make sense of markets after a week of wild swings for stocks and bonds.“In the wake of a rather violent decline in yields, inversion of the curve, and volatility in equity markets, we consider the role of poor liquidity and systematic flows in exacerbating these market moves,” JPMorgan strategists led by Marko Kolanovic wrote in an invitation to clients obtained by Bloomberg. A spokeswoman for the lender confirmed the event.The meeting comes after U.S. equities suffered one of the deepest sell-offs of the year on Aug. 14 and a key portion of the U.S. Treasury yield curve inverted for the first time in 12 years, stoking fears of a recession. President Donald Trump held a conference call that day with the chief executive officers of JPMorgan, Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc.Kolanovic and strategist Munier Salem plan to address the bout of unusual illiquidity in U.S. equities and discuss the extent to which high-frequency trading is to blame for drops in market depth, according to the invitation. Joshua Younger, a fixed-income strategist, will lead a discussion on convexity hedging in rate markets.The bank said last week that measures of market depth in U.S. equities, Treasuries and currencies relative to the rest of the year have fallen below the average since 2010 — a sign that market players don’t have as much capacity to absorb the trade-driven trends sweeping assets.Some Wall Street trading desks have warned that the sudden rupture of volatility could cause quant-driven funds to dump billions of dollars of stocks.(Adds conference call with president in third paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Michelle F. Davis in New York at mdavis194@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Josh Friedman, Linus ChuaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

A Really Cool Plan: Cut Interest Rates and Buy Greenland
Sat, 17 Aug 2019 00:15:00 +0000
Now we know the real reason President Donald Trump has been so keen for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. It seems that the nation’s chief executive was mulling a deal out of his previous career as a real estate mogul.

