Schutz's portfolio these days is eclectic, ranging from well-known names, like insurance giant Travelers (TRV) and investment bank-turned-"regular"-bank Morgan Stanley (MS), to lesser-knowns, like Invesco Mortgage Capital (IVR) and Chimera Investment (CIM). The last two are specialty finance companies established to invest in distressed real-estate assets, mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. "These kinds of new entities will benefit as book values grow; meanwhile, they will be paying out significant yields," Schutz says.

That means Goldman (GS), Morgan (MS) and other banks that have strong trading units are still poised to turn profits but the big money center banks such as Bank of America Corp. (BAC) are in a different class and the profit potential doesn't look nearly as attractive. - Joe Terranova

Clearly the stock has had a nice run, says Guy Adami.. I’d take a wait and see approach to this stock. I like Morgan (MS) but the stock hit a 52-week high, adds Pete Najarian. It makes me wonder just how strong business has to be to take shares even higher.

Outperform - Price 32.09 on Oct. 13
by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

We are raising our price target to 36 (from 34), in part to reflect the slight increase to our forecast but also as we fine-tune our valuation. Our price target is 1.2 times our 2010 ending book-value forecast. Our investment thesis for MS continues to be predicated on the transition to a business model with a greater focus on relatively less capital-intensive businesses....Market cap: $43.6 billion.

"KBW's Lee offered a mixed view on Morgan Stanley (MS), lowering his 2009 earnings estimate to a loss of $1.14 a share from a loss of 90 cents while raising his 2010 full-year view to a profit of $3.30 a share from $3.20. Lee said the lower 2009 estimate is a result of somewhat lower trading revenue." Read more here.

Read more here.

Melissa Lee said the money on the sidelines seems to be attracted to the higher quality financial stocks such as Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

great long made somoe money over the last few months

"The key issue to focus on in the next four months is top-line revenue growth," says David Kostin, Goldman Sachs' chief U.S. strategist. Since peaking at $91 a share in mid-2007, S&P 500 profits have suffered the worst contraction since the Great Depression, falling 53%. During this stretch, companies have cut jobs, slashed fixed costs and amassed considerable operating leverage that can come in handy when revenue grows again. Kostin thinks companies exposed to the faster-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China are better positioned to deliver such growth. To that end, Goldman has flagged a basket of 50 U.S. stocks with the highest percentage of sales to these BRIC countries. The selection includes Sohu.com (ticker: SOHU), Marvell Technology (MRVL), Mylan Laboratories (MYL), Pfizer (PFE), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Yum! Brands (YUM).

Morgan Stanley (MS) is planning to hire as many as 400 traders and sales people, according to a Reuters report, as the firm moves to compete better with rival Goldman Sachs (GS). Read full story here.

bught at $7 last yr, sold at $16, then bought back at $13 sold at 22 should have held longer.

makes wimpy software

a few heebs

government

lost too much

BANKING INDUSTRY GETTING HIT TOO HARD

it's over...the little guy will never win!

broker

Financial

same as MER