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Northwest Bancshares, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2022 Earnings and Quarterly Dividend

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2022 Earnings and Quarterly Dividend
PR Newswire
COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 25, 2022

COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Northwest Bancshares, Inc., (the “Company”), (NasdaqGS: NWBI) announce…

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Northwest Bancshares, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2022 Earnings and Quarterly Dividend

PR Newswire

COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwest Bancshares, Inc., (the "Company"), (NasdaqGS: NWBI) announced net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 of $28.3 million, or $0.22 per diluted share.  This represents a decrease of $12.0 million, or 29.7%, compared to the same quarter last year, when net income was $40.2 million, or $0.32 per diluted share.  The annualized returns on average shareholders' equity and average assets for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 were 7.17% and 0.80% compared to 10.61% and 1.17% for the same quarter last year.

The Company also announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share payable on May 16, 2022 to shareholders of record as of May 5, 2022.  This is the 110th consecutive quarter in which the Company has paid a cash dividend. Based on the market value of the Company's common stock as of March 31, 2022, this represents an annualized dividend yield of approximately 5.9%.

Ronald J. Seiffert, Chairman, President and CEO, added, "During the quarter we successfully deployed a portion of our liquidity by purchasing two separate loan packages to augment our own loan production and to capitalize on higher market yields.  These purchases included a $72 million small business equipment finance pool and a $138 million one- to four-family jumbo mortgage package.  We are also very pleased to report a continued favorable trend in expense management over the past five quarters which will be further enhanced by the previously announced consolidation of another 20 branches in early April with expected annual expense savings of approximately $8.0 million.  Asset quality metrics also continue to improve from March of last year with nonperforming and classified assets declining by $100.4 million and $147.9 million, respectively, and total delinquency and net charge-offs falling below pre-pandemic levels."

Mr. Seiffert continued "During the quarter our net interest income and net interest margin were once again impacted by the low interest rate environment and excess balance sheet liquidity, but we are encouraged by the recent increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve with market expectations of more rate increases throughout the remainder of the year."

Net interest income decreased by $9.8 million, or 9.8%, to $90.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, from $100.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, due to a $14.1 million, or 13.8%, decrease in interest income on loans receivable.  This decrease in interest income on loans was due to a decrease of $507.7 million, or 4.9%, in the average balance of loans in addition to a reduction in the yield on loans to 3.63% for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from 4.01% for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.  Also, contributing to the reduction in yield and interest income on loans, was PPP fee accretion of just $1.2 million during the current quarter compared to $4.8 million in the same quarter last year.  Partially offsetting this decrease in interest income was a decrease in interest expense on deposits of $1.8 million, or 32.0%, primarily due to a decrease in our cost of our interest-bearing liabilities to 0.25% for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from 0.33% for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 as a result of low market interest rates over the past year.  Partially offsetting the decline in deposit interest rates was growth in the average balance of interest-bearing liabilities of $180.2 million, or 1.9%.  The net effect of these changes, as well as the continued build of excess liquidity, caused the Company's net interest margin to decrease to 2.75% for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from 3.18% for the same quarter last year.

 The Company continued to experience improvement in asset quality as classified loans decreased by $147.9 million, or 31.6%, to $319.9 million, or 3.15% of total loans, at March 31, 2022 from $467.7 million, or 4.51% of total loans, at March 31, 2021.  Total delinquent loans also decreased to $75.4 million, or just 0.74% of loans receivable, at March 31, 2022 from $122.8 million, or 1.18% of gross loans, at March 31, 2021.  In addition, net charge-offs were just 0.06% during the current quarter compared to 0.19% during the same quarter last year.  As a result of these improvements in asset quality, the Company once again recognized a negative provision for credit losses of $1.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 compared to a $5.6 million credit for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.

Noninterest income decreased by $6.2 million, or 19.4%, to $25.7 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, from $32.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.  This decrease was primarily due to a decrease in mortgage banking income of $4.6 million, or 75.7%, to $1.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from $6.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.  This decrease reflects the impact of less favorable pricing in the secondary market.  In addition, there was a decrease in insurance commission income of $2.5 million, or 100.0% from the quarter ended March 31, 2021 due to the sale of the insurance business during the second quarter of 2021.

Noninterest expense decreased by $4.2 million, or 4.9%, to $81.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from $86.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. This decrease primarily resulted from a $2.0 million, or 43.8%, decrease in professional services to $2.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from $4.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 due to the use of third-party experts to recruit talent and assist with our digital strategy rollout in the prior year.  Also contributing to this favorable variance was a decrease of $1.0 million, or 11.5%, in premises and occupancy costs to $7.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from $8.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 due primarily to the cost savings from the prior year's branch optimization initiative.  Lastly, other expense decreased $1.0 million, or 29.8%, to $2.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from $3.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 due to the increase in the discount rate used to calculate our pension liability and related pension expense.  Partially offsetting these decreases was an increase in merger, asset disposition and restructuring expense of $1.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 due to the branch optimization initiative announced during the fourth quarter of 2021.   

The provision for income taxes decreased by $4.0 million, or 34.4%, to $7.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from $11.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 due primarily to a decrease in income before taxes in the current year.

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Northwest Bancshares, Inc. is the bank holding company of Northwest Bank. Founded in 1896 and headquartered in Warren, Pennsylvania, Northwest Bank is a full-service financial institution offering a complete line of business and personal banking products, as well as employee benefits and wealth management services. As of March 31, 2022, Northwest operated 162 full-service community banking offices and eight free standing drive-through facilities in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Indiana. Northwest Bancshares, Inc.'s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market ("NWBI"). Additional information regarding Northwest Bancshares, Inc. and Northwest Bank can be accessed on-line at www.northwest.com.

Forward-Looking Statements - This release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition and results of operations of Northwest Bancshares, Inc. including, without limitations, statements relating to the earnings outlook of the Company. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements, include among others, the following possibilities: (1) changes in the interest rate environment; (2) competitive pressure among financial services companies; (3) general economic conditions including an increase in non-performing loans; (4) changes in legislation or regulatory requirements; (5) difficulties in continuing to improve operating efficiencies; (6) difficulties in the integration of acquired businesses or the ability to complete sales transactions; (7) increased risk associated with commercial real-estate and business loans; and (8) the effect of any pandemic, including COVID-19, war or act of terrorism.  Management has no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date of this release.

