PacWest Bancorp is currently weighing strategic options, including a possible sale, which has caused the bank’s shares to plummet more than 50% in after-hours trading. According to sources, Piper Sandler and Stephens have been brought in to evaluate longer-term plans for the business. Many West Coast regional banks have been hit hard since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March due to concerns that their customer bases are similar. First Republic Bank was also recently seized by regulators and sold to JPMorgan Chase. PacWest’s market cap is roughly $750 million and the stock is down by 72% this year. The bank’s shares declined nearly 2% during the regular session on Wednesday, marking their fifth straight losing day.
Category Archives: Stock Market
According to David Doyle, head of North America economics at Macquarie, the US economy is headed toward a more severe downturn than the Federal Reserve is predicting. Inflation is too high for investors to rely on the Fed’s monetary policy to support the economy and markets, which weakens the Fed’s ability to implement a “Fed put”. Despite recent market rallies, Doyle warns of an impending recession for the US economy, which he predicts will be slightly more severe than what the Fed and the market are forecasting. Furthermore, the central bank won’t bail out stocks during the upcoming recession. The Fed has raised interest rates to tame inflation, which had run at four-decade highs before cooling in recent months. The aggressive rate hikes are likely to drag on the economy, and the central bank’s own policymakers have acknowledged the risk of a “mild recession”.