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Cranberry Journal

Wednesday, November 4, 2026

Also in this edition
Markets
  • S&P 5007,702.91+1.77%
  • Nasdaq25,857.40+1.91%
  • Dow53,294.64+2.91%
  • 10-yr yield4.90%−0.97%
  • Crude$88.82−7.57%
At the close · Nov 4

Banking

Tagged stories

The glass tower of Westpac Place in Sydney, with the red Westpac W logo near its top, rising behind lower office buildings under a clear late-afternoon sky.
Business

Westpac's Operating Profit Rose $379 Million Last Year. It Set Aside $440 Million More for Bad Loans, Though Fewer of Its Borrowers Are in Trouble.

Westpac earned A$7.0 billion excluding notable items in the year to 30 September, unchanged from a year earlier, and A$6.8 billion on a statutory basis, down 1 per cent, it said on Monday 2 November. Impairment charges doubled to A$864 million. The bank expects Australian interest rates to stay elevated into 2027, a day before the Reserve Bank meets.

By Daniel Okafor  

The entrance to an American Express Centurion Lounge, with open navy-blue double doors beside a pale mosaic wall bearing the company's centurion-head emblem and the words The Centurion.
Business

American Express Raised Its Forecast After Earning $5.42 a Share. Its Cards Now Carry an Average Fee of $136 a Year, 14 Per Cent More Than a Year Ago.

American Express said on 23 October that third-quarter revenue rose 9 per cent to $20.1 billion and earnings per share rose 31 per cent to $5.42, or 13 per cent to $4.68 excluding a travel-stake gain and a restructuring charge. It raised its full-year earnings forecast to $18.30 to $18.60 a share. Net card fees rose 16 per cent, faster than spending.

By Daniel Okafor  

Rows of metal safe deposit boxes lining a bank vault, several of the drawers pulled open.
Markets

The Fed Will Now Show Banks the Stress Test Before They Sit It. One Governor Says That Is the Problem.

The Federal Reserve finalised two rules on Wednesday that put its stress test scenarios and models out for public comment every year and average banks' stress capital buffers over two tests. The Board says the changes should cut year-to-year swings in those requirements by about half without materially changing total capital. Governor Michael Barr says they will let banks optimise for the test instead of the risk.

By Daniel Okafor