For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 30, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today’s outlook from Zacks Equity Research analyst Ann Heffron discusses the Non-U.S. Banks sector. Highlighted stocks include: Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (ITUB), Banco Santander Santiago (SAN) and HDFC Bank Limited (HDB).

Here is the latest on the Non-U.S. Banks sector:

Specific banks that we like include Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (ITUB) in Brazil, Banco Santander Santiago (SAN) in Chile and HDFC Bank Limited (HDB) in India.

ITUB is the largest bank in Brazil following the February 2009 merger of Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros S.A. and Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A., with R$575 billion (US$240 billion) in assets, 4,800 branches, and a 19% share of the Brazilian loan market.

SAN is the largest private bank in Chile (total assets of Ch$21,137 billion

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In general, we believe it is still a bit early to get involved with non-US bank stocks as the fundamental outlook remains weak -- asset quality will continue to deteriorate as individuals and companies default on loans, and revenues should continue to fall as loan growth falters and investment banking faces a dearth of new business in the face of economic slowing.

Consumer job losses and sluggish business conditions are increasing worldwide, which will tend to dampen demand for credit, even assuming banks are capable of lending more. Moreover, these factors will also hurt asset quality and increase losses on the existing "good" loan portfolios, even apart from considerations of toxic assets. Combined with top-line pressure due to weakening economic conditions, non-US banks face a daunting outlook.

That said, we believe that banks in stable emerging economies, such as Chile, Brazil or India, may be more attractive investments -- similar to what

...

In general, we believe it is still a bit early to get involved with non-US bank stocks as the fundamental outlook remains weak -- asset quality will continue to deteriorate as individuals and companies default on loans, and revenues should continue to fall as loan growth falters and investment banking faces a dearth of new business in the face of economic slowing.

Consumer job losses and sluggish business conditions are increasing worldwide, which will tend to dampen demand for credit, even assuming banks are capable of lending more. Moreover, these factors will also hurt asset quality and increase losses on the existing "good" loan portfolios, even apart from considerations of toxic assets. Combined with top-line pressure due to weakening economic conditions, non-US banks face a daunting outlook.

That said, we believe that banks in stable emerging economies, such as Chile, Brazil or India, may be more attractive investments -- similar to what

...

In general, we believe it is still a bit early to get involved with non-US bank stocks as the fundamental outlook remains weak -- asset quality will continue to deteriorate as individuals and companies default on loans, and revenues should continue to fall as loan growth falters and investment banking faces a dearth of new business in the face of economic slowing. Consumer job losses and sluggish business conditions are increasing worldwide, which will tend to dampen demand for credit, even assuming banks are capable of lending more. Moreover, these factors will also hurt asset quality and increase losses on the existing "good" loan portfolios, even apart from considerations of toxic assets. Combined with top-line pressure due to weakening economic conditions, non-US banks face a daunting outlook. That said, we believe that banks in stable emerging economies, such as Chile, Brazil or India, may be more attractive ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 13, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today's outlook from Zacks Equity Research analyst Ann Heffron discusses the Non-U.S. Banks sector. Highlighted stocks include: Itau Unibanco Banco Multiplo S.A. (ITU), Banco Santander Santiago (SAN) and HDFC Bank Limited (HDB).

Here is the latest on the Non-U.S. Banks sector:

Specific banks that could outperform include Itau Unibanco Banco Multiplo S.A. (ITU) in Brazil, Banco Santander Santiago (SAN) in Chile, and HDFC Bank Limited (HDB) in India.

ITU is the largest bank in Brazil, following the February 2009 merger of Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros S.A. and Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A. (or Itau), with R$575 billion (US$240 billion) in assets, 4,800 branches, and a 19% share of the Brazilian loan market.

SAN is the largest private bank in Chile (total assets of Ch$21,137 billion or US$33.6

...

In general, we believe it is still a bit early to get involved with non-US bank stocks as the fundamental outlook remains weak -- asset quality will continue to deteriorate as individuals and companies default on loans, and revenues should continue to fall as loan growth falters and investment banking faces a dearth of new business in the face of economic slowing.

Consumer job losses and sluggish business conditions are increasing worldwide, which will tend to dampen demand for credit, even assuming banks are capable of lending more. Moreover, these factors will also hurt asset quality and increase losses on the existing "good" loan portfolios, even apart from considerations of toxic assets. Combined with top-line pressure due to weakening economic conditions, non-US banks face a daunting outlook.

That said, we believe that banks in stable emerging economies, such as Chile, Brazil or India, may be more attractive investments, similar to what

...

In general, we believe it is still a bit early to get involved with non-US bank stocks as the fundamental outlook remains weak -- asset quality will continue to deteriorate as individuals and companies default on loans, and revenues should continue to fall as loan growth falters and investment banking faces a dearth of new business in the face of economic slowing.

Consumer job losses and sluggish business conditions are increasing worldwide, which will tend to dampen demand for credit, even assuming banks are capable of lending more. Moreover, these factors will also hurt asset quality and increase losses on the existing "good" loan portfolios, even apart from considerations of toxic assets. Combined with top-line pressure due to weakening economic conditions, non-US banks face a daunting outlook.

That said, we believe that banks in stable emerging economies, such as Chile, Brazil or India, may be more attractive investments, similar to what

...

In general, we believe it is still a bit early to get involved with non-US bank stocks as the fundamental outlook remains weak -- asset quality will continue to deteriorate as individuals and companies default on loans, and revenues should continue to fall as loan growth falters and investment banking faces a dearth of new business in the face of economic slowing. Consumer job losses and sluggish business conditions are increasing worldwide, which will tend to dampen demand for credit, even assuming banks are capable of lending more. Moreover, these factors will also hurt asset quality and increase losses on the existing "good" loan portfolios, even apart from considerations of toxic assets. Combined with top-line pressure due to weakening economic conditions, non-US banks face a daunting outlook.That said, we believe that banks in stable emerging economies, such as Chile, Brazil or India, may be more ...

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., March 27, 2009 -- When the Emmy Award-winning hit reality TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" was looking to build the ultimate green home for a deserving family in San Bernardino, they chose the high performing, sleek and beautiful design of Andalay solar panels distributed by leading solar designer and installer Akeena Solar (NasdaqCM:AKNS).

Overall, we continue to maintain a negative outlook on both U.S. and non-U.S. Banks in the near-to-medium term.

The new Financial Stability plan announced by the Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner fell short on the details and we think that the benefits, if any, will take a long time to come by. While the earlier programs launched by the government have helped alleviate the capital and funding concerns to a great extent, the efforts have not succeeded in restoring the lending activity at banks.

It remains to be seen whether these steps and others like them in other countries will be sufficient to restore confidence in the financial system and increase lending.

In the meantime, lower lending activity will continue to hurt the margins though the low interest rate environment should be beneficial to the banks with a liability sensitive balance sheet.

It still remains a bit

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