Shares in the US financial and brokerage company Charles Schwab tumbled on Monday, as concerns rippled through the financial sector due to the recent collapse of tech and start-up-focused Silicon Valley Bank and crypto-related Signature Bank.
The Texas-based financial services corporation’s stock slumped by more than 20% during Monday trading, representing the company’s worst one-day sell-off since April 2000.
The wipeout came as the company touted its resilience after a reported 28% decline in average margin balances in February from a year earlier. In a statement, Schwab’s Chief Financial Officer Peter Crawford reassured shareholders and clients that cash outflows hadn’t accelerated this month compared to February, noting that 80% of the brokerage’s deposits are insured by the US government.
“These outflows reflect a continuation of client decisions to reallocate a portion of their cash into higher-yielding cash alternatives within Schwab,” he wrote. “Based on our ongoing analysis of these trends, we still believe client cash realignment decisions will largely abate during 2023.”
Schwab is ranked eighth among US banks by assets, with $7.05 trillion in client funds and 33.8 million active brokerage accounts at the end of last year. Some analysts say it is unlikely that Schwab will face a run like SVB did, due to its robust liquidity.
“Many banks and companies with related banking entities, such as Charles Schwab, also have a material amount of fixed income securities on their balance sheet with unrealized losses, as recently rising interest rates have decreased the value of fixed income securities,” Morningstar analyst Michael Wong wrote in a note last week.
The selloff of Schwab’s stock was triggered by recent failures in the US banking sector, with three lenders going bust in less than a week.
California-based, crypto-focused Silvergate was the first to announce its liquidation last Wednesday, followed by the implosion of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday. Signature Bank was the third significant lender to face ruin in the largest US bank collapse since the financial crisis of 2008. Bank failures have sparked concerns over the health of the entire US banking system, with many other lenders seeing their stocks plunge.
https://www.rt.com/business/572912-us-charles-schwab-shares-slump/
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday the upcoming start of ground strikes against drug cartel targets in Latin America.
He made the remarks during Christmas greetings to the military.
Trump said the United States was "now going after the land" in its fight against drug cartel targets, noting that drug trafficking by sea was down 96 percent.
The U.S. president also extended special congratulations to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently deployed in the Caribbean.
BEIJING (Sputnik) - China has begun operating the world's first intelligent ultra-large oil tanker powered by methanol, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
The tanker, designed to transport crude oil, was successfully put into operation in the city of Dalian in China's northeastern coastal province of Liaoning, the report said. State-owned company Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd independently designed and built the vessel, it added.
The tanker is approximately 333 meters (1,092 feet) long and can carry around 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, the CCTV reported. Designed to produce low emissions and having intelligent control capabilities, the tanker will serve the route to the Middle East, among others, according to the report.
The vessel is powered by a dual-fuel methanol engine, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 92% compared to conventional fuel, the CCTV reported. It is equipped with an intelligent ship platform, an intelligent liquid cargo ...
A car bomb has killed a senior General Staff member, officials have confirmed
Source: The Investigative Committee
A Russian general has been killed in a car bomb blast in Moscow, the Investigative Committee has reported.
Officials identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff. According to the statement, an explosive device had been planted beneath the vehicle he was traveling in, and detonated on Monday morning in the southern part of the Russian capital.
The blast also damaged several other vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver, media reports stated.
Russian officials said one line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures.
Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense ...
