EU Warns Spain Over BBVA-Sabadell Merger Intervention
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Thursday in a formal notice that Spanish laws that give Madrid authority to intervene in banking acquisitions undermine the exclusive competences of the European Central Bank and national supervisors, and restrict the fundamental EU freedoms of establishment and capital movements.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
As the FTSE 100 hits an all-time high, I'm following Warren Buffett's advice!
It has been a week to pop the champagne corks, with the FTSE 100 index of leading blue-chip shares reaching a new all-time record high. That may seem like a cause for celebration, but it also brought to mind for me some advice from billionaire investor Warren Buffett. Buffett famously cautioned investors 'to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful'. A record-setting index could mean that some investors are getting greedy. So, might now be the time to be fearful as an investor? What Buffett sees as an opportunity When Warren Buffett talks about being fearful, it may sound like a possible cause for concern. Then again, he is also on record as saying that he wouldn't trade a second of good sleep for extra profits. So, what is he getting at when he talks about being fearful when others are being greedy? The way I interpret that is as a caution against being carried away with the excitement of a strongly performing market. Just because the market is doing well does not necessarily mean that it will keep doing so. Importantly, Buffett's approach is not simply to avoid the market when it does particularly well. He does what he always does, which is looking to buy into 'great companies at attractive valuations'. Even when the market overall is riding high, that does not mean that all shares are doing well. Looking for quality at the right price For example, one share I have bought this year is Diageo (LSE: DGE). While it has a stake in Moët Hennessy, I suspect that Diageo's chief executive may not have been popping any champagne corks this week despite the FTSE 100 hitting new highs. That is because it was announced that she was leaving the Guinness brewer. Its share price has fallen precipitously under her relatively brief leadership and the Diageo share price is now 32% lower than five years ago. Clearly, many potential Diageo investors have grown fearful. By contrast, I have been what Warren Buffett describes as greedy, scoping up Diageo shares for my portfolio. I hope the next boss does better, but the company's challenges are not limited to just its choice of chief executive. Many of Diageo's premium spirit brands continue to fight weak demand in key markets. Younger generations are less likely to drink alcohol than their older relatives. That could mean a long-term demand decline like we have seen in the tobacco industry. Still, I reckon Diageo has a lot going for it even now. It owns plenty of strong brands that give it pricing power, a business attribute Warren Buffett values highly. Indeed, Buffett invested in Diageo's predecessor company some decades ago. Diageo is massively profitable. It is also one of only a few FTSE 100 companies to have grown its dividend per share annually for decades. The Diageo share price is still not exactly a screaming bargain. It is selling for 16 times earnings. But I see that as an attractive price for what I reckon is a great business. The post As the FTSE 100 hits an all-time high, I'm following Warren Buffett's advice! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool C Ruane has positions in Diageo Plc. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Diageo Plc. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Huntington Bank CEO talks Q2 earnings, tariffs, & Veritex deal
Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) stock is in focus after the regional bank announced second quarter earnings. Huntington Bancshares chairman, president, and CEO Steve Steinour joins Asking for a Trend to discuss the earnings print, the state of the US economy, the company's acquisition of Veritex (VBTX), and more. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Asking for a Trend here. Shares of Huntington Bank fell on Friday, despite the regional lender raising its annual interest income forecast, as they expect to deliver record net interest income for the full year. Huntington Bank is one of the country's largest small business administration loan originators with $210 billion in assets. Steve Steinour, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer joins Nada, break down the latest earnings and expectations. Steve, it is good to see you. So, you did report results, Steve, um, and and the stock slipped a bit. I was talking to an analyst who covers you all, Steve, and he was saying, you know, Steve posts solid growth, but he said the next the guidance he offered said implies the next few quarters could maybe slow be slowing down a bit, and he said the question on the street and for investors is whether Steve is being just kind of conservative here or no, is he is he looking at the outlook as he's talking to customers and and has reason to believe that things may be a little bit slower in the quarters ahead. What's your answer, Steve? Well, we had a spectacular second quarter, and um and and with that, there was a certain amount of pullback. We did 8% year-over-year loan growth, but there was a pullback. Uh, there's uh uh some uncertainty about going forward. So, on the margin, it affected some of our lending activity. It would have been even stronger. And at 8%, I think it's peer-leading. Uh so we we've hedged it a little bit because of the ongoing uncertainties. Um, we enter this quarter very strong. We've got great conviction in the third quarter, and typically, the fourth quarter is our best quarter of the year. So we're we're uh we're trying to call it with a bit of conservatism. Given the uncertainty, Steve, you do have though very, you know, listen, interesting insight and line of sight into the US economy. How would you generally, Steve, characterize the economy here? How, you know, how healthy, how resilient does it look to you? Look, I think the underlying economy still is relatively healthy. There's a lot of transition going on in the manufacturing side that's tariff related, supply chain repositioning, um uh substitution of parts into different uh production environments, things like that. So it's really difficult for manufacturers, and and having said that, companies are doing