Also, how to buy a home in this difficult housing market, stock picks and retirement planning

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Most investors caught wind of the trouble at Silicon Valley Bank on March 8 or 9, before it was shut down by California regulators on March 10. The bank’s liquidity problems set off a wave of trouble for other banks that weren’t ideally positioned for the rising-interest-rate environment. But an important part of the story is how SVB’s failure has affected its customers and how higher interest rates have people rethinking their banking relationships.

Silicon Valley Bank and its holding company, SVB Financial Group , for decades focused on helping to fund startup companies and maintaining loyal client relationships. Levi Sumagaysay reports about several customers of SVB who said the bank was “a soft place to land” for women and minority founders of companies, who are now unsure where to turn for similar service.

Aarthi Swaminathan and Andrew Keshner tell the story of a SVB business customer who scrambled during the weekend after the bank’s failure to set up new bank accounts. Then they look further into customers’ loyalty to banks, reasons for switching and offer tips for moving to another bank.

James Rogers looks at how the failure of Signature Bank of New York is affecting an important group among its clients — law firms.

In the wake of SVB Financial Group’s chapter 11 filing, Andrew Keshner covers the dramatic rise in bankruptcies in the U.S.

More failure fallout

Getty Images

The Federal Reserve is on the hot seat.

Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Sheila Bair has called on upon the Fed to stop raising interest rates.

The Fed regulates bank holding companies, which raises the question of why the regulator didn’t push for better risk management at SVB Financial Group.

Here’s a roundup of coverage of regulatory and political developments following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York:

• Rick Scott and Elizabeth Warren team up to call for independent inspector for Fed, citing ‘gross mismanagement’

• Yellen: ‘Blanket’ protection of deposits not being considered

• Fed is facing ‘heat,’ but Congress won’t deliver an overhaul for central bank, analyst says

• Bank of England warned the Fed about risks to Silicon Valley Bank’s U.K. operations before collapse

This bank is trying to survive

Getty Images

Steve Gelsi explains how First Republic Bank’s (FRC) business model is similar to that of Silicon Valley Bank and the efforts being made to help it survive a run on deposits.

The rough housing market

Getty Images

As we have moved past the race to buy at the end of the long period of low interest rates, an improved buyer’s market is countered by a doubling of mortgage loan interest rates over the past year. Aarthi Swaminathan shares five tactics for home buyers.

More about housing:

• Amid bank sector woes, concerns mount about financing drying up for home builders and buyers

And stories about renters and landlords:

• ‘We’ve become a renting nation’: Landlords benefit from high house prices, but millions of renters find themselves trapped

• Renters in these
  cities
  are spending more than 30% of their income on housing

• ‘I’ve inherited a house from my deceased aunt in San Francisco. She rented the basement to an older couple for years without a lease.’ Can I evict them?

• How some retirees are making extra income with short-term rentals

Is this Nvidia’s time to shine?

Wallace Witkowski covers Nvidia’s a slew of product announcements and the reaction from investors and analysts:

• Nvidia launches new AI platforms, with Google Cloud as an early adopter

• How Nvidia plans to fuel the AI surge and a new era of chipmaking

• Nvidia CEO expects AI revenue to grow from ‘tiny, tiny, tiny’ to ‘quite large’ in the next 12 months

• Nvidia stock hits best winning streak since 2016 as AI advantage called ‘insurmountable’

• The tech hardware industry is full of red flags, and this analyst sees only one exception

Bitcoin’s ride

FactSet

The price of bitcoin (BTCUSD) has soared this year, especially since March 12, when Signature Bank of New York was closed by state regulators.

The perception that the virtual currency may be a safe (or less unsafe) haven during a time of difficulty for regional banks runs counter to the prospect of enforcement actions against Coinbase Global (COIN) by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

France Yue covers the regulatory scene, the arrest of Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon and other crypto industry developments in this week’s Distributed Ledger column.

Time for some gold?

MarketWatch illustration/iStockphoto

Christine Idzelis covers the inflow into a traditional safe haven, along with other industry developments in the ETF Wrap newsletter.

Stock picks

Investors can identify opportunities by watching how corporate insiders put money to work, especially when a particular sector’s stocks have tumbled. Michael Brush highlights four regional banks whose executives are spending a lot of their own money to buy shares.

More about stocks:

• Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman sees a ‘self-induced’ crisis and a stock picker’s market. Here’s what he’s buying.

• The most hated stocks are crushing Wall Street in 2023 — so far

• Opinion: A small-cap fund guru explains why you need to invest in small companies: they are the stock market’s undiscovered nuggets.

• This Gabelli financial-fund manager has bucked this year’s brutal banking trend. Here are 3 stocks he likes now.

• NYCB’s sweetheart deal with the FDIC may take a dividend cut off the table

Retirement and planning for it

Getty Images/iStockphoto

You have until April 15 to make an IRA contribution for 2022. Beth Pinsker has a warning to avoid this common mistake and advice on how to invest the money.

Other retirement planning topics:

• Help Me Retire:
  We want to retire in about 5 years but have $150,000 in credit card debt and loans and $1.4 million locked in retirement accounts — ‘we want to be really retired’

• Opinion: Interest rates at banks are an insult

A ‘perfect fit’ for a new recreational brand

HEAVY METAL CANNABIS

The Heavy Metal brand in the late 1970s and early 80s, through the old magazine and 1981 movie. Now Steve Gelsi interviews executives at the revived Heavy Metal and its partner Berkshire Roots, which together will launch several new Heavy Metal branded cannabis products in April.

Want more from MarketWatch? Sign up for this and other newsletters, and get the latest news, personal finance and investing advice.