Bank stocks expected to rise in coming weeks

Welcome to the morning roundup. Here's a look at what's news in banking and finance.

Banks stocks on the rise. Market analysts expect the financial sector to be among the biggest winners as third-quarter earnings season rolls around, Bloomberg says (Wells and JPMorgan report this Friday). Though bank stocks are already up more than 20 percent this year, they remain more than 50 percent below pre-recession highs.

Walmart, AmEx create prepaid card. Walmart and American Express are jointly launching a reloadable prepaid debit card that will have more features than the prepaid MoneyCard the retail giant currently offers, the Associated Press reports. It should be available next week, and includes a direct deposit option.

Libor losing prestige. Post rigging-scandal, the Libor interest rate is now being set by a smaller core group of banks, making it all the more difficult to restore trust in the benchmark, Bloomberg says. Bank of America remains in the group setting Libor. The industry generally agrees that keeping the benchmark is vital, since so many contracts are dependent on it.