The 2026 war with Iran has created an array of geopolitical consequences — some of which have directly impacted investor portfolios. Foremost among these is weakening growth expectations, which have proved to be particularly dangerous to portfolios.

etftrends.com - 2026-07-14 16:17:57

KBW CEO Tom Michaud joins CNBC's Squawk on the Street to discuss his expectations for bank earnings as major banks begin reporting second-quarter results on Tuesday, the outlook for regional banks, and more.

youtube.com - 2026-07-13 11:25:33

Wall Street's biggest banks are heading into second-quarter earnings season with investor expectations running high. Strong trading activity, resilient consumer spending, healthy loan demand, good capital market activity and a pickup in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven capital markets activity have fueled optimism.

zacks.com - 2026-07-13 10:15:29

Big banks start reporting Q2 earnings next week. Strong results could fuel a fresh rally in financial ETFs like XLF, IYG, IYF and VFH.

zacks.com - 2026-07-10 09:01:10

The FOMC indicated at its last meeting that a rate hike in 2026 is on the table. Typically, the market reacts negatively to rate hikes, but this ETF would stand to gain from them.

fool.com - 2026-07-10 07:30:00

Fresh tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime route for 20% of the world's oil, could keep gasoline from falling below the $3 mark.

nypost.com - 2026-07-08 10:32:13

COLL, IRWD, AMTB and DUK stand out as defensive stock picks as investors rotate from AI-driven tech amid the ongoing sell-off and seek safer sectors.

zacks.com - 2026-07-08 09:26:10

The European Central Bank has given eurozone banks four months to develop plans aimed at countering artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled cyber threats that could undermine confidence in the financial system and disrupt payment networks. The directive, issued on Tuesday, reflects growing concern among European regulators over the increasing cyber capabilities of advanced AI models.

invezz.com - 2026-07-07 06:17:28

Bank ETFs like XLF face a pivotal test as major banks launch Q2 earnings, with loan growth and higher rates shaping the outlook for financial funds.

zacks.com - 2026-07-06 15:36:10

While the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at the latest meeting, investors increasingly speculate that rate hikes are on the table in 2026.

etftrends.com - 2026-07-01 14:13:27

Certain financial companies tend to benefit from higher interest rates.

fool.com - 2026-07-01 04:30:00

In H1 2026, part of my 2026 framework was confirmed: AI‑driven productivity, industrial strength, and utilities' power‑demand tailwinds played out, while the Iran shock created the only major deviation from expectations. However, the macro backdrop is changing: Brent is back in contango, Warsh is firmly higher‑for‑longer, growth and labor remain resilient, and hyperscalers continue pushing toward trillion‑dollar cumulative AI capex.

seekingalpha.com - 2026-06-27 08:30:00

The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF maintains a much larger asset base and higher trading volume than the Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF. The Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF offers exposure to around 400 stocks while the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF concentrates on 76 positions.

fool.com - 2026-06-25 15:04:01

Banks announced increased dividends and some announced ​new share buy-back programs on ‌Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve released results of its stress test.

reuters.com - 2026-06-25 10:49:07

Financial markets will gain a fresh glimpse into the overall health of the largest U.S. banks on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve releases the results ​of its latest stress test.

reuters.com - 2026-06-24 06:08:03

Tech capex and geopolitics have dominated the headlines this year, but opportunities emerge elsewhere. Dividend growth investing could be hitting its stride amid shifting macro and micro trends. Novel, forward-looking strategies may help asset allocators find alpha beyond traditional income approaches.

seekingalpha.com - 2026-06-23 21:10:00

Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF provides much broader sector exposure with 404 holdings compared to the 76 positions in the State Street fund State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF offers significantly higher liquidity and a focus on the largest financial companies in the S&P 500 Both ETFs share an identical 0.08% expense ratio but Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF currently offers a higher trailing dividend yield

fool.com - 2026-06-22 14:30:22

Markets may face election-driven turbulence in 2026, but post-midterm rebounds are common.

zacks.com - 2026-06-22 13:01:21

State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF manages $51.9 billion in assets under management (AUM), significantly more than the $2.2 billion held by Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF. While both charge an identical 0.08% expense ratio, Fidelity's ETF offers a broader portfolio of 386 holdings compared to 76 in the State Street fund.

fool.com - 2026-06-20 12:10:01

Markets are hunting for new leadership as the Big Tech engine sputters, and one Wall Street technician thinks she knows where the baton is being passed.

247wallst.com - 2026-06-20 10:05:06

Wrapped in the technical language of Basel III capital reform, the Bank Policy Institute, American Bankers Association, Financial Services Forum, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Consumer Bankers Association have jointly asked federal regulators to cut the capital requirements that backstop the American banking system. Their request is large, the justifications are suspect, and the people who would bear the consequences—depositors and taxpayers—are nowhere in the room.

forbes.com - 2026-06-19 08:45:13

Five trade groups said Thursday (June 18) that the federal banking agencies' Basel capital proposal released in March should be altered to eliminate areas of overcapitalization and better align capital charges with risk. The Bank Policy Institute, the American Bankers Association, the Financial Services Forum, the U.S.

pymnts.com - 2026-06-18 19:55:48

Investors moved money into banking and finance stocks and away from technology on Tuesday, as markets turned their attention to the first Federal Reserve policy meeting under Chairman Kevin Warsh. Key Takeaways: XLF gained 1.5% Tuesday while XLK fell 2.8%, as investors moved into financials and out of tech.

