It's no secret that bank stocks have been absolutely crushed during the recession. Through the end of May, the financial sector within the S&P 500 lost 12.8% per year on average over the previous five years versus a 2% annualized decline for the S&P 500 overall. Following such a sharp decline, there are always good long-term values.
So which banks should you buy?
Motley Fool Pro analyst Todd Wenning says to avoid "too big to fail" banks Bank of America
One area of the banking sector that Todd and the Motley Fool Pro team have been watching -- and buying -- for some time is smaller regional banks. A number of these banks avoided getting mired in the derivatives trading or subprime lending that has plagued larger institutions, and they have more intimate knowledge of the local markets they serve.
For instance, Bank of Hawaii
All of these names are holdings of the SPDR KBW Regional Banking ETF