Katie Kuehner-Hebert

How much longer banks can lower their deposit rates without customers returning to the stock market and other potentially higher-yielding investments?

A rally in Citigroup's shares lifted bank stocks overall Thursday. Citi's shares rose 35 cents, to $4.48, after Richard Bove, a Rochdale Securities analyst, wrote in a note that investors are betting the value of Citi's shares will triple in three years, after the company unloads its troubled assets and becomes more profitable.

Bank stocks struggled to stay in positive territory Wednesday before falling slightly on a day of light summertime volume.

Though a handful of stronger companies such as U.S. Bancorp and JPMorgan Chase & Co. might start increasing their dividend payouts this winter, most will have to wait 12 to 18 months as they struggle to return to profitability and rebuild capital, analysts said.

Bank stocks rose Tuesday as investors picked up bargains from Monday's selloff. The KBW Bank Index rose 2.19% after falling 4.5% the day before.

Bank stocks and the broader markets fell Monday on investor jitters over the timing of an economic recovery.

The KBW Bank Index spent most of the day in negative territory because of discouraging economic reports but closed on a positive note, up 0.17%.

Tapped this year to lead Wells Fargo's commercial banking group in the West, Perry Pelos plans to capitalize on Wells' reputation as an aggressive cross-seller. In the wake of last year's Wachovia Corp. acquisition, he plans to widen Wells' product offering to include bond issuances and more trade finance services.

Wells funds over $200k for business owners' study; new Bank of America exec buys shares of stock in the company; Royal Bank of Scotland hires a CFO.

Gains in the largest bank stocks helped pull the KBW Bank Index up 3.11% Thursday after the hedge fund manager John Paulson disclosed late Wednesday that he had bought stakes in a number of companies, including Bank of America Corp.

Bank stocks and the broader markets rose Wednesday as investors picked up bargains after Tuesday's selloff.

The KBW Bank Index fell 4.35% Tuesday after an analyst told investors to take some profits from the sector.

Bank stocks struggled to remain in positive territory Monday, after investors cashed in gains from last week's rallies.

Bank stocks and the broader markets rallied Friday on better-than-expected employment numbers.

Bank stocks and the broader markets struggled to break out of negative territory, dragged down by discouraging numbers from retailers and telecommunication companies.

In the long run, part of eliminating concentrations in one loan category, such as real estate development, or in a particular geographical area must include lending elsewhere.

Bank stocks beat the broader markets Wednesday as investors continued to pick up confidence — and bargains — within the sector.

Bank stocks rose Tuesday on several encouraging economic reports about home sales and consumer spending.

Bank stocks and the broader markets rose Monday on positive manufacturing news. The KBW Bank Index rose 2.27%, the Dow Jones industrial average 1.25% and the Standard & Poor's 500 index 1.53%.

The survival of the fittest has definitely played out among banks competing for middle-market business customers, according to more than 6,000 such companies.