 

 

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition (Unaudited)
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)



March 31,

2022


December 31,

2021


March 31,

2021


Assets







Cash and cash equivalents

$     1,161,006


1,279,259


979,290


Marketable securities available-for-sale (amortized cost of $1,542,170, $1,565,002 and $1,430,352, respectively)

 

1,442,098


 

1,548,592


 

1,430,131


Marketable securities held-to-maturity (fair value of $677,376, $751,513 and $593,232, respectively)

737,730


768,154


604,284


     Total cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities

3,340,834


3,596,005


3,013,705


Residential mortgage loans held-for-sale

19,272


25,056


46,270


Residential mortgage loans

3,102,617


2,969,564


2,925,408


Home equity loans

1,286,520


1,319,931


1,407,524


Consumer loans

1,895,981


1,838,748


1,554,355


Commercial real estate loans

2,959,893


3,015,484


3,289,436


Commercial loans

874,751


847,609


1,145,047


     Total loans receivable

10,139,034


10,016,392


10,368,040


Allowance for credit losses

(99,295)


(102,241)


(123,997)


     Loans receivable, net

10,039,739


9,914,151


10,244,043


FHLB stock, at cost

13,318


14,184


21,861


Accrued interest receivable

26,268


25,599


28,732


Real estate owned, net

929


873


1,738


Premises and equipment, net

149,970


156,524


158,784


Bank-owned life insurance

254,109


256,213


252,599


Goodwill

380,997


380,997


382,356


Other intangible assets, net

11,654


12,836


18,342


Other assets

155,585


144,126


148,196


     Total assets

$  14,373,403


14,501,508


14,270,356


Liabilities and shareholders' equity







Liabilities








Noninterest-bearing demand deposits

$    3,128,849


3,099,526


3,000,019


Interest-bearing demand deposits

2,891,622


2,940,442


2,826,461


Money market deposit accounts

2,680,613


2,629,882


2,521,881


Savings deposits

2,367,438


2,303,760


2,229,214


Time deposits

1,251,878


1,327,555


1,535,519


     Total deposits

12,320,400


12,301,165


12,113,094


Borrowed funds

121,436


139,093


253,617


Subordinated debt

123,670


123,575



Junior subordinated debentures

129,119


129,054


128,859


Advances by borrowers for taxes and insurance

44,022


44,582


44,024


Accrued interest payable

563


1,804


659


Other liabilities

110,681


178,664


189,109


     Total liabilities

12,849,891


12,917,937


12,729,362


Shareholders' equity







Preferred stock, $0.01 par value: 50,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued




Common stock, $0.01 par value: 500,000,000 shares authorized, 126,686,373, 126,612,183 and 127,222,648 shares issued and outstanding, respectively

 

1,267


 

1,266


 

1,272


Additional paid-in capital

1,012,308


1,010,405


1,018,822


Retained earnings

612,481


609,529


571,612


Accumulated other comprehensive loss

(102,544)


(37,629)


(50,712)


     Total shareholders' equity

1,523,512


1,583,571


1,540,994


     Total liabilities and shareholders' equity

$  14,373,403


14,501,508


14,270,356


     Equity to assets

10.60 %


10.92 %


10.80 %


     Tangible common equity to assets*

8.09 %


8.43 %


8.22 %


     Book value per share

$           12.03


12.51


12.11


     Tangible book value per share*

$             8.93


9.40


8.96


     Closing market price per share

$           13.51


14.16


14.45


     Full time equivalent employees

2,268


2,332


2,443


     Number of banking offices

170


170


170












*      Excludes goodwill and other intangible assets (non-GAAP).



 

 

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited)
(dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)



Quarter ended


March 31,
2022


December 31,
2021


September 30,
2021


June 30,
2021


March 31,
2021






Interest income:










     Loans receivable

$       88,174


95,295


97,475


95,255


102,318

     Mortgage-backed securities

6,360


5,743


5,840


5,680


4,200

     Taxable investment securities

677


640


649


693


634

     Tax-free investment securities

674


688


628


594


575

     FHLB stock dividends

81


82


71


138


116

     Interest-earning deposits

467


467


352


192


183

          Total interest income

96,433


102,915


105,015


102,552


108,026

Interest expense:










     Deposits

3,751


4,295


4,540


4,773


5,514

     Borrowed funds

2,059


1,964


2,056


2,050


2,054

          Total interest expense

5,810


6,259


6,596


6,823


7,568

          Net interest income

90,623


96,656


98,419


95,729


100,458

     Provision for credit losses

(1,481)


(1,909)


(4,354)



(5,620)

          Net interest income after provision for credit losses

92,104


98,565


102,773


95,729


106,078

Noninterest income:










     Loss on sale of investments

(2)


(4)


(46)


(105)


(21)

     Service charges and fees

13,067


13,500


13,199


12,744


12,394

     Trust and other financial services income

7,012


6,820


7,182


7,435


6,484

     Insurance commission income



44


1,043


2,546

     Gain/(loss) on real estate owned, net

(29)


71


247


166


(42)

     Income from bank-owned life insurance

1,983


1,343


1,332


1,639


1,736

     Mortgage banking income

1,465


2,120


3,941


3,811


6,020

     Gain on sale of insurance business




25,327


     Other operating income

2,244


3,192


3,287


2,648


2,836

          Total noninterest income

25,740


27,042


29,186


54,708


31,953

Noninterest expense:










