Firat Ünlü

Bank of America: A Risky Bet That May Be Worth It - Barron's

Yeah, if anything it's a gamble right now for anyone that's not really involved with the company and government as there's just too much uncertainty. I don't trust anything related to banks right now but the downside risk is losing all, whilst on the upside you stand to gain a multiple. But this has nothing to do with investing, that's pure gambling. Worth a try, though.


On Mar 09 11:57 AM Poor Man's Loans wrote:

> You may as well buy some FNM, if you like to gamble. The payoff could
> be huge, or you could loose it all.

U.S. Economy: Golden Dreams, Fallacies and Nightmares

Agree, but ironically enough the US is still the world's largest gold holder (at current prices worth around $230bn), China is still miles behind.

On Mar 09 09:58 AM kelm wrote:

> I wrote a piece on my site sometime back examining how a reserve
> currency can collapse. It was meant as a brainstorming exercise but
> it had China, as now the largest gold producer, going to a gold peg
> and some Asian countries following suit.
>
> I do contend that a major nation or block going to a gold standard
> today would knock the dollar off its pedestal pretty quick and cause
> a major global re-alignment. The US is not positioned to do so Russia,
> China, and a middle Eastern block could. It would be a way of providing
> some hard peg for the financial system.
>
> www.murdockglobalinsig.../

Nationalizing Bank Losses

"That chart factored out inflation, a key driver of house price increases (and vice versa). Do you really think the fed can print a few trillion extra dollars without causing major league inflation once the worst of the downturn is over?"

I know, but assuming inflation remains at normal rates how long would it take for the asset to get to the level they are valued at?
As for the second part, yepp, there's going to be massive inflation.
Having said that, why bother with this whole thing at all?
No point in saving the banks if the deposits will be 'inflated away'.

Nationalizing Bank Losses

For anyone relying on home values to appreciate, have a look at this chart:

static.seekingalpha.co...

I am no expert on banking so I'll probably be totally off but what about letting the banks fail whilst at the same time covering deposits? Sure that should be cheaper?

Turning Japanese: The Audacity of Reality (Part 3 of 3)

"I was taught Keynesian economics"

Economics is the fine art of drawing funny looking diagrams using funny little greek letters.

Turning Japanese: The Audacity of Reality (Part 3 of 3)

Great article, definitely useful for future reference, especially the research concerning the charts.

Analyst Ratings among the Banks

Any chart on the ratings from one or two years ago?

Bloomberg: Exxon Mobil Worth More Than Leading Financial Companies

Well, if the majority of those financials is actually insolvent you'd of course expect Exxon to be higher valued, even if combined. Don't be fooled by the past.