reasonably well. Consumer is surprisingly strong. We see that with very low delinquency levels, and our our losses were uh very, very low. Net charge offs, 20 basis points in our peer group, that's probably one of the best best best numbers if not the best. So we're we're we're still quite optimistic about the economy. We need to get a few things, more things settled down. We've got the the tax code now set, so that's a big uh uh relief. And I'm optimistic as we get through the tariffs and some of the other issues that things will settle down and again, this core economy is in relatively good shape. You mentioned that big beautiful bill, Steve. What's interesting is when I talk to economists on the show, Steve, and I'll ask them about that, I would say their their enthusiasm broadly it's it's sort of tempered in terms of what it will mean for the economy, but you're actually, you know, you're running a business. What what do you think it's going to mean? Well, we're a very large equipment finance lender. We're number four or five in the country. So the accelerated depreciation is going to be a big boon for uh uh cap backs for equipment, and that'll be very significant for us. So, uh at a business level, we think this is going to be very helpful helpful to us, and and frankly on a longer term basis to our society, because all of the onshoring, reshoring, all of the expansion in the US, it's all going to get boosted by the accelerated depreciation provisions in the in that bill. I want to talk about the Fed with you as well, Steve, because we've we've had some notable economists on the show this week. Uh, I'm thinking one in particular who told me, listen, he he does not think you're going to see the Fed cut this year. That is the base case he's telling his clients at this point. Uh, certainly would not make the president happy, but I I'm curious, Steve, let's say that's true. If the Fed doesn't cut this year, that means what for your bank? It doesn't have any significant impact on us either way. Uh, we're we're we're we're hedged to neutrality. If they cut, we're uh modestly better off, but we've expanded the NIM significantly throughout the our net interest margin significantly throughout the year anyway, and uh and that that that NIM will hold, and it's in a very tight band now. So, uh our asset growth will fuel net interest income growth, and uh and you know, we feel optimistic about it. We've had a great, as I said, great first half, and our second half is usually better. Let's talk about an acquisition you made, Steve. That made some headlines. You're buying Veritex. Walk us through that decision and what it means for the bank. Well, we've been investing in different businesses. We've been in the Carolinas investing. We have eight new specialty banking areas. We're still investing in the core, and we're doing very, very well. We've been in Texas since 2009. Veritex is headquartered in Dallas. We have five a little over five, five and a half billion dollars of loans in Texas today. We're the number one SBA SBA lender in Texas. Um, Veritex is in Dallas and Houston, which is exactly where we want to be. And the ability to combine with them, it's a great group of talented bankers. Uh they have a terrific leader in Malcolm Holland. He's going to join us as well. And so, this will let us bring the full franchise of Huntington to Texas. It's a big deal for us. We think this has a lot of upside. We we talk about this as a springboard, and we think it will be. Texas what Texas is either the fastest growing state uh or or or very close to that, and it's huge scale, and it's exactly where we're positioned. How do regulators feel about it, Steve? They uh we've obviously pre-cleared these things with regulators, and and we're pre-cleared to go. But we manage the company we manage the company for 15 years with an aggregate moderate to low risk profile. A couple of years ago when Silicon Valley Bank failed, we had the best liquidity profile of any bank our size or larger. And we've maintained that. And and that has positioned us to make investments and grow the bank when others have been reluctant or have chosen to take a different course. Steve, great to see you and to have you on the show. Thank you so much for your time today. Thank you. Related Videos IPO outlook: Why you can expect 'more activity' this fall Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee on Tariffs, Inflation and AI | WSJ's Take On the Week Tech highs, liquidity spigots, crypto week: Market takeaways Trump signs GENIUS Act into law, a 'key moment' for crypto Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Real Madrid seal agreement with 25-year-old attacker
Real Madrid have been very busy in recent weeks, with four signings having been completed since the start of the summer. Sales are also on the agenda, as are contract agreements with some of their existing players. In the last 24 hours, it has been reported that Thibaut Courtois will sign a new contract, extending his stay beyond 2026 – when his current deal expires. Raul Asencio is also expected to sign on the dotted line in the near future, and both players are to be joined by Brahim Diaz. Brahim, who has impressed since returning in 2023 from a three-year loan at Milan, is an important player at Real Madrid, and that has been reflected by him being offered a new contract. He has accepted, and according to Fabrizio Romano, an agreement has now been finalised, with only the signing and announcement pending. Image via Jason Cairnduff/Action Images via Reuters Brahim will play an important role next season Real Madrid's first team squad will return for pre-season in a couple of weeks' time, with their pre-season being significant shorter due to their involvement at the Club World Cup. Upon being back in the Spanish capital, it is likely that Brahim will pen his new contract. Brahim was important for Carlo Ancelotti, and he could be even more so for Xabi Alonso going forward – especially if Rodrygo Goes departs, which has been heavily speculated in recent weeks. He has 18 goals and 15 assists since returning to Real Madrid, which is an impressive record considering he was not a regular starter. Interestingly, the reports on Courtois and Brahim's new deals come soon after claims that Vinicius Junior's future at Real Madrid is uncertain. The 24-year-old has been close to agreeing a contract of his own, but negotiations between the two parties have now stalled – and it is expected that a resolution will not be reached before the end of the summer.