     Compensation and employee benefits

46,917


48,691


49,063


48,894


47,239

     Premises and occupancy costs

7,797


7,104


7,745


7,410


8,814

     Office operations

3,383


3,144


4,143


3,317


3,165

     Collections expense

520


602


411


303


616

     Processing expenses

12,548


13,639


13,517


15,151


13,456

     Marketing expenses

2,128


2,054


2,102


2,101


1,980

     Federal deposit insurance premiums

1,129


1,131


1,184


1,353


1,307

     Professional services

2,573


4,513


4,295


4,231


4,582

     Amortization of intangible assets

1,183


1,205


1,321


1,433


1,594

     Real estate owned expense

37


44


94


85


75

     Merger, asset disposition and restructuring expense

1,374


2,812



632


9

     Other expenses

2,355


1,346


2,227


1,422


3,354

          Total noninterest expense

81,944


86,285


86,102


86,332


86,191

          Income before income taxes

35,900


39,322


45,857


64,105


51,840

     Income tax expense

7,613


9,266


10,794


15,138


11,603

          Net income

$       28,287


30,056


35,063


48,967


40,237











Basic earnings per share

$           0.22


0.24


0.28


0.38


0.32

Diluted earnings per share

$           0.22


0.24


0.27


0.38


0.32











Annualized return on average equity

7.17 %


7.65 %


8.86 %


12.58 %


10.61 %

Annualized return on average assets

0.80 %


0.82 %


0.97 %


1.37 %


1.17 %

Annualized return on tangible common equity *

10.14 %


10.02 %


11.92 %


16.66 %


14.31 %











Efficiency ratio **

68.22 %


66.51 %


66.44 %


67.35 %


63.88 %

Annualized noninterest expense to average assets ***

2.23 %


2.25 %


2.33  %


2.35 %


2.45 %

*      Excludes goodwill and other intangible assets (non-GAAP).

**    Excludes gain on sale of insurance business, amortization of intangible assets and merger, asset disposition and restructuring expenses (non-GAAP).

***   Excludes amortization of intangible assets and merger, asset disposition and restructuring expenses (non-GAAP).

 

 

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Asset Quality (Unaudited)
(dollars in thousands)



March 31,
2022


December 31,
2021


September 30,
2021


June 30,
2021


March 31,
2021

Nonaccrual loans current:










     Residential mortgage loans

$           1,884


1,354


2,015


189


164

     Home equity loans

1,376


1,212


1,267


170


268

     Consumer loans

1,148


1,336


1,465


188


225

     Commercial real estate loans

79,810


106,233


111,075


138,820


146,304

     Commercial loans

6,060


6,098


17,021


17,545


6,361

Total nonaccrual loans current

$         90,278


116,233


132,843


156,912


153,322

Nonaccrual loans delinquent 30 days to 59 days:










     Residential mortgage loans

$              760


244


99


68


1,261

     Home equity loans

195


223


328


229


340

     Consumer loans

190


241


152


230


254

     Commercial real estate loans

333


239


205


1,589


965

     Commercial loans

4


53


102


406


1,538

Total nonaccrual loans delinquent 30 days to 59 days

$           1,482


1,000


886


2,522


4,358

Nonaccrual loans delinquent 60 days to 89 days:










     Residential mortgage loans

$              830


1,163


527


207


813

     Home equity loans

371


61


142


310


417

     Consumer loans

280


292


291


297


649

     Commercial real estate loans


364


419


198


1,877

     Commercial loans


218


170


21


7,919

Total nonaccrual loans delinquent 60 days to 89 days

$           1,481


2,098


1,549


1,033


11,675

Nonaccrual loans delinquent 90 days or more:










     Residential mortgage loans

$           3,976


7,641


8,069


10,007


9,333

     Home equity loans

2,968


4,262


4,745


6,256


7,044

     Consumer loans

1,782


2,069


2,184


2,341


3,625

     Commercial real estate loans

21,399


24,063


25,562


23,564


29,737

     Commercial loans

795


1,105


1,104


4,126


4,860

Total nonaccrual loans delinquent 90 days or more

$         30,920


39,140


41,664


46,294


54,599

Total nonaccrual loans

$       124,161


158,471


176,942


206,761


223,954

Total nonaccrual loans

$       124,161


158,471


176,942


206,761


223,954

Loans 90 days past due and still accruing

420


331


386


302


197

     Nonperforming loans

124,581


158,802


177,328


207,063


224,151

Real estate owned, net

929


873


809


1,353


1,738

     Nonperforming assets

$       125,510


159,675


178,137


208,416


225,889

Nonaccrual troubled debt restructuring *

$         16,015


17,216


12,858


8,951


7,390

Accruing troubled debt restructuring

12,686


13,072


13,664


18,480


20,120

Total troubled debt restructuring

$         28,701


30,288


26,522


27,431


27,510











Nonperforming loans to total loans

1.23 %


1.59 %


1.74 %


2.01 %


2.16 %

Nonperforming assets to total assets

0.87 %


1.10 %


1.24 %


1.46 %


1.58 %

Allowance for credit losses to total loans

0.98 %


1.02 %


1.08 %


1.14 %


1.20 %

Allowance for total loans excluding PPP loan balances

0.98 %


1.03 %


1.09 %


1.17 %


1.24 %

Allowance for credit losses to nonperforming loans

79.70 %


64.38 %


61.90 %


56.66 %


55.32 %

*  Amounts included in nonperforming loans above.

 

 

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Loans by Credit Quality Indicators (Unaudited)
(dollars in thousands)


At March 31, 2022


Pass


Special mention *


Substandard **


Doubtful


Loss


Loans receivable

Personal Banking:













     Residential mortgage loans


$       3,108,366



13,523




3,121,889

     Home equity loans


1,280,342



6,178




1,286,520

     Consumer loans


1,892,162



3,819




1,895,981

   Total Personal Banking


6,280,870



23,520




6,304,390

Commercial Banking:













     Commercial real estate loans


2,633,808


62,091


263,994




2,959,893

     Commercial loans


839,125


3,277


32,349




874,751

   Total Commercial Banking


3,472,933


65,368


296,343




3,834,644

Total loans


$       9,753,803


65,368


319,863




10,139,034

At December 31, 2021













Personal Banking:













     Residential mortgage loans


$       2,978,080



16,540




2,994,620

     Home equity loans


1,312,820



7,111




1,319,931

     Consumer loans


1,834,478



4,270




1,838,748

   Total Personal Banking


6,125,378



27,921




6,153,299

Commercial Banking:













