Topic: How To Invest

Dear Pat: Please let me know your opinion on ING Group: buy, hold or sell? A response would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

ING Group NV (ADR), $11.39, symbol ING on New York (ADRs outstanding: 3.8 billion; Market cap: $43.0 billion; www.ing.com), is a Netherlands-based global financial institution that offers banking, insurance and asset management to about 85 million clients in Europe, the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia and Australia. Before one-time items, ING earned 1.04 billion euros ($1.42 billion U.S.) in the third quarter of 2010. That’s up from 727 million euros a year earlier. Per-share earnings fell 8%, to 0.23 euros ($0.34 per ADR) from 0.25 euros on more shares outstanding. Results improved at ING’s banking and insurance operations in the latest quarter. Its banking business gained from higher demand for mortgages and savings accounts. As well, profit margins rose in retail banking. The global economic recovery helped push up revenue, and lowered bad loan charges. Despite the improvement, the company needs a continued economic recovery to remain profitable. As well, concerns about the stability of the European banking system and…