SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI)

All Comments on STI

  • commenter
    Gallop
    Jul 21 08:05 AM
    The Facts Behind the Coming Congressional Mortgage Bailout Bill [view article]
    Let's get real on the "bailout" bill. FNMA/FHLMC are not the crooks here. Their leadership put in place by Bill Clinton (Franklin Raines and Company) took $57 million in bonus after they "cooked the books". How are those guys not in jail.

    The concept of the GSE's is brilliant and led to a wonderful mortgage secondary market of quality loans. FHA, VA and normal FNMA/FHLMC loans are not the problem today. The low to moderate income legislation forced agencies to make bad loans to those people...hence, that is their small portfolio of bad loans. The only real problem is the GSE's were raped by the management.

    I wonder if Franklin Raines and James Johnston made large contributions to the Clintons as "repayment"?... That would be a good research project.     Reply
  • commenter
    gaucho
    Jul 21 12:44 AM
    My Website
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    When Barrons is Pumping the big boys are dumping. This rally is caused by limited short selling. After the initial squeeze then you will see a return to the slide. The fundamentals have not changed.

    WFC was mentioned as a great investment but looking at their financials you see that they CHANGED THEIR ACCOUNTING method for writing off loans delinquent from 90 days to 120 days. They would have missed earnings by 4 cents instead of beating by 8 without this trick. Another trick to raise share prices was to raise the dividend. For a company in financial distress this was a stupid posturing move. Watch the dog and pony show next quarter.

    City Bank has 330 billion in off the books VIEs that when marked to market are worth about 1/3 that price. With just this one category they need to write off 210 billion and given that they have 90 billion in share holder equity they are sunk. Now add the SIVs and the CDOs and the XYZs etc and you get the picture.

    Many banks have miraculously 'reduced their exposure' to this toxic crap. While doing so they have written down a small fraction of that amount. This is done by moving it off the books. Any one hear of a company called Enron.

    Who is that man behind the curtain?? Now click you heels together three times and repeat the banks are screwed, the banks are screwed, the banks are screwed and come back to reality.
    Reply
  • commenter
    bm1087
    Jul 20 11:46 PM
    Top 10 Ways to Spot a Run on Your Bank [view article]
    I bank at Suntrust (several branches) in South Florida and have never witnessed a shortage of withdrawal slips. The Suntrust Employees are always friendly and have been so since I opened my account(s) over a year ago. The service has been top-notch and thus I closed my Wachovia account(s) and moved over everything to Suntrust. Yes, Suntrust is gonna take some heat from the Florida real estate market but I'm confident they will survive. Now since we are talking troubled banks - take a walk to a Wachovia in South Florida - scary! I even recently purchased 600 shares of STI to back my conviction. Nice dividend yield, an acquisition target, and I bet decent earnings this week. Reply
  • commenter
    Joe Rodney
    Jul 20 10:32 PM
    Next Week Is a Big One for Bank Reports [view article]
    What this service shows me is that a stock like BB&T is going nowhere over the next year. The projected PE for next year is about the same as it's PE for last year (6.76 vs.6.59), and less than the current year projection. The dividend may not be all that safe. Remember the Q1 report from WB where they virtually promised that the dividend was safe? Then turned right around and cut it to shreds. Reply
  • commenter
    DavyJ
    Jul 20 09:14 PM
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    Oops!

    After doing a little research on "invisible hand" I find that it doesn't mean what I thought it did.

    So I rephrase my statement to read: A third way to take it might be the there was some pressure from "behind the scenes" and they succumbed.
    Reply
  • commenter
    jse17
    Jul 20 09:06 PM
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    Who knows, perhaps Barrons received confidential news that Goldman has purchased all of the financials they want/need and thus, it is time to move this universe up!

    Additionally, pervasive negativity is the rule at or near bottoms e.g., see 90% of the previous posts! In any event, Eli’s work is sincerely appreciated!
    Reply
  • commenter
    Kunst
    Jul 20 09:01 PM
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    The real bottom in financials will come when the big overseas (oil exporters) money decides its time to trade in their dollars for banks. Reply
  • commenter
    DavyJ
    Jul 20 07:17 PM
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    Re: "Barry Ritholtz is freaked out by the fact that Barron's, WSJ and NYT posted coincidental stories championing a banking sector bottom. "Can you recall the last time 3 major media players all picked the bottom in a market or sector on the exact same day -- and were all proven correct?"

