In a little over two weeks the Royal Commission final report will be submitted to the Governor-General and the recommendations will then be made public.
I'm optimistic that the report will contain no nasty surprises and I suspect that the market may feel the same way judging by the recent rally in big four bank shares.
For example, here's how the banks have performed since Christmas Eve:
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) share price has been the best performing big four bank over the last three weeks with a gain of 9.3%.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price has been the worst performer of the group, albeit with a solid gain of 5.8% over the period.
The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price has posted a strong 7.9% gain since Christmas Eve.
The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price is the second best performer over the period with a gain of approximately 8%.
This compares to a 5.8% gain made by the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) over the same period. It is worth noting also that this gain would be significantly less if you took the banks' gains out of the equation.
Is it too late to buy the banks?
Although the banks have rallied strongly since Christmas Eve, I don't believe it is too late for investors to snap up their shares.
And while all four banks look good value to me at current levels, my top two are now ANZ Bank and NAB due to their exposure to business banking.
Recent data from APRA has shown that business lending growth has remained solid through to the end of November. This is expected to remain the case in 2019 with Goldman Sachs tipping system business lending to outperform housing for the first time since 2011.
All in all, with their shares trading on below average multiples and offering generous dividend yields, I think now is an opportune time for investors to consider making an investment.
