Hello Share Smokers. What with worries about China, Ukraine, supply problems et al, you would expect the Honkers Bonkers bank (HSBA) to be up against it. Not so, according to the latest half year results. HSBC’s big cheese said ‘We are confident of achieving a return on tangible equity of at least 12% from 2023 onwards, which would represent our best returns in a decade.’

Is it time for me to sell my (extremely small) NatWest Group (NWG) shareholding? The last time I wrote about the stock in August 2020 with the mad world of stimulus and ultra-low interest rates – and despite the government’s still 60%+ shareholding in NatWest then - I thought the sector was cheap. Since then the shares have approximately doubled to their current just shy of 235p level. So time to sell the NatWest holding or not?

Hello, Share Mashers. António Horta-Osório, Chief Executive of Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), is standing down, saying he views the bank with pride. Though he’s presided over a big fall in share price during his reign. Never mind, he’s been a good head honcho and nobody saw the pandemic coming. And the latest trading statement is encouraging, with the share price rising 5% on it, a rare jump for a Footsie giant.

Back when I was a callow youth about to start my undergraduate studies, the ritual of opening my first bank account (until then a Post Office savings account was my sole financial product interaction) provided a wonderful social insight. If I recall correctly, all the cool, well-heeled kids had accounts open for them at Barclays (BARC) or Lloyds (LLOY) as a continuation of their parental banking allegiances. I just went for the bank that offered me the most money as a joining inducement...and that happened to be NatWest… I read today in the latest quarterly thoughts from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) that this tainted name - courtesy of largesse a decade plus ago by 'Fred the Shred' and others - will change back to NatWest Group later this year...

A year ago, I wrote a piece comparing and contrasting Lloyds Bank (LLOY) and the challenger financial Metro Bank (MTRO). Well that worked out well from a long-short perspective: Lloyds - with dividends - lost a touch whilst Metro Bank has absolutely bombed, down over £10 to under £25. I was thinking about Metro Bank again today as it came out with another set of numbers which showed more deposits, more lending, more profit...but still the shares are down 10% odd today. Why such further pain?