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Regional banks making a comeback?

In looking over tonight's Swing Trading Signals, one sector seemed to be standing out. There were a bunch of BUY signals for regional banks.

Out of 13 BUY signals, there were 6 that were regional banks:
  • City Bank (CTB)
  • The Elmira Savings Bank, FSB (ESBK)
  • First United Corporation (FUNC)
  • MERCANTILE BANCORP, INC. (MBR)
  • Old Second Bancorp, Inc. (OSBC)
  • United Western Bancorp, Inc. (UWBK)
In addition, there was a large money center bank on the list: MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. (MTU).

After three down days, financials certainly spiked upward today. Interestingly, the Financial Select Sector SPDR jumped 2.27% while the KBW Regional Bank ETF (KRE) only moved up 1.33%. Some of the banks on our list did much better than KRE and some only matched it.

In looking at the charts of these stocks, I have to say that some of them look pretty dismal. For the most part, I believe we are seeing short term signals here as the longer-term trends are not yet looking like they are quite ready to break to the upside. Still, most of these stocks could be candidates for a modest move that continues to the vicinity of the upper Bollinger Band. As such, there could be a few dollars to be made.

Disclosure: no positions
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