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Citigroup Inc

Wall Street

The One Bank Worth Playing Right Now - and How to Play It

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Financials pulled a world-class fakeout last week, and that's important for what's coming next.

You see, on Thursday, markets looked like they were giving up; the major indexes broke through near-term support, and some important psychological support levels were pierced.

The breaking news was that China's exports had fallen 10%. So industrials, materials, and commodities took the brunt of the selling. China is always a barometer of global growth, because it does lots of the globe's growing. And so with news of China's export fall-off, financials were set to release their earnings amid an "atmosphere of reduced expectations," to put it mildly.

Of course, those expectations have been carefully stage-managed and downplayed all along – there's that psychology again.

Then on Friday, starting with JPMorgan Chase & Co. before the open, the banks let fly with their earnings, and things got "interesting"...

Wall Street

Wells Fargo Scam Not Unique - Other Banks Do the Same Thing

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The evidence is mounting that the Wells Fargo scam was not unusual practice in the banking industry, which means investors need to brace for similar scandals at other banks.

The heavy pressure on workers to "cross-sell" multiple products to the same customer is what got Wells Fargo into hot water – and is accepted practice at most consumer banks.

These are the banks most likely to end up in regulators' crosshairs next...

Market crash

You Could Be Stuck with Deutsche Bank’s Bills

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The 5,300 Wells Fargo employees who set up 2 million bogus accounts to bring in a measly $5 million in extra fees are being fobbed off as "a few bad apples."

They're not. They're the product of a global corporate culture of entitlement and corruption. The proverbial tip of the iceberg.

Don't get me wrong – Wells' misdeeds are bad, but there's much, much worse going on in the banking sector right now.

The moral hazard and casino banking underway at this very moment are putting the entire global financial system at risk – again – when we've barely recovered from the last crisis.

So today, I'm recommending everyone buy the ultimate "alternative money" at some of the best prices we're likely to see for the rest of the year...