Better times ahead for banks' net interest income growth: RBC Capital Markets' Gerard Cassidy

Interest Rate & Yield Curve Impact - Potential Fed rate cuts as early as September could steepen the yield curve, benefiting banks' net interest income [2] - Rate cuts of 25 to 50 basis points between now and year-end, and potentially further next year, are anticipated [5] Loan Growth - Consumer loan growth, particularly in credit cards, has been robust over the last two years [3] - Corporate lending has been modest, but commercial and industrial lending has shown a pickup in the last 6 to 8 weeks [4] - The industry could see loan growth exceeding 4% on an annualized basis in the current (third) quarter [4] Regional vs Money Center Banks - Regional banks benefit more from a steeper yield curve because they generate 65% to 70% of revenues from net interest income (spreads) [6] - Money center banks like JP Morgan and Bank of America generate closer to 55% of revenues from spreads [6]