     Commercial real estate loans


2,639,676


74,123


301,685




3,015,484

     Commercial loans


808,323


5,730


33,556




847,609

   Total Commercial Banking


3,447,999


79,853


335,241




3,863,093

Total loans


$       9,573,377


79,853


363,162




10,016,392

At September 30, 2021













Personal Banking:













     Residential mortgage loans


$       2,972,489



17,032




2,989,521

     Home equity loans


1,342,479



7,869




1,350,348

     Consumer loans


1,812,360



4,476




1,816,836

   Total Personal Banking


6,127,328



29,377




6,156,705

Commercial Banking:













     Commercial real estate loans


2,799,592


63,034


299,925




3,162,551

     Commercial loans


813,665


10,976


55,071




879,712

   Total Commercial Banking


3,613,257


74,010


354,996




4,042,263

Total loans


$       9,740,585


74,010


384,373




10,198,968

At June 30, 2021













Personal Banking:













     Residential mortgage loans


$       2,937,418



17,133




2,954,551

     Home equity loans


1,367,765



8,463




1,376,228

     Consumer loans


1,741,872



3,359




1,745,231

  Total Personal Banking


6,047,055



28,955




6,076,010

Commercial Banking:













     Commercial real estate loans


2,781,734


73,167


360,288




3,215,189

     Commercial loans


943,665


11,266


63,850




1,018,781

   Total Commercial Banking


3,725,399


84,433


424,138




4,233,970

Total loans


$       9,772,454


84,433


453,093




10,309,980

At March 31, 2021













Personal Banking:













     Residential mortgage loans


$       2,950,103



21,575




2,971,678

     Home equity loans


1,396,757



10,767




1,407,524

     Consumer loans


1,547,502



6,853




1,554,355

   Total Personal Banking


5,894,362



39,195




5,933,557

Commercial Banking:













     Commercial real estate loans


2,801,082


120,345


368,009




3,289,436

     Commercial loans


1,061,884


22,623


60,540




1,145,047

   Total Commercial Banking


3,862,966


142,968


428,549




4,434,483

Total loans


$       9,757,328


142,968


467,744




10,368,040

*  

Includes $4.4 million, $14.9 million, $16.7 million, $16.7 million, and $26.4 million of acquired loans at March 31, 2022, December 31, 2021, September 30, 2021, June 30, 2021, and March 31, 2021, respectively.              

**  

Includes $71.9 million, $81.5 million, $110.4 million, $122.5 million, and $143.2 million of acquired loans at March 31, 2022, December 31, 2021, September 30, 2021, June 30, 2021, and March 31, 2021, respectively.

 

 

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Loan Delinquency (Unaudited)
(dollars in thousands)



March 31,
2022


*


December 31,
2021


*


September 30,
2021


*


June 30,
2021


*


March 31,
2021


*

(Number of loans and dollar amount of loans)






























Loans delinquent 30 days to 59 days:






























     Residential mortgage loans

281


$  24,057


0.8 %


277


$  20,567


0.7 %


17


$       765


— %


13


$      606


— %


248


$   22,236


0.7 %

     Home equity loans

105


3,867


0.3 %


112


3,153


0.2 %


101


3,351


0.2 %


91


3,677


0.3 %


84


3,334


0.2 %

     Consumer loans

523


6,043


0.3 %


589


6,536


0.4 %


576


6,146


0.3 %


532


5,571


0.3 %


535


5,732


0.4 %

     Commercial real estate loans

25


3,643


0.1 %


17


17,065


0.6 %


19


2,004


0.1 %


13


2,857


0.1 %


33


12,240


0.4 %

     Commercial loans

16


1,268


0.1 %


12


193


— %


10


692


0.1 %


15


686


0.1 %


16


3,032


0.3 %

Total loans delinquent 30 days to 59 days

950


$  38,878


0.4 %


1,007


$  47,514


0.5 %


723


$  12,958


0.1 %


664


$  13,397


0.1 %


916


$   46,574


0.4 %































Loans delinquent 60 days to 89 days:






























     Residential mortgage loans

24


$    1,950


0.1 %


59


$    5,433


0.2 %


55


$    4,907


0.2 %


58


$    4,051


0.1 %


26


$     2,062


0.1 %

     Home equity loans

28


1,138


0.1 %


30


949


0.1 %


29


1,024


0.1 %


36


1,502


0.1 %


31


953


0.1 %

     Consumer loans

159


1,839


0.1 %


195


2,006


0.1 %


180


1,757


0.1 %


181


1,988


0.1 %


169


1,868


0.1 %

     Commercial real estate loans

1


112


— %


5


769


— %


8


1,170


— %


9


1,335


— %


14


7,609


0.2 %

     Commercial loans

3


103


—  %


10


727


0.1 %


2


170


— %


2


27


— %


12


8,979


0.8 %

Total loans delinquent 60 days to 89 days

215


$    5,142


0.1 %


299


$    9,884


0.1 %


274


$    9,028


0.1 %


286


$    8,903


0.1 %


252


$   21,471


0.2 %































Loans delinquent 90 days or more: **






























     Residential mortgage loans

47


$    3,976


0.1 %


87


$    7,641


0.3 %


95


$    8,069


0.3 %


115


$  10,007


0.3 %


121


$     9,333


0.3 %

     Home equity loans

91


2,968


0.2 %


105


4,262


0.3 %


119


4,745


0.4 %


146


6,256


0.5 %


176


7,044


0.5 %

     Consumer loans

287


2,202


0.1 %


296


2,400


0.1 %


308


2,568


0.1 %


356


2,643


0.2 %


454


3,822


0.2 %

     Commercial real estate loans

41


21,399


0.7 %


52


24,063


0.8 %


59


25,562


0.8 %


83


23,564


0.7 %


113


29,737


0.9 %

     Commercial loans

10


795


0.1 %


8


1,105


0.1 %


10


1,104


0.1 %


18


4,126


0.4 %


31


4,860


0.4 %

Total loans delinquent 90 days or more

476


$  31,340


0.3 %


548


$  39,471


0.4 %


591


$  42,048


0.4 %


718


$  46,596


0.5 %


895


$   54,796


0.5 %































Total loans delinquent

1,641


$  75,360


0.7 %


1,854


$  96,869


1.0 %


1,588


$  64,034


0.6 %


1,668


$  68,896


0.7 %


2,063


$ 122,841


1.2 %

*  

Represents delinquency, in dollars, divided by the respective total amount of that type of loan outstanding.                            

