Dick Bove on His Market-Moving Wells Fargo Downgrade

This morning, Dick Bove of Rochdale Securities joined me on The Opening Bell. Dick Bove is a banking analyst who made a very big call on Wells Fargo (WFC) yesterday in the last hour of trading. He downgraded the stock to a “sell.” It spooked the market. This morning, Dick joined me to talk about the downgrade and the reasons he thinks this company “will take a year to get back to where it is supposed to be.”

Dick also joined me to discuss the breaking announcement out of Bank of New York Mellon (BK) this morning about a deal reached between the Russian government (Russian Federal Customs Service) and the bank. The Russian Customs Service sued Bank of New York Mellon several years ago for $22.5 billion related to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into a bank employee’s alleged transfer of $7 billion out of Russia in the 90s. The settlement, leaked several weeks ago and confirmed today, calls for the bank to pay legal fees to the tune of $14 million and offer a lending facility to Russian banks for trade finance. The entire deal equates to $4 billion in lending over 5 years. Dick Bove called the deal “a grand slam home run.” He has a “buy” on Bank of New York Mellon's stock.

Take a look.