There are some things to which only America can lay claim. Most of them invoke pride, but every now and then some of them do not. For example, consider the large bonuses bestowed upon our captains of the industry in the midst of one of the greatest financial crises in global economic history.
Contrary to popular belief, the disgust and anger towards this irony is not just a populist reaction. A good friend of mine who is a Stanford University MBA and career CEO shares the sentiment of many of his fellow Americans. For reasons that should be obvious to anyone, his anonymity shall be preserved for the following submission:
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Current Worth of U.S. Companies:
* AIG? -Then: $178.8 billion… Now: $5.46 billion. Down 96.95%
* Bank of America (BAC)? -Then: $236.5 billion… Now: $123.4 billion. Down 47.82%
* Citigroup (C)? -Then: $236.7 billion… Now: $76.34 billion. Down 67.75%
* Merrill Lynch? - Then: $63.9 billion… Now: $30.2 billion. Down 52.74%
* Fannie Mae (FNM)? - Then: $64.8 billion… Now: $0.45 billion. Down 99.3%
* Morgan Stanley (MS)? - Then: $73.1 billion… Now: $41.1billion. Down 43.78%
* Wachovia? - Then: $98.3 billion… Now: $19.44 billion. Down 80.22%
* JP Morgan Chase (JPM)? - Then: $161 billion… Now: $130.2 billion. Down 19.13%
* Capital One Financial (COF)? - Then: $29.9 billion… Now: $16.9 billion. Down 43.48%
* Washington Mutual (WM)? - Then: $31.1 billion… Now: $3.64 billion. Down 88.3%
* Lehman Bros. (LEHMQ.PK)? - Then: $34.4 billion… Now: $0.80 billion. Down 97.6%
* Goldman Sachs (GS)? - Then: 97.7 billion… Now: $40.6 billion. Down 58.7%
* Wells Fargo (WFC)? - Then: $124.1 billion… Now: $111.25 billion. Down 10.35%
* National City (NLCPP.PK)? - Then: $16.4 billion… Now: $2.8 billion. Down 83%
* Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB)? - Then: $18.8 billion… Now: $7.9 billion. Down 57.6%
* American Express (AXP)? - Then: $74.8 billion… Now: $37.5 billion. Down 43.78%
* Freddie Mac (FRE)? - Then: $41.5 billion… Now: $0.16 billion. Down 99%
* Suntrust Banks (STI)? - Then: $27 billion… Now: $16.07 billion. Down 58.7%
* BB&T (BBT)? - Then: $23.2 billion… Now: $18.4 billion. Down 20.69%
* Marshall & Ilsley (MI)? - Then: $11.6 billion… Now: $4.48 billion. Down 61.3%
* Keycorp (KEY)? - Then: $13.2 billion… Now: $5.68 billion. Down 56.97%
* Legg Mason (LM)? Then: $11.4 billion…Now: $4.96 billion. Down 56.49%
* Comerica (CMA)? Then: $8.3 billion…Now: $4.74 billion. Down 42.89%
* Countrywide Financial? Then: $11.1 billion…Now: $0.00 billion. Down 100%
* Bear Stearns? Then: $14.8 billion…Now: $ 0.00 billion. Down 100%.
Together these 25 companies have lost investors a total of $992,690,000,000 over the last 12 months… or nearly US $1 trillion…
And, of course, Management congratulated themselves with bonuses of several billions at the expense of shareholders!
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Only in America, dear readers…. only in America…
Disclosure: Hillbent.com, Inc. or its affiliates may own positions in the equities mentioned in our reports. We do not receive any compensation from any of the companies covered in our reports.
