10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In Right Now

It's truly incredible what a good CEO and top-notch innovations can do for a company.

Both Ford (NYSE: F  ) and General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) seemed destined to go bankrupt during the recession because of a drastic reduction in automobile demand and a rapid deterioration in their finance arms. Amazingly, Ford pulled through without the need for a bailout, while GM was forced to seek $49.5 billion in government aid to help it pull through its reorganization. You might be of the opinion that a reorganized GM would therefore be in better shape than Ford because of the extra help it received from the U.S. government, but Ford still has quite a few tricks up its sleeve that could make it a very compelling buy.

With great CEOs, comes great innovation
Where Ford and its CEO, Alan Mulally, have really excelled is in the innovation department -- giving the customers what they want without actually having the customers tell you what they want. I know this might sound confusing, but if you sat car owners down and asked them what was important to them, you might get a million different answers. Mulally sees things differently. He thinks about the carmaking process as a designer -- he did work for Boeing�for 37 years -- and is looking for ways to add value to the consumers' lives.

Top 10 Value Stocks To Buy Right Now: Flagstar Bancorp Inc (FBC)

Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. incorporated on October 28, 1993, is a savings and loan holding company. The Company�� business is primarily conducted through its principal subsidiary, Flagstar Bank, FSB (the Bank), a federally chartered stock savings bank. At December 31, 2012, its total assets were $ $14.1 billion. The Bank�� wholly owned subsidiary is Flagstar Capital Markets Corporation (FCMC). The Company operates in two segments: Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers a line of financial products and services to individuals, small and middle market businesses, and mortgage lenders. Its Mortgage Banking segment originates, acquires, sells and services residential first mortgage loans on one-to-four family residences. The Bank�� Other segment include corporate treasury, tax benefits not assigned to specific operating segments, and miscellaneous other expenses of a corporate nature.

Community Banking

Community Banking segment includes Branch Banking, Commercial and Business Banking, Government Banking, and Warehouse Lending. Community Banking segment originates loans and deposits to consumer, business and mortgage lending customers through its Branch Banking, Business and Commercial Banking, Government Banking, and Warehouse Lending groups. Products offered include checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer loans, commercial loans and warehouse lines of credit. Other financial services available to consumer and commercial customers include lines of credit, revolving credit, customized treasury management solutions, equipment leasing, inventory and accounts receivable lending and capital markets services such as interest rate risk protection products. At December 31, 2012, Branch Banking included 111 banking centers located throughout Michigan. As of December 31, 2012, the commercial loans held-for-investment totaled $0.7 billion, and consisted of commercial real estate, commercial and in! dustrial and commercial lease financing. At December 31, 2012, its commercial real estate loans held-for-investment totaled $640.3 million.

Commercial and industrial held-for-investment loan facilities include lines of credit to its small or middle market businesses for use in normal business operations to finance working capital needs, equipment purchases and expansion projects. At December 31, 2012 its commercial and industrial held-for-investment loans totaled $90.6 million. Its commercial lease financing held-for-investment loan portfolio is comprised of equipment leased to customers in a direct financing lease. At December 31, 2012 its commercial lease financing held-for-investment loans totaled $6.3 million. The Company offers warehouse lines of credit to other mortgage lenders. As of December 31, 2012, there were 311 warehouse lines of credit to other mortgage lenders with an average size of $7.5 million.

Mortgage Banking

The Company�� Mortgage Banking segment originates, acquires, sells and services one-to-four family residential first mortgage loans. Mortgage loans are originated through home lending centers, national call centers, the Internet, unaffiliated banks and mortgage brokerage companies. Also, the Mortgage Banking segment services mortgage loans for others and sells MSRs into the secondary market.

