The idea may seem unpleasant given their involvement in the mortgage crisis, but this could be a chance to put your disgust to good use while banks' share prices are down.
If you want to make back some of the money the banks helped you lose with a mortgage crisis that nearly took down the economy, hold your nose and invest in them.
Sure, we have a lot of reasons to hate the banks. We bail them out; they limit lending. Millions of people can't make ends meet; the banks raise their fees.
(And boy, do we dislike them: Five of the 10 companies in MSN Money's latest Customer Service Hall of Shame, unveiled today, are in the financial sector.)
The strongest (and weakest) banks
Now's the time to move on this because bank shares have been hit hard by worries that Europe's problems will cool global growth. It's a great chance to get shares cheap.
And here's something that might make this a little easier to stomach: While some of those too-big Wall Street banks so tied to the crisis may be buys here -- particularly JPMorgan Chase (JPM, news, msgs) -- they aren't the ones with the most potential. You'll find a richer mix of prospective stock winners among the regional banks.Think more local A few options to consider:
You can play this trend via mutual funds with great long-term records and big exposure to the sector, like the Burnham Financial Industries Fund (BURFX) and the RidgeWorth Mid-Cap Value Equity Fund (SAMVX). Bank-sector exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are another option.
Check the table for more names:
Best bets
Outperforming funds with banking exposure:
Outperforming fund managers' picks:
Burnham Financial Industries Fund (BURFX)
1st United Bancorp (FUBC, news, msgs)
RidgeWorth Mid-Cap Value Equity Fund (SAMVX)
Astoria Financial (AF, news, msgs)
Exchange-traded funds:
Comerica (CMA, news, msgs)
Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF, news, msgs)
MB Financial (MBFI, news, msgs)
iShares Dow Jones US Financial Sector (IYF, news, msgs)
New York Community Bancorp (NYB, news, msgs)
iShares Dow Jones US Financial Services (IYG, news, msgs)
Oriental Financial Group (OFG, news, msgs)
iShares S&P Global Financials (IXG, news, msgs)
Popular (BPOP, news, msgs)
Vanguard Financials ETF (VFH, news, msgs)
Umpqua (UMPQ, news, msgs)
Deep-value banks:
Washington Federal (WFSL, news, msgs)
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB, news, msgs)
Banks the insiders like:
KeyCorp (KEY, news, msgs)
Flagstar Bancorp (FBC, news, msgs)
Regions Financial (RF, news, msgs)
Premierwest Bancorp (PRWT, news, msgs)
SunTrust Banks (STI, news, msgs)
Synovus Financial (SNV, news, msgs)
Continued: 4 reasons to buy regional banksMore from MSN Money 14 safe stocks to stock up on
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