The Market Bloodbath and Bank Stocks

Market Update for week of July 23 - July 27:

Dow Jones Industrial Average -4.2%
NASDAQ -4.6%
S&P 500 -5.0%

Bank Stock Watch:

The bloodbath in the markets last week left our group of favorite dividend-paying group of bank stocks to watch (which includes the 5 largest banks in the country) with a higher yields for those who purchase the stock at the current price and a lower price-to-earnings ratio. The banks listed below are not heavily invested in the sub-prime mortgage industry and are not expected to bear the brunt of further deterioration in the sub-prime market or mortgage delinquencies in general. This list includes well-capitalized banks with large deposit bases and solid dividend-payout histories. The list includes:

Citigroup (C) - 4.60% yield, 11.32 p/e

Bank of America (BAC) - 5.40% yield, 9.70 p/e

JP Morgan Chase (JPM) - 3.44% yield, 9.72 p/e

Wachovia (WB) - 4.70% yield, 9.99 p/e

Wells Fargo (WFC) - 3.69% yield, 12.86 p/e

Key Corp (KEY) - 4.17% yield, 10.77 p/e

Washington Mutual - (WM)5.80% yield, 12.04 p/e

National City (NCC) - 5.49% yield, 9.05 p/e

US Bancorp (USB) - 5.34% yield, 11.58 p/e

Fulton Financial (FULT) - 4.53% yield, 13.25 p/e

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) - 4.57% yield, 17.35 p/e

New York Community Bancorp(NYB) - 6.22% yield, 21.17 p/e

To realize the yield quoted above an investor would have to purchase the stock at the closing price from Friday. An increase in the price of the stock decreases the dividend yield and conversely a decrease in price increases the dividend yield.