In a home lending center transaction, loans are originated through a network of its loan origination centers, as well as referrals from its Banking segment and the national call center. At December 31, 2012, the Company maintained 31 loan origination centers. In a broker transaction, an unaffiliated bank or mortgage brokerage company completes the loan paperwork, but the loans are underwritten on a loan-level basis to its underwriting standards and it supplies the funding for the loan at closing thereby becoming the lender of record. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had active broker relationships with over 1,700 banks, credit unions! , and mor! tgage brokerage companies. In a correspondent transaction, an unaffiliated bank or mortgage company completes the loan paperwork and also supplies the funding for the loan at closing. As of December 31, 2012, the Bank had active correspondent relationships with over 1,300 companies, including banks, credit unions, and mortgage companies.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of mortgage insurer MBIA (NYSE: MBI) climbed 10% today after settling its lawsuit against Flagstar Bancorp (NYSE: FBC), in which it accused the bank of misrepresenting the loan quality underlying $1.1 billion in mortgage-backed securities. �

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Oberbank AG (OBV)

Oberbank AG is an Austria-based commercial regional bank. The Company provides products and services for individual customers, as well as for corporate customers. It divides its operations into four segments: Corporate Customers, Private Customers, Financial Markets and Others. The Company offers credit and debit cards, current and saving accounts, investment services, electronic banking services, as well as financing, leasing, investment and real estate services. It operates through numerous offices in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. The Company�� major shareholder is CABO Beteiligungsgesellschafts mbH with a stake of 32.54%. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Aspray]

  The monthly chart of SPY, along with its on-balance volume (OBV), paints a much different picture. The monthly OBV moved above its WMA in August of 2012, line 1, and continues to suggest strong accumulation of this ETF.

• [By Tom Aspray]

  The high in August 2013 (point 2) just reached the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement resistance from the high at $174.07. This, therefore, was a key level of resistance. As prices declined from the highs, the daily on-balance volume (OBV) began a new downtrend and by October the OBV was acting weaker than prices.

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB)

Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB), incorporated on January 19, 1984, is a bank holding company. The Company has one wholly owned operating subsidiary, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust (the Bank), which offers a range of deposit, loan, and related banking products, as well as brokerage services provided, through a third-party brokerage arrangement. In addition, the Company offers trust and investment management services, through its subsidiary, Bar Harbor Trust Services (Trust Services), a trust company. These products and services are offered to individuals, businesses, not-for-profit organizations and municipalities. In August 2012, the Company announced that its principal subsidiary, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, acquired Border Trust Company (Border Trust), a subsidiary of Border Bancshares, Inc.

Bar Harbor Bank & Trust

The Bank has 12 branch offices located throughout downeast and midcoast Maine, including its principal office in Bar Harbor. The Bank�� offices are located in Hancock, Washington and Knox Counties, representing the Bank�� principal market areas. The Hancock County offices, in addition to Bar Harbor, are located in Blue Hill, Deer Isle, Ellsworth, Northeast Harbor, Somesville, Southwest Harbor, and Winter Harbor. The Washington County offices are located in Milbridge, Machias, and Lubec. The Knox County office is located in Rockland. The Bank delivers its operations and technology support services from its operations center located in Ellsworth, Maine.

The Bank is a retail bank serving individual and business customers, retail establishments and restaurants, seasonal lodging, biological research laboratories, and a contingent of retirees. As a coastal bank, it serves the tourism, hospitality, lobstering, fishing, boat building and marine services industries. It also serves Maine�� wild blueberry industry through its Hancock and Washington County offices. The Bank operates in a market that includes other community banks, savings institutions, credit unions, a! nd branch offices of statewide and interstate bank holding companies located in the Bank�� market area.

The Bank offers a variety of consumer financial products and services. The Bank�� retail deposit products and services include checking accounts, interest bearing negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, club accounts, short-term and long-term certificates of deposit, health savings accounts and individual retirement accounts. Credit products and services include home mortgages, residential construction loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, credit cards, installment loans, and overdraft protection services. The Bank provides secured and unsecured installment loans for new or used automobiles, boats, recreational vehicles, mobile homes and other personal needs. The Bank also offers other customary products and services, such as safe deposit box rentals, wire transfers, check collection services, foreign currency exchange, money orders, and United States Savings Bonds redemptions.

