MetLife Inc. (MET)

Higher interest rates across the curve benefit asset-sensitive companies like the banks and insurance companies. , , and (on Best Ideas List) have lagged , , and . I expect the insurance stocks to play some catch up over the last half of this year.

"I am trying to elevate small talk to medium talk." -- Larry David Every day at about this hour I review my trading/investing of the last 1-2 days. Upon that review I am pleased -- but I am not patting myself in the back (this is part of my process ...

I have covered my Lincoln National short (last week I covered MetLife short) at $77.90 and I am taking both companies off my Best Ideas List.

The free fall in MetLife's shares continue this morning -- another -$1 drop to under $49 after yesterday's -$4 decline. I have covered the balance of this short -- originally placed on my Best Ideas List above $56.60 about 15 months ago. I am keepin...

I have taken off some of the short I recently put on at $281.39 -- moving from large to medium-sized. Ahead of this week's EPS report, I have also taken a profit in a portion of my Action Alerts PLUS holding Apple short (Trade of the Week) -- and ha...

I have reduced my short from medium sized to small sized -- after the announcement of the accounting problem. MET was placed on my Best Ideas List in December 2016 at about $56.65. It is now trading under $50.

After the close Met Life reported a material weakness in their accounting and the need to restate past results. The shares are trading down about 8% (-$4) and I have covered a portion of my short into the whoosh lower. The issue is company-specific ...

Please note that iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF  is now at the high of the day (+$0.52). The reversal in money center banks shares has been conspicuous. (Citigroup is -$4 from its premarket high). The 10-year US note yield, as expected,...

In the early-morning bond session, the yield on the 10-year U.S. note touched 2.20%. That was my short-term objective in my Trade of the Week, long ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury . (Remember, the yield closed at 2.06% last Friday).  Yesterda...

Steve Cortes' chart (below) exhibits the breakdown in financial stocks.   Financial stocks -- Morgan Stanley , Goldman Sachs , Bank of America , Citigroup , JPMorgan Chase , MetLife and Lincoln National -- represent my largest sector short exposure ...

"I satirize at all times, and my hyperboles are as nothing compared to the events to which they refer." - Marshall McLuhan    We are stuck in a fantasy legislative land.    Goldman Sachs gets on board with my Hurricane Harvey/Budget view.    Sell te...

I wanted to piggyback on my closing comments yesterday with some additional worrisome observations on the financials and fixed-income markets:  * Banks/financials were down by about 3% on Tuesday. From The Divine Ms. M's opener this morning:   But i...

I am short a broad list of financials: Bank of America , Citigroup , JPMorgan Chase , Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley , MetLife and Lincoln National .   Here is one of the reasons for this position: The gap between 2 and 10-year Treasury yields has s...

Hartford Financial is conspicuous (in the black) against a sea of red in insurance stocks (Metropolitan Life , Lincoln National , and Prudential much lower).  

The market stood its ground and then some today:   * A buy program was the last program standing. * The Nasdaq regained strength. Ns over Ss and Rs. * Financials paused (life insurance particularly weak as spin off not well received) - though rallie...

We had a question regarding the MetLife Brighthouse spinoff in our Comments Section this week. I responded that I didn't think it would have much of an impact on MetLife's shares (my Trade of the Week as a short along with Lincoln National ).   Citi...

"Raindrops on roses And whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things"  -- Julie Andrews, My Favorite Things Here are my top ten favorite shorts (wit...

Shorting trades of the week -- Lincoln National at $69.09 and MetLife $56.17 -- now.