    That can be taken two ways. Either he's skeptical that they are right or he's convinced that they are right.

    A third way to take it might be the there was some pressure from the "invisible hand" and they succumbed.

    I lean towards the latter.
    Reply
  • commenter
    Dame Daxx
    Jul 20 05:46 PM
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    Maybe an intermediate bottom in a secular bear market in financials. Citibank's stock is still where it was about 10 years ago. I expect to go long the XLF or the UYG this week, for a 6 week or so trade, but I'm not calling a bottom in a secular bear market just because of a short covering rally in a deteriorating Macro environment. Reply
  • commenter
    contrarian@c
    oalmine
    Jul 20 04:35 PM
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    I'll take the second derivative of this contrarian arguement and state the following investment thesis: if the majority of Wall Street pundits think that the calling of the bottom in financial stocks by major financial media sources is a contrarian indicator, then perhaps the bottom in financials is actually here, and that covering one's shorts is the prudent measure (i.e. taking profits on a short bet during maximum fear,distain,or capitulation within a sector or at a targeted stock).

    Remember, stock bottoms are always reached, and they're rarely reached, even at the worst of times, at zero. It's the counterpoint of stock valuations never quite moving beyond the finite ceiling of the "greatest fool", who knows he's always the last to the party, and has no willingness to place the bet that he isn't.

    contrarian@coalmine     Reply
  • commenter
    quetzalcoatl
    Jul 20 04:04 PM
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    My apologies, Mr. Hoffman. Reply
  • commenter
    quetzalcoatl
    Jul 20 04:01 PM
    Bank Executive Compensation and the Bailout [view article]
    This is not a diffucult matter. Hire someone at an agreed upon salary. If he performs well, give him a raise. If he does not, replace him. Where did this onerous system of bonuses and stock options come from? It is the fault of the stockholders. Why is there no outrage? Why are the boards of directors not replaced with people who are responsible? We need activist boards of directors who are responsive to the shareholders and look out for their interests. It seems like the large institutions who hold vast blocks of stock are those best positioned to effect change. In order to force them to do so, we must replace their boards of directors. Of course, now we are back to the large institution that holds vast numbers of shares. I get it: Everyone is screwed. Reply
  • commenter
    SA Editor
    Eli Hoffmann
    Jul 20 03:50 PM
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    Hi quetzalcoatl,

    Thanks for taking the time to comment.

    Just to set the record straight, these are by no means my stock picks. Seeking Alpha summarizes some of the major Barron's articles each week, and I take a part in that project. But the opinions expressed are those of Barron's magazine, not mine nor Seeking Alpha's.     Reply
  • commenter
    quetzalcoatl
    Jul 20 03:27 PM
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    I've looked at some of Mr. Hoffman's stock picks in the recent past and was consumed by paroxysims of fear. The opinion expressed in this article produces the same result. There will probably be a further upsurge in banking stocks when BAC reports 'better than expected reduced earnings'. However, there will be a time to come when those who invest now will rue the day. Reply
  • commenter
    Dirtt
    Jul 20 03:17 PM
    Barron's Goes Bullish on Banks, Again [view article]
    Barry Ritholtz poses the question when did three major publications announce "coincidental bottoms?" Not sure but...

    The Harvard Economic Society is quoted as follows:

    on Jan 18 "...there are indications that the severest phase of the recession is over..."

    on Apr 19 "... the outlook is favorable..."

    on May 17 "...by May or June the spring recovery forecast in our letters of last December and November should clearly be apparent..."

    on June 28 "... irregular and conflicting movements of business should soon give way to a sustained recovery..."

    on August 30 "... the present depression has about spent its force..."

    But wait. August 30? It's still July. Ahhh. But is it 1930?

    credit to gold-eagle.com for the quotes. It would be entertaining if it weren't so pathetic and serious.

    Reply
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