The Bank retains Infinex Investments, Inc., (Infinex) as a third-party broker-dealer, conducting business business name Bar Harbor Financial Services. Bar Harbor Financial Services is a branch office of Infinex, an independent registered broker-dealer offering securities and insurance products that is not affiliated with the Company or its subsidiaries. Bar Harbor Financial Services principally serves the brokerage needs of individuals, including first-time purchasers and investors. It also offers a line of life insurance, annuity, and retirement products, as well as financial planning services. The Bank offers Internet banking services, including free check images and electronic bill payment, through its Website at www.BHBT.com. Additionally, the Bank offers TeleDirect, an interactive voice response system, through which customers can check account balances and activity, as well as initiate money transfers between their accounts. Automated te! ller mach! ines (ATMs) are located at each of the Bank�� 12 branch locations, as well as two machines in non-Bank locations. The Bank is also a member of Maine Cash Access, providing customers with surcharge-free access to 217 ATMs throughout the state of Maine. Visa debit cards are also offered, providing customers with free access to their deposit account balances at point of sale locations worldwide.

The Bank serves the small business market throughout downeast and midcoast Maine. It offers business loans to individuals, partnerships, corporations, and other business entities for capital construction, real estate and equipment financing, working capital, real estate development, and a range of other business purposes. Business loans are provided primarily to organizations and sole proprietors in the tourism, hospitality, healthcare, blueberry, boatbuilding, and fishing industries, as well as to other small and mid-size businesses associated with coastal communities.

The Bank offers a variety of commercial deposit accounts, including business checking and tiered money market accounts. These accounts are typically used as operating accounts or short-term savings vehicles. The Bank�� cash management services provide business customers with short-term investment opportunities through a cash management sweep program, whereby excess operating funds over established thresholds are swept into overnight securities sold under agreements to repurchase. The Bank also offers Business On Line Direct (BOLD), an Internet banking service for businesses. This service allows business clients to view their account histories, print statements, view check images, order stop payments, transfer funds between accounts, transmit automated clearing house (ACH) files, and order both domestic and foreign wire transfers. The Bank also offers remote deposit capture, enabling its business customers to deposit checks remotely. Other commercial banking services include merchant credit card processing provided throu! gh a thir! d party vendor, night depository, and coin and currency handling.

Bar Harbor Trust Services

Trust Services provides a range of trust and investment management services to individuals, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and municipalities. Trust Services serves as trustee of both living trusts and trusts under wills, including revocable and irrevocable, charitable remainder and testamentary trusts, and in this capacity holds, accounts for and manages financial assets, real estate and special assets. Trust Services offers custody, estate settlement, and fiduciary tax services. Additionally, Trust Services offers employee benefit trust services, for which it acts as trustee, custodian, administrator and/or investment advisor, for employee benefit plans and for corporate, self employed, municipal and not-for-profit employers located throughout the Company�� market areas. As of December 31, 2011, Trust Services served 758 client accounts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Bar Harbor, Maine-based bank holding company Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB) raised its quarterly dividend 1.6% to 32.5 cents per share, payable on Mar. 14 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 15.
  BHB Dividend Yield: 3.37%

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Walker & Dunlop Inc (WD)

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (Walker & Dunlop), incorporated on July 29, 2010, is a holding company and it conducts all of its operations through Walker & Dunlop, LLC, its operating company. Walker & Dunlop is a provider of commercial real estate financial services in the United States, with a primary focus on multifamily lending. The Company originates, sells and services a range of multifamily and other commercial real estate financing products. The Company�� clients are owners and developers of commercial real estate. It originates and sells loans through the programs of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac, and together with Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)), the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) and the Federal Housing Administration, a division of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (together with Ginnie Mae, HUD). In September 2012, it acquired CWCapital LLC.

