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Can Higher Capital Standards Cause Lower Pay?

I find the concept intriguing, but not for the reasons you specify. Actually, I don't think restraining the growth of top banks will have a serious impact on compensation across the board.

However, it might be still be a good idea (in principle) to prevent "to big to fail" to be a competitive advantage when it comes to cost of borrowing.

Why I'm Holding On to Citigroup Stock

Although I haven't touched Citi yet, I've been looking at long term call options on speculative stuff like this. I think the risk/reward profile of options fits these types of bets much better than owning shares.

Thanks for the article though, it's some good food for thought.

Why GM's Wagoner and Not BofA's Lewis?

There's no doubt that Lewis made some big mistakes. Just remember that his biggest mistake (Merrill acquisition) was done at the request of the government.

I don't give him a pass on the aquisition, but I still wouldn't fire him for blinking when Paulson held a gun to his head.

On the other hand, Wagoner has personally been a part of destroying GM. They haven't posted a profit since 2004, or done anything to significantly change their operations. It has been so mismanaged that I think the government actually could run GM better than it's being run now.

How Will Payday Lenders Be Affected by New Bill in Congress?

Anyone not living under a rock understands that it's preferable not to take a high interest rate loan unless there is a genuine NEED. The problem is, there are many people that do need these loans to meet their obligations.

If your choice is to take a high interest loan, or not eat for a week, what would you do? How about face eviction? Legislation that will reduce available credit for these situations will only hurt the people that it is supposedly designed to help.

Personally, I'd prefer to see people using services like prosper.com, as well as some more transparent industry codes of conduct. But the legislation is still a bad idea.

Tangible Common Equity: How Much Is Enough?

Thanks for the good article.

Not being an expert on banks, I've never figured out why preferred stock shouldn't count as capital. Sure, they have a higher claim than common stock, but that doesn't make it debt. Anyone have a good reason for this?

I'm also mildly curious how the banks with large branch networks compare with the internet banks. It seems like all of the branches would create a large base of tangible assets that would not be comparable to those of internet banks.