A stock market wisdom says: The markets are always right. Now, an emergency capital increase after realized losses due to bond sales of a Californian niche bank has put bank shares under pressure. Not only in the US, but worldwide. German and European bank stocks also came under pressure after the four largest banks in the US alone lost $52 billion in market value on Thursday.
An overreaction? One may hope so, but it is not certain. In Germany, write-downs on bonds, which have drastically lost value after the interest rate turnaround, are particularly noticeable among savings banks and cooperative banks. This may be due to the business model and also to the German accounting standards according to HGB.
But the statements of the savings bank superiors, these are only accounting losses, after all, they want to hold the bonds until maturity, are only a declaration of intent. Wanting does not necessarily mean being able. The turnaround in interest rates is not just a blessing for the industry. The markets are making this unmistakably clear.