The World’s 50 Biggest Banks based on Assets

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The 50 biggest banks in the world based on total assets was released by the Global Finance magazine. The number of banks with more than $1 Trillion in assets grew to just 25 from 24 due to the credit crunch last year.

Biggest-banks

Source: Global Finance

The total assets of banks of Citibank(C), Royal Bank of Scotland(RBS) dropped by the end of 2008. Assets of Lloyds Banking Group(LYG), Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPM Morgan Chase(JPM) grew due to acquisitions.

European banks especially British banks dominate the top 10 rankings.None of the Latin American made it to this list. The growing power of Chinese banks is evident from the appearance of four Chinese banks in the above table as opposed to just one last year.

Related:
The World’s Biggest Banks by Assets Held

List of Latin American ADRs Up More Than 100% YTD

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Emerging markets are the best performing markets this year. In the emerging markets, the main market index of countries like Brazil have skyrocketed year-to-date (YTD) relative to other countries. For example, the MSCI Brazil Index ETF (EWZ) is up an incredible 99.42% as of September 30,2009. Some of the Latin American ADRs have also have great runs.

The list below shows the Latin American ADRs which are up 100% or more as of Oct 6, 2009:

GRUMA – GMK
Gafisa – GFA
Ternium – TX
Nortel Invesora – NTL
Braskem – BAK
MetroGas – MGS
AFP Provida- PVD
Companhia Siderurgica Nacional- SID
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes – GOL
Banco Macro- BMA
Grupo Financiero Galicia – GGAL
Telecom Argentina – TEO
Gerdau – GGB
Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao – CBD
Vivo – VIV
Net Servicos de Comunicacao – NETC
AmBev – ABV
TIM Participacoes – TSU
Votorantim Celulose e Papel – VCP
Banco Bradesco – BBD
BRF – Brasil Foods – PDA
Edenor – EDN
AmBev – ABV
Aracruz Celulose – ARA
Vale – VALE
BBVA Banco Frances – BFR

The World’s Best Banks 2009

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The Global Finance magazine has published the best banks for 2009 in the global, regional and country categories. The list includes the best banks in 123 countries and 11 key banking categories.

The winners were selected based on both objective and subjective criteria.”Objective criteria included growth in assets, profitability, geographic reach, strategic relationships, new business development and product innovation. Subjective criteria included the opinions of equity and credit-rating analysts, banking consultants and others in the industry, as well as corporate and financial executives.”

The World’s Best Banks 2009 List

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In the global level, the winners were JPMorgan Chase (JPM), HSBC (HBC), Credit Suisse (CS) ,Bank of New York Mellon (BK), Citibank (C), BNP Paribas (BNPQY), State Street Global Advisors – part of State Street Bank(STT), Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank (DB).

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) was ranked the best bank in the United States in Canada the ScotiaBank (BNS) was selected as the best bank. For the BRIC countries, the top banks were:

Brazil – Itau Unibanco (ITUB)
Russia – VTB
China – ICBC
India – HDFC Bank (HDB)

In Europe, notable country winners include HSBC (HBC) for UK, Commerzbank (CRZBY) for Germany, BNP Paribas(BNPQY) for France and Santander(STD) for Spain.

The Five Best and Worst Performing ADRs YTD

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Despite the significant rise in the markets from the March lows, not all the stocks are up year-to-date (YTD). While many ADR stocks are in the positive territory for the year some are still down heavily. The Five Best and Worst Performing ADRs YTD are listed below.

The Five Best Performing ADRs:

Company: Spreadtrum Communications (SPRD)
Country: China
YTD Change: 396%

Company: Mechel Steel (MTL)
Country: Russia
YTD Change: 334%

Company: KongZhong (KONG)
Country: China
YTD Change: 330%

Company: Aixtron (AIXG)
Country: Germany
YTD Change: 303%

Company: VanceInfo Technologies (VIT)
Country: China
YTD Change: 294%

The Five Worst Performing ADRs:

Company: Mizuho Financial (MFG)
Country: Japan
YTD Change: -29%

Company: LDK Solar(LDK)
Country: China
YTD Change: -38%

Company: The9 (NCTY)
Country: China
YTD Change: -43%

Company: Rostelecom (ROS)
Country: Russia
YTD Change: -48%

Company: Invitel (IHO)
Country: Denmark
YTD Change: -51%

Note: Performance data as of October 5, 2009

Six Defense Sector ADR Stocks

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European countries together with Russia rank number two and three in arms exports to other countries. Next to the US, Russia, UK, France, Germany have large defense industries that cater to the demands of the developing world. Earlier today in an article analyzing the global arms market, I discussed the top 10 defense contractors in the US.

Now lets take a look at the foreign defense-sector stocks that trade in the US markets as ADRs:

Company:BAE Systems (BAESY)
Country: U.K.
Dividend Yield: 4.03%

Company:Embraer (ERJ)
Country: Brazil
Dividend Yield: N/A

Company: IRKUT (IRKTY)
Country: Russia
Dividend Yield: N/A

Company:Metal Storm (MTSXY)
Country: Australia
Dividend Yield: N/A

Company:Rolls Royce (RYCEY)
Country: U.K.
Dividend Yield: 2.70%

Company:Thales (THLEY)
Country: France
Dividend Yield: 3.07%

British defense firm BAE Systems and is down 4.44% YTD. Rolls-Royce operates in both the defense segment and the civilian aerospace area manufacturing airplane engine and services. The stock is up 47% YTD.

Brazil-based Embraer(ERJ) is engaged in the manufacture of aircrafts for both civilian and defense purposes. YTD the stock is up 39%.

Russian defense supplies maker IRKUT is up 171% YTD. Australian firm Metal Storm does not pay a dividend and the stock closed at $0.40 last Friday. France-based Thales operates in the aerospace, space, defense, security and transportation markets.YTD Thales is up 15%.