The Company retains servicing rights and asset management responsibilities on nearly all loans that it originates for GSE and HUD programs. It is approved as a Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS) lender nationally, a Freddie Mac Program Plus lender in seven states, the District of Columbia and the metropolitan New York area, a HUD Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) lender nationally, and a Ginnie Mae issuer. It also originates and services loans for a number of life insurance companies, commercial banks and other institutional investors. In addition, through its subsidiary entities, it provides institutional advisory, asset management and investment management services specializing in debt, structured debt and equity.

The Company�� clients are developers and owners of real estate across the United States. It focuses primarily on multifamily properties and offers a range of commercial real estate finance products to the customers, including first mortga! ge loans, second trust loans, supplemental financings, construction loans, mezzanine loans and equity investments. It originates and sells loans under the programs of GSEs and HUD. It structures its internal working groups around the various services it provides, which includes Multifamily Finance, FHA Finance, Healthcare Finance, Capital Markets and Investment Services.

Multifamily Finance

The Company are one of 25 approved lenders who participate in Fannie Mae's DUS program for multifamily, manufactured housing communities, student housing and certain healthcare properties. It also is contracted by Fannie Mae to service all loans that it originates under the Fannie Mae DUS program. It is one of 26 lenders approved as a Freddie Mac Program Plus lender under, which it originates and sells to Freddie Mac multifamily and healthcare loans that satisfy Freddie Mac's underwriting and other eligibility requirements. It also is contracted by Freddie Mac to service all loans that it originates under its program.

FHA Finance

As an approved HUD MAP lender and Ginnie Mae issuer, the Company provides construction and permanent loans to developers and owners of multifamily housing, senior housing and healthcare facilities. It submits its completed loan underwriting package to HUD and obtains HUD's approval to originate the loan. HUD insured loans are placed in single loan pools, which back Ginnie Mae securities. Ginnie Mae is a United States government corporation in The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Healthcare Finance

Through the Column transaction, the Company provides healthcare real estate lending space, which includes skilled nursing facilities and hospitals. The process for originating healthcare real estate loans is similar to the process for originating multifamily loans with HUD or Fannie Mae. It is also contracted by HUD and Fannie Mae to service all loans it originates under their programs.

Capi! tal Markets

The Company serves as an intermediary in the placement of commercial real estate debt between institutional sources of capital, such as life insurance companies, investment banks, commercial banks, pension funds and other institutional investors, and owners of all types of commercial real estate. It often advises on capital structure, develops the financing package, facilitates negotiations between its client and institutional sources of capital, coordinate due diligence and assist in closing the transaction. In these instances, it does not underwrite or fund the loan and do not retain any interest in these loans.

Investment Services

The Company provides investment consulting and related services for two commercial real estate funds, W&D Balanced Real Estate Fund I LP and Walker & Dunlop Apartment Fund I, LLC. W&D Balanced Real Estate Fund I LP is a commercial real estate fund that has invested approximately $50 million in commercial real estate securities and loans, such as first mortgages, B-notes, mezzanine debt and equity securities, and has no further commitments to invest. Third-party pension funds hold limited partnership interests in this fund and are entitled to all regular distributions. Through the Company�� subsidiary, it holds a general partnership interest in this fund and is entitled to incentive distributions only if returns exceed certain pre-established thresholds. Walker & Dunlop Apartment Fund I, LLC is a commercial real estate fund that has invested $45 million in multifamily real estate properties and mezzanine loans, and has no further commitments to invest.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Luke Jacobi]

  Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD) dropped 19.17 percent to $12.86 after the company announced it would be raising another round of financing.

  Beacon Roofing Supply (NASDAQ: BECN) fell 7.11 percent to $34.25 after Robert W. Baird downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral.

