Bank Stocks to Buy Now (Maybe)

This article was originally published March 5.

Investing in financial stocks right now is not for the squeamish, but there are some potential bargains for investors willing to do extra homework on capital strength, asset quality, prospects for securities writedowns during 2009 and dividend yields.

An analysis of the 20 largest U.S. bank and thrift holding companies by market capitalization shows how far the mighty -- like Citigroup (C Quote) and Bank of America (BAC Quote) -- have fallen, but also uncovers some lesser-known players -- like Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK Quote) and Capitol Federal Financial (CFFN Quote) -- who have weathered the storm relatively well.

It might be a surprise to see some of these names among the 20 largest publicly traded U.S. bank and thrift holding companies by market capitalization. But the weight of the credit crisis has rearranged the list by eliminating large companies through failures like Washington Mutual, and acquisitions like National City and Wachovia. ...