etftrends.com - 2026-06-18 11:20:04

Large U.S. banks on Thursday will formally pitch the central bank on tweaks to a Federal Reserve ​proposal aimed at reducing the funds they must set aside to absorb potential losses, as the central bank enters the last leg of a marathon ‌overhaul of U.S. capital rules.

reuters.com - 2026-06-18 06:02:38

Japanese lenders may be forced to suspend services such as ATMs and online banking if ​sophisticated AI models end up posing a serious ‌threat to the banking system, said the chair of the country's banking lobby.

reuters.com - 2026-06-18 03:41:03

State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF is downgraded to Sell after a recent rally and ongoing underperformance versus the S&P 500. XLF remains down 2.6% in 2026, lagging peers, with technical gaps below and resistance at $54–56, raising caution on further upside. My expected return for XLF is -2.7%, reflecting bearish market probabilities, valuation concerns, and a preference for cash or select dividend ETFs.

seekingalpha.com - 2026-06-14 23:04:44

In a speech delivered on June 6, 2026, at American University, Federal Reserve Governor Michael S. Barr issued one of the most urgent warnings in recent memory about the trajectory of U.S. bank regulation.

forbes.com - 2026-06-06 13:25:08

As volatility again rattles large swathes of the cryptocurrency market, the largest financial institutions in the United States are moving ahead with plans for a shared tokenized deposit network. The network will be operated by The Clearing House and is backed by JPMorganChase, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo and other major banks.

pymnts.com - 2026-06-05 13:23:11

Bank regulators in the United States are headed to Congress to tout the benefits of deregulation. Their argument is that scaling back banking rules and oversight will spark economic activity without creating more systemic financial risks, Reuters reported Thursday (June 4).

pymnts.com - 2026-06-04 10:30:59

The European Commission will delay the introduction of a new market risk capital framework for banks for ​three years to see how the U.S. and Britain ‌implement the same international standards, it said on Thursday.

reuters.com - 2026-06-04 06:45:48

The nation's top bank regulators plan to tell Congress on Thursday that their efforts to trim bank rules and ​oversight will bolster economic activity and innovation without injecting undue risk ‌into the financial system.

reuters.com - 2026-06-04 06:05:06

Explore how portfolio breadth and top holdings impact sector exposure and risk for investors seeking financial ETF options.

fool.com - 2026-06-02 19:30:59

Some Japanese financial institutions have been granted access to OpenAI's GPT-5.5 model to help strengthen their defences against cyberattacks, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday. Katayama described the development as a significant advancement for Japan's financial sector following a meeting in Tokyo with Jason Kwon, OpenAI's chief strategy officer.

invezz.com - 2026-05-29 05:22:47

Two must-read reports — the FDIC Bank Quarterly and the Alvarez & Marsal deregulation primer — reveal how eighteen months of regulatory rollback unleashed an extraordinary surge in bank lending to hedge funds, private credit, and the shadow banking ecosystem, while small businesses and farmers wait in line.

forbes.com - 2026-05-28 11:05:53

Banks can see their margins improve if the Fed begins raising rates. But the best play is to concentrate on the big banks instead of the broader financial services sector.

fool.com - 2026-05-28 09:45:00

Expense ratios and dividend yields tell different stories as U.S. and European financial ETFs reveal contrasting risk and return profiles over five years.

fool.com - 2026-05-27 09:54:09

Expense ratios differ by just 0.01%, but portfolio concentration and market-cap coverage set these financial sector ETFs apart.

fool.com - 2026-05-23 22:00:04

If you're interested in broad exposure to the Financials - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on December 16, 1998.

zacks.com - 2026-05-20 07:22:07

The investing landscape has changed in recent weeks. Here are investments to consider now.

fool.com - 2026-05-18 11:42:09

For much of the past year, investors and bank regulators hoped the U.S. banking system was moving beyond the regional banking turmoil of 2023. Most banks remained profitable, liquidity conditions improved, and fears of a broader financial crisis faded.

forbes.com - 2026-05-13 14:56:22

The House of Representatives passed bills Tuesday (May 12) that would tailor the supervisory requirements and reduce the frequency of examination for smaller financial institutions that are well managed and well capitalized. The two bills will now be considered by the Senate.

pymnts.com - 2026-05-13 13:33:48

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency highlighted artificial intelligence as both a risk and an opportunity for innovation in its spring 2026 Semiannual Risk Perspective. AI is one of several key issues facing banks surveyed in the report released Thursday (May 7).

pymnts.com - 2026-05-08 18:01:21

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's latest risk assessment offers a striking message for the banking industry: the U.S. financial system may appear stable on the surface, but underneath, risks are becoming more interconnected, more operationally complex, and potentially more difficult to contain.

forbes.com - 2026-05-07 18:20:11

The Federal Reserve has held the fed funds target at 3.75% for roughly five months, and the 10-year Treasury yield sits near 4.5%, near the top of its 12-month range.

247wallst.com - 2026-05-06 10:23:42

Strong Q1 earnings momentum continues as S&P 500 firms beat estimates. Tech, Energy lead growth; full-year 2026 outlook stays robust.

zacks.com - 2026-04-30 11:01:52

WisdomTree, Inc. is a global asset manager specializing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index-based investment products..

fool.com - 2026-04-23 13:54:01