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG)

Lloyds Banking Group plc, incorporated on October 21, 1985, is a holding company. The Company is a financial services group providing a range of banking and financial services, primarily in the United Kingdom, to personal and corporate customers. The Company operates in four segments: Retail, Commercial Banking, Wealth, Asset Finance and International and Insurance. Retail provides banking, mortgages and other financial services to personal customers in the United Kingdom. Commercial Banking provides banking and related services to business clients, from small businesses to large corporate. Wealth, Asset Finance and International provides private banking and asset management and asset finance in the United Kingdom and overseas and operates the Company�� international retail businesses. Insurance provides long term savings, protection and investment products in the United Kingdom and Europe and provides general insurance to personal customers in the United Kingdom.

Retail

The Retail division operates the retail bank in the United Kingdom and is a provider of current accounts, savings, personal loans, credit cards and mortgages. This includes a range of current accounts including packaged accounts and basic banking accounts. It is also the provider of personal loans in the United Kingdom, as well as being the United Kingdom�� credit card issuer. Retail is the private sector savings provider in the United Kingdom. It is also a general insurance and bancassurance distributor, offering a range of long-term savings, investment and general insurance products.

Commercial Banking

The Commercial Banking division supports the Company�� business clients from small businesses to corporate. Commercial Banking provides support to corporate clients through the provision of core banking products, such as lending, deposits and transaction banking services whilst also offering clients expertise in capital markets (private placements, bonds and syndicated loans), ! financial markets (foreign exchange, interest rate management, money market and credit) and private equity.

Wealth, Asset Finance and International

Wealth, Asset Finance and International consists of the Company�� the United Kingdom and international wealth businesses, the Company�� the United Kingdom and international asset finance and online deposit businesses along with its international retail businesses. The Wealth business consists of private banking and asset management. Wealth�� private banking operations cater to the range of wealth clients from affluent to Ultra High Net Worth within the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and internationally. Asset Finance consists of a number of leasing and speciality lending businesses in the United Kingdom, including Lex Autolease and Black Horse Motor and Personal Finance along with its leasing and specialty lending businesses in Australia and its European online deposit business. The international business comprises its non-core banking business outside the United Kingdom, with the exception of corporate business written through the Commercial Banking division. This primarily consists of Ireland, Retail Europe and Asia.

Insurance

The Insurance division provides long-term savings, protection and investment products and general insurance products to customers in the United Kingdom and Europe. The United Kingdom Life, Pensions and Investments business provides long-term savings, protection and investment products distributed through the bancassurance, intermediary and direct channels of the Lloyds TSB, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows brands. The European Life, Pensions and Investments business distributes products primarily in the German market under the Heidelberger Leben and Clerical Medical brands. The General Insurance business is a distributor of home insurance in the United Kingdom, with products sold through the branch network, direct channels and strategic corporate! partners! . It operates primarily under the Lloyds TSB, Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alan Oscroft]

  Lloyds
  Lloyds Banking Group� (LSE: LLOY  ) (NYSE: LYG  ) shares fell 2.4% to 57.5 pence today after the bank told us that chairman Sir Winfried Bischoff is to step down this month and that no successor has yet been chosen. Sir Winfried said: "Whilst clearly some challenges remain, the performance of the Group is well on track."

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MTU)

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFJ), incorporated on April 2, 2001, is a holding company for The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU), Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB), Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings Co., Ltd. (MUSHD), Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd.( MUMSS), Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS Co., Ltd. (Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS) and other companies engaged in a range of financial businesses. Its services include commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, leasing and fields of financial services. In May 2010, the Company and Morgan Stanley formed two joint ventures in Japan by integrating our respective Japanese securities companies engaged in investment banking and securities businesses. The Company converted the wholesale and retail securities businesses conducted in Japan by the former MUS into one of the joint venture entities, which is named MUMSS. Morgan Stanley contributed the investment banking operations conducted in Japan by its formerly wholly owned subsidiary, Morgan Stanley Japan Securities Co., Ltd. (MSJS) into MUMSS and converted the sales and trading and capital markets businesses conducted in Japan by MSJS into a second joint venture entity called Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, Co., Ltd.

