Kirk Lindstrom

Easy for Top Banks to Make Money with Low CD Rates

I've added this comment to the article on my blog:

"I used to get great CD rates at World Savings. World Savings was bought by Wachovia which continued to pay high rates to attract assets. Washington Mutual (WaMu) and Wachovia competed for deposits with each other by offering high rates.

To help save the banking system, the US eliminated some competition so the banks that are "too big to fail" can make money more easily. Wells Fargo, which had low rates all along, bought Wachovia. Likewise, Chase Bank bought WaMu. Now small savers have joined US taxpayers in bailing out the banks!"

Easy for Top Banks to Make Money with Low CD Rates

On Sep 25 11:01 AM greedcanbgood wrote:
> Too bad you don't understand how assets and liabilities are funded > by banks. It's not as simple as CD rates versus 30-year motgage.

Too bad your manners and reading comprehension are equally lacking. I never said it was that simple.

The Banking Panic Isn't Over

Good story but I believe some of the facts are missing or have been ignored.

You wrote:

"I cannot say for sure that the deal between Wells and Wachovia was government forced. However, it is my observation that the Wells deal with Wachovia was simply a PR ploy to get the public to believe that Wells was healthier than Citigroup (C) and therefore better positioned to take on new responsibilities. "

At the time there was a run on Wachovia, didn't the government go to Citigroup and ask it to put itself on the line to take over Wachovia? After the Citigroup deal stopped the run on Wachovia, along with increasing the FDIC limits to $250,000, Wachovia found it could get a better deal with Wells Fargo. At the time, it felt like Citi got screwed and the assets went to Wells Fargo.

Why Bank Nationalization Will Never Happen

Good points.

Also, the government has made it quite clear with its actions that it would not let BAC or Citi fail. To do so now would mean anyone the government approaches in the future would not trust what they are told.

Four Opportunities for 2008

<I>"Are these huge declines warranted, or has the market overreacted? Similarly, uncertainty about subprime exposure is a huge risk factor in the Financial Services sector, but does it really warrant stock price declines this extreme?:

Citigroup (C) is down 43% YTD, </i>"

Citigroup had a lower close on lower volume yesterday to test its November low... today it is up above $30 so this is very bullish

The two support charts I posted here
kirklindstrom.blogspot...
are still holding...

Citigroup Stake Hurts Lampert Short-Term

I've liked Citigroup since Sept20, 1998 through its ups and downs. The point of the article is these massive crashes on fear they will go under have been great times to buy or add to positions.

As for my profile, I think I need a certain number of articles here before SeekingAlpha lets me add one. They have a link to my blog where there is information about me including a newspaper story and testimonials.

www.blogger.com/profil...
kirklindstrom.blogspot...

Now if the people inside Citi are LYING about the future...ala Enron or WorldCon... then you may be correct.... but they say they will return to normal earnings in 2008 and the dividend is safe.