5 Value Stocks With Fast-Growing Dividends
Fri, 16 Aug 2019 15:45:01 +0000
It's hard to find a bargain stock with dividends growing quickly. Often they are overvalued and not worth buying. Another problem is these kind of stocks can't sustain the dividend growth. The trick to uncovering the best stocks to buy now is to search for fast-growing dividend stocks with low earnings-payout ratios. Even better if they're cheap.For example, fast growing tech companies reinvest their earnings in their business. They can't afford to pay dividends without sacrificing growth. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has never paid out a dividend but is growing very fast. The stock is not cheap as investors rely on steady growth, but its investors are willing to forgo dividends.Among the best stocks to buy now for value and income are business development companies (BDC). BDCs often raise their dividends at high rates, borrowing money or continually selling equity to finance dividend growth. Their payout ratios are high and the companies tend to be highly leveraged as a result.InvestorPlace – Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsBelow are five stocks selling below 10x earnings whose dividends have been rising 15% or more per year. The companies pay out less than 30% of their earnings in dividends. They reinvest the rest to maintain consistent growth. * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On None of these stocks are turnarounds. They have been growing consistently for the past several years. You can rely on them to continue to increase their dividends at these rates. Best Value Stocks: CIT Group (CIT)2-Year Dividend Growth: +133%CIT Group (NYSE:CIT) is a bank holding company that has transformed itself into a vibrant, growing commercial lender after its demise in 2009. Earnings have been growing nicely as the company has divested itself of loss making divisions.In Q2 2018, CIT's dividends were at an annual rate of 64 cents. Three quarters later in Q1 2019, CIT raised the rate 56% to $1.00. And just recently in July CIT did it again – hiking the dividend to $1.40, up 40%.Analysts expect CIT to earn $4.96 this year. Its dividend represents just 28% of expected earnings. The stock now yields 3.1% and has a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.2x.CIT has been simplifying its commercial lending business, selling off non-core units, and strengthening its capital ratios. Its recent stock buybacks and dividends increases show that this is a very shareholder friendly company.Expect the company to continue to reward shareholders with consistent earnings and dividend increases. Bank of America (BAC)2-Year Dividend Growth: +50%Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the U.S. bank holding company, has increased its quarterly dividends over the past two years from an annual rate of 48 cents to 72 cents, paid in July. In addition, BAC has been showing good operational growth, despite interest rate headwinds.BAC sports a 2.54% dividend yield and trades for just 10 times earnings per share. BAC reported Q2 earnings of 74 cents per share, which was up 17% over the past year.BAC can comfortably afford its dividend. The 72 cents annual dividend rate represents just 28% of its expected earnings per share of $2.84 for this year.BAC has a large and stable asset base with its consumer deposits and high earnings quality. It is well diversified with its Merrill Lynch brokerage arm, and an asset management business with $220 billion in assets under management. Their stable fees strengthen its lending business. * 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever BAC has consistently grown its dividends. They rose 25% in 2018 and 20% in 2019. Expect the stock to continue to increase its earnings and dividends over the next year at a similar rate. Boyd Gaming (BYD)2-Year Dividend Growth Rate: +40%Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) is a casino operator mainly focused on niche markets such as the local, non-Strip gambler in Las Vegas. Its revenue and earnings have picked up nicely over the past several years as U.S. economic growth, and disposable income, has grown.BYD has increased its dividend 40% over the past two years. This includes a 20% increase in 2018 and recently 17% increase to 28 cents on an annual basis. This represents just 16% of its expected earnings this year of $1.78 per share.BYD's dividend yield is 1.15%. There is plenty of room for the dividends to grow as Wall Street expects that the company will continue to show consistent earnings growth. As sports betting picks up speed across new states, now that the Supreme Court has OK'd it, BYD expects to participate in the growth in that arena.BYD is play on the economy continuing to steam ahead and the regional consumer's willingness to dispose of income at BYD's casinos. Expect the dividend to rise substantially over the next several years. Delta Air Lines (DAL)2-Year Dividend Growth: +32%Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) has increased its dividend by over 32% over the past two years. In 2018 the dividend rose 14.8% and recently DAL set the annual rate at $1.61, up 15.1%. The stock is a general play on economic growth as well as its moves to diversity earnings.Delta's recent Q2 revenues were up 9% year-over-year. Earnings shot up an incredible 32%. Analysts are especially optimistic about the new credit card that DAL is going to co-brand in partnership with American Express (NYSE:AXP).The stock is still cheap, though. It trades at just 8.4x earnings which are expected to reach $7.10 for the year.Given that its dividend rate is $1.61, the pay-out ratio is 22%. So there is plenty of room for the company to continue to increase the dividend. Moreover, the stock sports a very attractive dividend yield of 2.71%. * 7 Great No-Load Mutual Funds for Retirement Portfolios Investors can expect DAL to consistently raise the dividend over the next several years. Citigroup (C)2-Year Dividend Growth: +59.4%Citigroup (NYSE:C) has raised its dividend almost 60% in the past two years. The dividend was up 41% in 2018 and this year Citigroup has hiked it another 13.3%.Citigroup is a play on strong economic growth in the U.S. The company has consistently produced solid revenue and earnings growth in the past 5 years.The company is well positioned to withstand any interest rate headwinds, should rates continue to fall. Deposits and loans have continued to grow despite interest rate cuts. Revenue was up 4% in the first half of 2019 and net income rose 13%.Citigroup's stock trades for less than 9x earnings per share. The dividend yield is very attractive at 3.1%. This is more than investors can make in their money market accounts.With the dividend set at $2.04, and earnings expected to be $7.64 this year, the payout ratio is only 26.7%. So there is still plenty of room for Citigroup to raise the dividend as earnings grows.Investors can expect Citigroup to raise its dividend over the next several years at a similar rate in 2019.As of this writing, Mark Hake, CFA does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Load Up On * The 10 Biggest Losers from Q2 Earnings * 5 Dependable Dividend Stocks to Buy The post 5 Value Stocks With Fast-Growing Dividends appeared first on InvestorPlace.

StockBeat – GE Rallies on CEO Stock Buy, Wall Street Backing
Fri, 16 Aug 2019 14:59:00 +0000
Investing.com – General Electric (NYSE:GE) surged on Friday, clawing back some its losses from a day earlier after its CEO Larry Culp bought shares and analysts downplayed allegations that it was involved in financial foul play.

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