**  

Includes purchased credit deteriorated loans of $7.1 million, $7.3 million, $8.4 million, $10.3 million, and $12.7 million at March 31, 2022, December 31, 2021, September 30, 2021, June 30, 2021, and March 31, 2021, respectively.

 

 

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Allowance for Credit Losses (Unaudited)
(dollars in thousands)



Quarter ended


March 31,
2022


December 31,
2021


September 30,
2021


June 30,
2021


March 31,
2021

Beginning balance

$      102,241


109,767


117,330


123,997


134,427

Provision

(1,481)


(1,909)


(4,354)



(5,620)

Charge-offs residential mortgage

(1,183)


(784)


(1,263)


(770)


(855)

Charge-offs home equity

(447)


(1,299)


(1,474)


(379)


(228)

Charge-offs consumer

(1,723)


(2,897)


(2,148)


(2,401)


(2,603)

Charge-offs commercial real estate

(1,024)


(2,652)


(1,581)


(3,964)


(4,626)

Charge-offs commercial

(681)


(2,586)


(412)


(1,161)


(54)

Recoveries

3,593


4,601


3,669


2,008


3,556

Ending balance

$        99,295


102,241


109,767


117,330


123,997

Net charge-offs to average loans, annualized

0.06 %


0.22 %


0.12  %


0.26 %


0.19 %

 

 

Northwest Bancshares, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Average Balance Sheet (Unaudited)
(dollars in thousands) 


The following table sets forth certain information relating to the Company's average balance sheet and reflects the average yield on assets and average cost of liabilities for the periods indicated.  Such yields and costs are derived by dividing income or expense by the average balance of assets or liabilities, respectively, for the periods presented.  Average balances are calculated using daily averages. 



Quarter ended 


March 31, 2022


December 31, 2021


September 30, 2021


June 30, 2021


March 31, 2021


Average

balance


Interest


Avg.

yield/

cost (i)


Average

balance


Interest


Avg.

yield/

cost (i)


Average

balance


Interest


Avg.

yield/

cost (i)


Average

balance


Interest


Avg.

yield/

cost (i)


Average

balance


Interest


Avg.

yield/

cost (i)

Assets:






























Interest-earning assets:






























          Residential mortgage loans

$  2,980,788


25,542


3.43 %


$  2,977,942


25,269


3.39 %


$  2,959,794


25,398


3.43 %


$  2,935,034


25,609


3.49 %


$  3,007,439


26,366


3.51 %

          Home equity loans

1,293,986


11,472


3.60 %


1,328,553


11,750


3.51 %


1,356,131


11,993


3.51 %


1,380,794


12,232


3.55 %


1,432,009


12,815


3.63 %

          Consumer loans

1,799,037


14,907


3.36 %


1,756,620


15,514


3.50  %


1,728,563


16,220


3.72 %


1,589,739


14,555


3.67 %


1,463,284


14,566


4.04 %

          Commercial real estate loans

3,000,204


29,757


3.97 %


3,113,924


34,062


4.28 %


3,205,839


35,305


4.31 %


3,257,810


33,349


4.05 %


3,313,892


38,471


4.64 %

          Commercial loans

824,770


6,897


3.34 %


855,998


9,154


4.18 %


975,603


9,096


3.65 %


1,133,969


9,978


3.48 %


1,189,812


10,566


3.55 %

     Total loans receivable (a) (b) (d)

9,898,785


88,575


3.63 %


10,033,037


95,749


3.79 %


10,225,930


98,012


3.80 %


10,297,346


95,723


3.73 %


10,406,436


102,784


4.01 %

     Mortgage-backed securities (c)

1,945,173


6,360


1.31 %


1,894,683


5,743


1.21 %


1,832,876


5,840


1.27 %


1,756,227


5,680


1.29 %


1,324,558


4,200


1.27 %

     Investment securities (c) (d)

373,694


1,540


1.65  %


358,558


1,535


1.71 %


348,619


1,466


1.68 %


364,414


1,466


1.61 %


331,358


1,381


1.67 %

     FHLB stock, at cost

13,870


81


2.38 %


14,459


82


2.25 %


21,607


71


1.31 %


23,107


138


2.40 %


21,811


116


2.17 %

     Other interest-earning deposits

1,218,960


467


0.15 %


1,168,449


467


0.16 %


905,130


352


0.15 %


810,741


192


0.09 %


801,119


183


0.09 %

Total interest-earning assets

13,450,482


97,023


2.93 %


13,469,186


103,576


3.05 %


13,334,162


105,741


3.15 %


13,251,835


103,199


3.12 %


12,885,282


108,664


3.42 %

Noninterest-earning assets (e)

973,092






1,004,905






1,074,122






1,104,924






1,102,477





Total assets

$   14,423,574






$   14,474,091






$   14,408,284






$   14,356,759






$   13,987,759





Liabilities and shareholders' equity:






























Interest-bearing liabilities:






























     Savings deposits

$     2,334,494


592


0.10 %


$     2,282,606


622


0.11 %


$     2,271,365


603


0.11 %


$     2,255,578


590


0.10 %


$     2,118,030


625


0.12 %

     Interest-bearing demand deposits

2,875,430


321


0.05 %


2,933,466


411


0.06 %


2,890,905


414


0.06 %


2,840,949


407


0.06 %


2,783,429


429


0.06 %

     Money market deposit accounts

2,668,105


653


0.10 %


2,618,177


656


0.10 %


2,565,159


637


0.10 %


2,537,629


621


0.10 %


2,497,495


657


0.11 %

     Time deposits

1,292,608


2,185


0.69 %


1,356,513


2,606


0.76 %


1,423,041


2,886


0.80 %


1,493,947


3,155


0.85 %


1,583,525


3,803


0.97 %

     Borrowed funds (f)