Integrated Retail Banking Business Group

The Integrated Retail Banking Business Group covers all domestic retail businesses, including commercial banking, trust banking and securities businesses, and enables the Company to offer a range of banking products and services, including financial consulting services, to retail customers in Japan. This business group integrates the retail business of BTMU, MUTB and MUMSS, as well as retail product development, promotion and marketing in a single management structure. Many of its retail services are offered through its network of MUFG Plazas providing individual customers with access to its financial product offerings of integrated commercial b! anking, trust banking and securities services.

The Company offers a range of bank deposit products, including a non-interest-bearing deposit account that is redeemable on demand and intended for payment and settlement functions, and is insured without a maximum amount limitation. It also offers a variety of asset management and asset administration services to individuals, including savings instruments, such as current accounts, ordinary deposits, time deposits, deposits at notice and other deposit facilities. MUFJ also offers trust products, such as loan trusts and money trusts, and other investment products, such as investment trusts, performance-based money trusts and foreign currency deposits.

The Company creates portfolios by combining savings instruments and investment products. It also provide a range of asset management and asset administration products, as well as customized trust products for high-net-worth individuals, as well as advisory services relating to the purchase and disposal of real estate and effective land utilization, and testamentary trusts. The Company provides a varied line up of investment trust products allowing its customers to choose products according to their investment needs through BTMU, MUTB and MUMSS, as well as kabu.com Securities, which specializes in online financial services. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, BTMU offered a total of five investment trusts. As of the end of March 2010, BTMU offered its clients a total of 73 investment trusts.

The Company offers securities, including publicly offered stocks, foreign and domestic investment trusts, Japanese government bonds, foreign bonds and various other products. The Company offers housing loans, card loans and other loans to individuals. With respect to housing loans, in addition to housing loans incorporating health insurance for seven major illnesses, BTMU began offering in June 2009 preferential interest rates under its Environmentally Friendly Support program ! to custom! ers who purchase environment-conscious houses (like houses with solar electric systems), which meet specific criteria in response to increasing public interest in environmental issues. In September 2009, BTMU launched housing loans with home mortgage insurance, which BTMU jointly developed with the Japan Housing Finance Agency, a governmental agency under the Japanese government�� economic stimulus measures, under which the agency indemnifies BTMU for losses from housing loans.

The Company offers products and services through a range of channels, including branches, automated teller machines (ATMs) (including convenience store ATMs shared by multiple banks), Mitsubishi-Tokyo UFJ Direct (telephone, Internet and mobile phone banking), the Video Counter and postal mail. It offers integrated financial services combining its banking, trust banking and securities services at MUFG Plazas. These Plazas provide retail customers with integrated and flexible suite of services at one-stop outlets. As of March 31 2010, the Company provided those services through 47 MUFG Plazas. The Company offers MUTB�� trust related products and advisory services through its trust agency system not only for MUTB customers but also for BTMU and MUMSS customers. As of March 31, 2010, BTMU engaged in eight businesses as the trust banking agent for MUTB: testamentary trusts, inheritance management, asset succession planning, inheritance management agency operations, business management financial consulting, lifetime gift trusts, share disposal trusts, and marketable securities administration trusts.

Integrated Corporate Banking Business Group

The Integrated Corporate Banking Business Group covers all domestic and overseas corporate businesses, including commercial banking, investment banking, trust banking and securities businesses, as well as UnionBanCal Corporation (UNBC). UNBC is a wholly owned subsidiary of BTMU and a US bank holding company with Union Bank being its primary subsidiary. T! he Compan! y provides various financial solutions, such as loans and fund management, remittance and foreign exchange services. It also helps its customers develop business strategies, such as inheritance-related business transfers and stock listings.

