Unprecedented hype and lofty IPO goals resulted in a Facebook valuation that is severely out of whack.

Options prices are rich in JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) right now. For options traders, that means it's time to sell using a credit spread strategy.

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) shares fell another 8.5% today. This time there was a more scandalous reason behind the pullback.

Bankers from J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) were able to skirt trading regulations. The result was a $3 billion blunder.

JPMorgan's (NYSE: JPM) stock price has fallen 16% in a matter of a week. That's what losing more than $3 billion in derivatives trading will do.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) just lost $2 billion on bad trades. Today investors are taking it out on the big bank's stock.

Banks, gold and the European debt crisis are all part of this candid conversation between Kevin McElroy and Chris Preston.

By every traditional measure, this earnings season has been a sweeping success for U.S. companies. So why are stocks falling?

Earnings season is often a high volume period. But that hasn't been the case this week.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) beat earnings estimates today, making the big banks a perfect six for six.

The big banks have sent mixed signals this week, with strong earnings reports being followed by declining stocks.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) headlined a solid batch of Tuesday morning earnings results from some of the bigger names on the market.

Less than 24 hours after rumors of improved GDP growth in China drove U.S. financial markets up 1% on Thursday, today stocks are falling after those rumors proved untrue.

Big banks started earnings season with a big bang this morning, with JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) both beating Wall Street estimates.

Rumors of better-than-expected GDP growth in China were enough to give U.S. financial markets a 1% boost today.

Alcoa (NYSE: AA) kicked off earnings season with a bang late yesterday, spurring a stock-market rally early today to help erase five straight days of losses.

The pause from SPX last week was just the market working off overbought conditions, but that pause will turn into a collapse if some of those other elements do not reverse, quickly.

The market declined yesterday - sort of. Many indices sported declines but nothing all that severe and nearly all major indices finished the day above the session's lows.

Exchange-traded funds aren't a bad place to look. ETFs can offer the high yields of a dividend stock but with the diversification of a mutual fund. Here are five ETFs that currently offer more than 5% yield.

Big bank stocks received a boost when many of them passed the Fed's latest stress tests today.

After JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) announced a $15 billion buyback, other bank stocks such as Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citi (NYSE: C) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) exploded 6% to the upside.

Bank stocks are falling this morning as Moody's will review many of them for possible downgrade. Will the market as a whole follow?

Like a middle school high jumper, companies are getting plenty of credit this earnings season for clearing very low bars.

The market has been relentlessly higher for nearly two full months. Such a long rally without a decisive pause always ends in mayhem. Meanwhile, do you think Facebook is over pricing itself?

While I expect a short-term pullback, I'm not anticipating a large top to form this week. It could, but I don't expect it to occur.

While short-lived, yesterday's pullback had purpose. Along with the sideways fade over the past week most of the major indices were able to work off an overbought condition.

These three banks have a long history of providing market-beating yields and positive returns on investment. 

Despite the fact that the six major U.S. banks have been on the rise for nearly four months now, their stocks remain risky long-term buys.

Earnings season hits full stride this week, and it could be a very critical week for the bulls.

The difference between the two earnings reports came down to one area: investment banking.

The market recorded another gain yesterday as the indices continued to consolidate after the big open to start the week.

JP Morgan Chase's (NYSE: JPM) fourth-quarter earnings fell 23% from last year, but the real test for the big banks comes next week.

The increase in volume was excellent to see yesterday, and that increase in volume added further conviction to the bullish move higher past 1280 resistance.

I argue in favor of a bullish advance past 1301 resistance and this week could very well be the start of that move. 

Chairman of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Asset Management Jim O'Neill discusses what he calls the January 5-Day Rule...

If you're looking for yet another reason to own physical gold, look no further than the unbelievable situation that continues to unravel with the MF Global debacle.

The euro has fallen sharply lower by 3% this week, which has corresponded to a similar rise in the dollar. The rise from the dollar brought havoc to the commodities and stock market alike.

While investors should be wary of the bank sector as a whole, there is one bank that I believe will rise above the rest.

If two of these three trends don't take place, neither will a market rally.
 

All major U.S. indices were down by more than 2% on the session, and once again, financials, which are heavily exposed to a European debt crisis, took the largest loses.

The market concluded its fourth positive week in a row with another strong performance from financials.

The market and the euro both tanked following the news out of Greece last week.

Investors had expected the worst from the banks, which is why the financial index was down 30% since May. The market will not be able to break 1250 resistance and rally higher without the bank stocks.

Every bank stock was higher, and most rose twice as much as the average stock from other sectors.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) missed earnings estimates badly, and tech behemoth IBM (NYSE: IBM) came in light on sales.

Big bank stocks were hit hard. The decline followed a bland earnings report from big banking leader, JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), which promptly resulted in similar declines to big bank competitors: Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC).

While I don't view Greece as an issue, a slowdown in Europe would be a big deal.

Big banks don’t have much of a reputation at the moment. Ok, that’s being kind. People HATE big banks – or at least they have since the infamous subprime mortgage loan crisis in late 2008 and early 2009.