135,289


158


0.47 %


135,038


159


0.47 %


131,199


154


0.47 %


131,240


150


0.46 %


143,806


154


0.43 %

     Subordinated debt (g)

123,608


1,250


4.05 %


123,514


1,180


3.82 %


123,513


1,277


4.10 %


123,443


1,264


4.11 %


123,357


1,258


4.14 %

     Junior subordinated debentures

129,077


651


2.02 %


129,012


625


1.89 %


128,946


625


1.90 %


128,882


636


1.95 %


128,817


642


1.99 %

Total interest-bearing liabilities

9,558,611


5,810


0.25 %


9,578,326


6,259


0.26 %


9,534,128


6,596


0.27 %


9,511,668


6,823


0.29 %


9,378,459


7,568


0.33 %

Noninterest-bearing demand deposits (h)

3,060,698






3,093,518






3,058,819






3,036,202






2,805,206





Noninterest-bearing liabilities

203,537






242,620






244,402






247,930






265,667





Total liabilities

12,822,846






12,914,464






12,837,349






12,795,800






12,449,332





Shareholders' equity

1,600,728






1,559,627






1,570,935






1,560,959






1,538,427





Total liabilities and shareholders' equity

$   14,423,574






$   14,474,091






$   14,408,284






$   14,356,759






$   13,987,759





Net interest income/Interest rate spread



91,213


2.68 %




97,317


2.79 %




99,145


2.87 %




96,376


2.84 %




101,096


3.09 %

Net interest-earning assets/Net interest margin

$     3,891,871




2.75 %


$     3,890,860




2.89 %


$     3,800,034




2.97 %


$     3,740,167




2.91 %


$     3,506,823




3.18 %

Ratio of interest-earning assets to interest-bearing liabilities

1.41X






1.41X






1.40X






1.39X






1.37X





(a) 

Average gross loans receivable includes loans held as available-for-sale and loans placed on nonaccrual status.

(b)

Interest income includes accretion/amortization of deferred loan fees/expenses, which was not material.

(c) 

Average balances do not include the effect of unrealized gains or losses on securities held as available-for-sale.

(d) 

Interest income on tax-free investment securities and tax-free loans are presented on a fully taxable equivalent ("FTE") basis.

(e) 

Average balances include the effect of unrealized gains or losses on securities held as available-for-sale.

(f)  

Average balances include FHLB borrowings and collateralized borrowings.

(g) 

On September 9, 2020, the Company issued $125.0 million of 4.00% fixed-to-floating rate subordinated notes with a maturity of September 15, 2030.

(h) 

Average cost of deposits were 0.12%, 0.14%, 0.15%, 0.16%, and 0.19%, respectively.

(i) 

Shown on a FTE basis. GAAP basis yields for the periods indicated were: Loans — 3.61%, 3.77%, 3.79%, 3.71%, and 3.99%, respectively, Investment securities — 1.45%, 1.48%, 1.47%, 1.41%, and 1.46%, respectively, Interest-earning assets — 2.91%, 3.03%, 3.13%, 3.10%, and 3.40%, respectively. GAAP basis net interest rate spreads were 2.66%, 2.77%, 2.86%, 2.82%, and 3.07%, respectively, and GAAP basis net interest margins were 2.73%, 2.87%, 2.95%, 2.89%, and 3.16%, respectively.



 

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/northwest-bancshares-inc-announces-first-quarter-2022-earnings-and-quarterly-dividend-301531180.html

SOURCE Northwest Bancshares, Inc.

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Chronic stress and inflammation linked to societal and environmental impacts in new study

From anxiety about the state of the world to ongoing waves of Covid-19, the stresses we face can seem relentless and even overwhelming. Worse, these stressors…

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From anxiety about the state of the world to ongoing waves of Covid-19, the stresses we face can seem relentless and even overwhelming. Worse, these stressors can cause chronic inflammation in our bodies. Chronic inflammation is linked to serious conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer – and may also affect our thinking and behavior.   

Credit: Image: Vodovotz et al/Frontiers

From anxiety about the state of the world to ongoing waves of Covid-19, the stresses we face can seem relentless and even overwhelming. Worse, these stressors can cause chronic inflammation in our bodies. Chronic inflammation is linked to serious conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer – and may also affect our thinking and behavior.   

A new hypothesis published in Frontiers in Science suggests the negative impacts may extend far further.   

“We propose that stress, inflammation, and consequently impaired cognition in individuals can scale up to communities and populations,” explained lead author Prof Yoram Vodovotz of the University of Pittsburgh, USA.

“This could affect the decision-making and behavior of entire societies, impair our cognitive ability to address complex issues like climate change, social unrest, and infectious disease – and ultimately lead to a self-sustaining cycle of societal dysfunction and environmental degradation,” he added.

Bodily inflammation ‘mapped’ in the brain  

One central premise to the hypothesis is an association between chronic inflammation and cognitive dysfunction.  

“The cause of this well-known phenomenon is not currently known,” said Vodovotz. “We propose a mechanism, which we call the ‘central inflammation map’.”    

The authors’ novel idea is that the brain creates its own copy of bodily inflammation. Normally, this inflammation map allows the brain to manage the inflammatory response and promote healing.   

When inflammation is high or chronic, however, the response goes awry and can damage healthy tissues and organs. The authors suggest the inflammation map could similarly harm the brain and impair cognition, emotion, and behavior.   

Accelerated spread of stress and inflammation online   

A second premise is the spread of chronic inflammation from individuals to populations.  

“While inflammation is not contagious per se, it could still spread via the transmission of stress among people,” explained Vodovotz.   

The authors further suggest that stress is being transmitted faster than ever before, through social media and other digital communications.  

“People are constantly bombarded with high levels of distressing information, be it the news, negative online comments, or a feeling of inadequacy when viewing social media feeds,” said Vodovotz. “We hypothesize that this new dimension of human experience, from which it is difficult to escape, is driving stress, chronic inflammation, and cognitive impairment across global societies.”   