It offers advanced financial solutions to companies through corporate and investment banking services. Product specialists globally provide derivatives, securitization, syndicated loans, structured finance and other services. It also provides investment banking services, such as merger and acquisition (M&A) advisory, bond and equity underwriting. It provides online banking services that allow customers to make domestic and overseas remittances electronically. It also provides a global cash pooling/netting service, and the Treasury Station, a fund management system for a multi-company group. The Company�� global Corporate and Investment Banking business (Global CIB), primarily serves companies, financial institutions, and sovereign and multinational organizations with a set of solutions for their financing needs.

Integrated Trust Assets Business Group

The Integrated Trust Assets Business Group covers asset management and administration services for products, such as pension trusts and security trusts by integrating the trust banking expertise of MUTB and the international strengths of BTMU. The business group provides a range of services to corporate and pension funds, including stable and secure pension fund management and administration, advice on pension schemes, and payment of benefits to scheme members. Its Integrated Trust Assets Business Group combines MUTB�� trust assets business, comprising trust assets management services, asset administration and custodial services, and the businesses of Mitsubishi UFJ Global Custody S.A., Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co., Ltd. and KOKUSAI Asset Management Co., Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak, Senior Markets Editor, MoneyShow.com]

  The one currency that is running against the weak dollar tide is the Japanese yen. The yen initially climbed on the Fed's no taper decision—rising to 97.75 on the news—but then fell all the way back to 99 yen to the dollar and finished yesterday at 99.42. (Remember that since the yen is quoted in yen to the dollar, a higher number is a sign of a weak yen and a smaller number means the yen is getting stronger.) The thinking seems to be that the recent Japanese trade deficit will push the Bank of Japan to further weaken the yen, in order to boost Japanese exports. I continue to think that the yen will finish 2013 at weaker levels than current trading, and that leads me to continue to hold positions in Japanese stocks such as Toyota Motor (TM) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU). Both stocks are members of my Jubaks Picks portfolio.

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  And though Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) has already tacked on an impressive 55% return since last November, there is still upside as Japan squeezes out a bit more growth and as the yen continues to trade at deep discounts to the Euro or the U.S. dollar.

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Mitsubishi UFJ (NYSE: MTU  ) also plunged in the Japanese financial sector's sell-off, with the firm's stock dropping 12.3% over the week. This firm faced more of a threat from Thursday's action, however: Japan's benchmark bond yield climbed to its highest level in more than a year, and Mitsubishi is the largest lender by assets in the country and holds more than 48 million yen in government bonds. Bond yields are still coming off of record lows, so Mitsubishi's hardly in a dangerous place. The firm's attempts to expand recently may also help boost revenue at a company that posted declining net income in its most recent quarter.

• [By Jim Jubak]

  Shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306:JP) in Japan or (MTU) in New York, kept on tumbling yesterday, despite unexpectedly positive earnings for the third quarter. Net income climbed to 255 billion yen ($2.5 billion) in the three months ended on December 31. That was a 5.4% increase from the December quarter of 2012, and beat the average estimate of 200 billion yen, by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The bank is now 86% of the way to its profit target for fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2014.

10 Best Bank Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS (HALKB)

Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. (Halkbank) is a Turkey-based bank that provides banking products and services to a range of customers, including tradesmen, small- to medium-sized enterprises (SME) and large corporations. The Company�� segments are: consumer and retail banking, which offers consumer loans, credit and debit cards, deposit and overdraft accounts and payroll services; corporate and commercial banking, each offering assistance loans targeting specific sectors, budget loans, domestic and international non-cash credit line facilities, such as letters of credit and guarantees, cash management, investment banking, brokerage, factoring, leasing and insurance services for clients with varying annual turnovers, and tradesmen/SME banking. It also offers telephone, Internet, mobile and television banking services. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Harry Suhartono]

  The Borsa Istanbul National 100 Index jumped 3.7 percent, the most among major emerging-market gauges, as Akbank TAS (AKBNK) and Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS (HALKB) rallied. Benchmark measures in Poland and the Czech Republic added at least 0.5 percent, while Hungarian shares retreated for a fourth day.