Northern Trust Corp (NTRS)

Banking industry. Sold short NTRS today in my real life portfolio @48.39/share.

Today's summary for bank plays: bought FFBC & MBFI. They will be winners & they are decently valued without having major gorillas in their room.

HCBK and NTRS may be 'relatively' sound, but there are enough chinks in their armor combined with high relative valuations that their appears plenty of downside risk vs return.

I did try to short 4 other banks today (2 of em which I would've considered short candy), but shorting was unavailable to me. I'm highly tempted to fax over an options authorization form to my broker so I can buy puts.

This Company is so undervalued. they are a very conservative bank. Just check out the balance sheet. Never needed TARP funds. Management is very strong. This bank is fairing much better than most, and the valuation is attractive right now

quant 1 screen 9_18_09

Mmm...financial services...

If you owe the bank 100 dollars you have a problem. If you owe the bank 1 million dollars the bank has a problem.

Well managed, conservative, and the beneficiary of flight-to-quality movements as others in their field faltered.

Aren't these the people that gave BACK their loan to the tax payers?

Custodial / investment manager.

Reports before market opens in the morning, and if it holds true to the price action that State Street has seen today, it could very well get a serious haircut.

I've purchased puts on this issue at approximately 12:15 today.

Intraday price action looks like a pump, IMO.

Cash rich.

Low risk portfolio. High fee income. Beaten up with all other bank stocks. Will outperform them.

One of the best and safest bank stocks. Primarily dealing with wealthy clients and financial planning in suburban Chicago area. Very conservative.

Low Debt. Lots of Cash. Highest ROE out Midwest banks. Primarily ultra rich clients = no sub prime exposure.

Banks recommended as "solid" fundamentally.

Counter trend pick. Financials are, but this stock is going against the trend.

The hyper-rich and big institutions are putting their money with NTRS. Banking for big clients like Barack Obama and the Hawaii Pension System is old hat for NTRS--and if nothing else, the stock is a performance champion, a nice earnings machine. Sure, the stock is down today, as Crude is up to $133--but that it is down so little is a testament to the this stock.

A Barron's pick.... a solid firm targeting upper-end customers with a highly customized approach.

Mortgage mess wont hurt this bank, and rock solid 4Q.

With the vol that is in the market right now, I see wealth investers flocking to this bank to have their money managed. Also, a big plus that they are not tied to the whole subprime mess.