Inflammation as a driver of social and planetary disruption  

These ideas shift our view of inflammation as a biological process restricted to an individual. Instead, the authors see it as a multiscale process linking molecular, cellular, and physiological interactions in each of us to altered decision-making and behavior in populations – and ultimately to large-scale societal and environmental impacts.  

“Stress-impaired judgment could explain the chaotic and counter-intuitive responses of large parts of the global population to stressful events such as climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic,” explained Vodovotz.  

“An inability to address these and other stressors may propagate a self-fulfilling sense of pervasive danger, causing further stress, inflammation, and impaired cognition in a runaway, positive feedback loop,” he added.  

The fact that current levels of global stress have not led to widespread societal disorder could indicate an equally strong stabilizing effect from “controllers” such as trust in laws, science, and multinational organizations like the United Nations.   

“However, societal norms and institutions are increasingly being questioned, at times rightly so as relics of a foregone era,” said Prof Paul Verschure of Radboud University, the Netherlands, and a co-author of the article. “The challenge today is how we can ward off a new adversarial era of instability due to global stress caused by a multi-scale combination of geopolitical fragmentation, conflicts, and ecological collapse amplified by existential angst, cognitive overload, and runaway disinformation.”    

Reducing social media exposure as part of the solution  

The authors developed a mathematical model to test their ideas and explore ways to reduce stress and build resilience.  

“Preliminary results highlight the need for interventions at multiple levels and scales,” commented co-author Prof Julia Arciero of Indiana University, USA.  

“While anti-inflammatory drugs are sometimes used to treat medical conditions associated with inflammation, we do not believe these are the whole answer for individuals,” said Dr David Katz, co-author and a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine based in the US. “Lifestyle changes such as healthy nutrition, exercise, and reducing exposure to stressful online content could also be important.”  

“The dawning new era of precision and personalized therapeutics could also offer enormous potential,” he added.  

At the societal level, the authors suggest creating calm public spaces and providing education on the norms and institutions that keep our societies stable and functioning.  

“While our ‘inflammation map’ hypothesis and corresponding mathematical model are a start, a coordinated and interdisciplinary research effort is needed to define interventions that would improve the lives of individuals and the resilience of communities to stress. We hope our article stimulates scientists around the world to take up this challenge,” Vodovotz concluded.  

The article is part of the Frontiers in Science multimedia article hub ‘A multiscale map of inflammatory stress’. The hub features a video, an explainer, a version of the article written for kids, and an editorial, viewpoints, and policy outlook from other eminent experts: Prof David Almeida (Penn State University, USA), Prof Pietro Ghezzi (University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Italy), and Dr Ioannis P Androulakis (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA). 


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Acadia’s Nuplazid fails PhIII study due to higher-than-expected placebo effect

After years of trying to expand the market territory for Nuplazid, Acadia Pharmaceuticals might have hit a dead end, with a Phase III fail in schizophrenia…

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After years of trying to expand the market territory for Nuplazid, Acadia Pharmaceuticals might have hit a dead end, with a Phase III fail in schizophrenia due to the placebo arm performing better than expected.

Steve Davis

“We will continue to analyze these data with our scientific advisors, but we do not intend to conduct any further clinical trials with pimavanserin,” CEO Steve Davis said in a Monday press release. Acadia’s stock $ACAD dropped by 17.41% before the market opened Tuesday.

Pimavanserin, a serotonin inverse agonist and also a 5-HT2A receptor antagonist, is already in the market with the brand name Nuplazid for Parkinson’s disease psychosis. Efforts to expand into other indications such as Alzheimer’s-related psychosis and major depression have been unsuccessful, and previous trials in schizophrenia have yielded mixed data at best. Its February presentation does not list other pimavanserin studies in progress.

The Phase III ADVANCE-2 trial investigated 34 mg pimavanserin versus placebo in 454 patients who have negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The study used the negative symptom assessment-16 (NSA-16) total score as a primary endpoint and followed participants up to week 26. Study participants have control of positive symptoms due to antipsychotic therapies.

The company said that the change from baseline in this measure for the treatment arm was similar between the Phase II ADVANCE-1 study and ADVANCE-2 at -11.6 and -11.8, respectively. However, the placebo was higher in ADVANCE-2 at -11.1, when this was -8.5 in ADVANCE-1. The p-value in ADVANCE-2 was 0.4825.

In July last year, another Phase III schizophrenia trial — by Sumitomo and Otsuka — also reported negative results due to what the company noted as Covid-19 induced placebo effect.

According to Mizuho Securities analysts, ADVANCE-2 data were disappointing considering the company applied what it learned from ADVANCE-1, such as recruiting patients outside the US to alleviate a high placebo effect. The Phase III recruited participants in Argentina and Europe.

Analysts at Cowen added that the placebo effect has been a “notorious headwind” in US-based trials, which appears to “now extend” to ex-US studies. But they also noted ADVANCE-1 reported a “modest effect” from the drug anyway.

Nonetheless, pimavanserin’s safety profile in the late-stage study “was consistent with previous clinical trials,” with the drug having an adverse event rate of 30.4% versus 40.3% with placebo, the company said. Back in 2018, even with the FDA approval for Parkinson’s psychosis, there was an intense spotlight on Nuplazid’s safety profile.

Acadia previously aimed to get Nuplazid approved for Alzheimer’s-related psychosis but had many hurdles. The drug faced an adcomm in June 2022 that voted 9-3 noting that the drug is unlikely to be effective in this setting, culminating in a CRL a few months later.

As for the company’s next R&D milestones, Mizuho analysts said it won’t be anytime soon: There is the Phase III study for ACP-101 in Prader-Willi syndrome with data expected late next year and a Phase II trial for ACP-204 in Alzheimer’s disease psychosis with results anticipated in 2026.

Acadia collected $549.2 million in full-year 2023 revenues for Nuplazid, with $143.9 million in the fourth quarter.

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Digital Currency And Gold As Speculative Warnings

Over the last few years, digital currencies and gold have become decent barometers of speculative investor appetite. Such isn’t surprising given the evolution…

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Over the last few years, digital currencies and gold have become decent barometers of speculative investor appetite. Such isn’t surprising given the evolution of the market into a “casino” following the pandemic, where retail traders have increased their speculative appetites.

