Why Boeing, Jabil Circuit and Three Financial Stocks Are Making Headlines on Thursday

Interest rate-sensitive stocks, including Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), E*TRADE Financial Corp (NASDAQ:ETFC), and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) are in focus after the FOMC left the benchmark interest rate the same. Although the Fed kept interest rates unchanged, it has rather high hopes on the economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen said that their “decision does not reflect a lack of confidence in the economy”. The Fed added that “near-term risks to the economic outlook appear roughly balanced”. On the back of the Fed’s statement, many investors think the Fed will raise rates either in November or December, meaning that positive catalysts for the three financial stocks are still ahead.

In terms of company specific news, some traders are watching in E*TRADE Financial today on the news that Leon Cooperman has been charged with insider trading. According to its last 13F, Leon Cooperman‘s Omega Advisors owned over 3.15 million shares of the company at the end of June. If his fund is forced to liquidate, some traders speculate that Omega could be forced to sell some or all E*TRADE shares. Overall, 35 funds from our database had a bullish position in E*TRADE Financial Corp (NASDAQ:ETFC) at the end of June, down by four funds from the previous quarter.

Investors are also watching Wells Fargo after Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, which holds a stake of nearly 10% of the bank, told Fox Business that he won’t comment on Wells Fargo until November. Buffett said, “If I start commenting on that or anything else, it will lead down too many paths so I will wait until November to speak about it, the election or any other subject”. Many investors believe some words of confidence from Buffett would go a long way in helping shareholders and the public move on from some former Wells Fargo employees’ irresponsible act of creating over 2 million fake accounts. At the end of June, 88 and 102 investors tracked by us were long Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), respectively, at the end of June.

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