“Such is unsurprising, given that retail investors often fall victim to the psychological behavior of the “fear of missing out.” The chart below shows the “dumb money index” versus the S&P 500. Once again, retail investors are very long equities relative to the institutional players ascribed to being the “smart money.””

“The difference between “smart” and “dumb money” investors shows that, more often than not, the “dumb money” invests near market tops and sells near market bottoms.”

Net Smart Dumb Money vs Market

That enthusiasm has increased sharply since last November as stocks surged in hopes that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates. As noted by Sentiment Trader:

“Over the past 18 weeks, the straight-up rally has moved us to an interesting juncture in the Sentiment Cycle. For the past few weeks, the S&P 500 has demonstrated a high positive correlation to the ‘Enthusiasm’ part of the cycle and a highly negative correlation to the ‘Panic’ phase.”

Investor Enthusiasm

That frenzy to chase the markets, driven by the psychological bias of the “fear of missing out,” has permeated the entirety of the market. As noted in This Is Nuts:”

“Since then, the entire market has surged higher following last week’s earnings report from Nvidia (NVDA). The reason I say “this is nuts” is the assumption that all companies were going to grow earnings and revenue at Nvidia’s rate. There is little doubt about Nvidia’s earnings and revenue growth rates. However, to maintain that growth pace indefinitely, particularly at 32x price-to-sales, means others like AMD and Intel must lose market share.”

Nvidia Price To Sales

Of course, it is not just a speculative frenzy in the markets for stocks, specifically anything related to “artificial intelligence,” but that exuberance has spilled over into gold and cryptocurrencies.

Birds Of A Feather

There are a couple of ways to measure exuberance in the assets. While sentiment measures examine the broad market, technical indicators can reflect exuberance on individual asset levels. However, before we get to our charts, we need a brief explanation of statistics, specifically, standard deviation.

As I discussed in “Revisiting Bob Farrell’s 10 Investing Rules”:

“Like a rubber band that has been stretched too far – it must be relaxed in order to be stretched again. This is exactly the same for stock prices that are anchored to their moving averages. Trends that get overextended in one direction, or another, always return to their long-term average. Even during a strong uptrend or strong downtrend, prices often move back (revert) to a long-term moving average.”

The idea of “stretching the rubber band” can be measured in several ways, but I will limit our discussion this week to Standard Deviation and measuring deviation with “Bollinger Bands.”

“Standard Deviation” is defined as:

“A measure of the dispersion of a set of data from its mean. The more spread apart the data, the higher the deviation. Standard deviation is calculated as the square root of the variance.”

In plain English, this means that the further away from the average that an event occurs, the more unlikely it becomes. As shown below, out of 1000 occurrences, only three will fall outside the area of 3 standard deviations. 95.4% of the time, events will occur within two standard deviations.

Standard Deviation Chart

A second measure of “exuberance” is “relative strength.”

“In technical analysis, the relative strength index (RSI) is a momentum indicator that measures the magnitude of recent price changes to evaluate overbought or oversold conditions in the price of a stock or other asset. The RSI is displayed as an oscillator (a line graph that moves between two extremes) and can read from 0 to 100.

Traditional interpretation and usage of the RSI are that values of 70 or above indicate that a security is becoming overbought or overvalued and may be primed for a trend reversal or corrective pullback in price. An RSI reading of 30 or below indicates an oversold or undervalued condition.” – Investopedia

With those two measures, let’s look at Nvidia (NVDA), the poster child of speculative momentum trading in the markets. Nvidia trades more than 3 standard deviations above its moving average, and its RSI is 81. The last time this occurred was in July of 2023 when Nvidia consolidated and corrected prices through November.

NVDA chart vs Bollinger Bands

Interestingly, gold also trades well into 3 standard deviation territory with an RSI reading of 75. Given that gold is supposed to be a “safe haven” or “risk off” asset, it is instead getting swept up in the current market exuberance.

Gold vs Bollinger Bands

The same is seen with digital currencies. Given the recent approval of spot, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the panic bid to buy Bitcoin has pushed the price well into 3 standard deviation territory with an RSI of 73.

Bitcoin vs Bollinger Bands

In other words, the stock market frenzy to “buy anything that is going up” has spread from just a handful of stocks related to artificial intelligence to gold and digital currencies.

It’s All Relative

We can see the correlation between stock market exuberance and gold and digital currency, which has risen since 2015 but accelerated following the post-pandemic, stimulus-fueled market frenzy. Since the market, gold and cryptocurrencies, or Bitcoin for our purposes, have disparate prices, we have rebased the performance to 100 in 2015.

Gold was supposed to be an inflation hedge. Yet, in 2022, gold prices fell as the market declined and inflation surged to 9%. However, as inflation has fallen and the stock market surged, so has gold. Notably, since 2015, gold and the market have moved in a more correlated pattern, which has reduced the hedging effect of gold in portfolios. In other words, during the subsequent market decline, gold will likely track stocks lower, failing to provide its “wealth preservation” status for investors.

SP500 vs Gold

The same goes for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is substantially more volatile than gold and tends to ebb and flow with the overall market. As sentiment surges in the S&P 500, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies follow suit as speculative appetites increase. Unfortunately, for individuals once again piling into Bitcoin to chase rising prices, if, or when, the market corrects, the decline in cryptocurrencies will likely substantially outpace the decline in market-based equities. This is particularly the case as Wall Street can now short the spot-Bitcoin ETFs, creating additional selling pressure on Bitcoin.

SP500 vs Bitcoin

Just for added measure, here is Bitcoin versus gold.

Gold vs Bitcoin

Not A Recommendation

There are many narratives surrounding the markets, digital currency, and gold. However, in today’s market, more than in previous years, all assets are getting swept up into the investor-feeding frenzy.

Sure, this time could be different. I am only making an observation and not an investment recommendation.

However, from a portfolio management perspective, it will likely pay to remain attentive to the correlated risk between asset classes. If some event causes a reversal in bullish exuberance, cash and bonds may be the only place to hide.

The post Digital Currency And Gold As Speculative Warnings appeared first on RIA.

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