SwampCotton

Financial Stocks' Future Earnings Estimates: Is This a Joke?

I am also long on SKF from last week and short both MER and GS.

The Economist has about ten pages on the Wall Street situation in their lastest issue of March 22nd through March 28th.

I quote from page 82:

"The outlook remains bleak, however. By one estimate, banks will writeoff a further $50 billion of degraded inventory this quarter. If they are more tightly regulated, they could have less scope to make profits. Using tangible book value as a yardstick, Meredith Whitney of Oppenheimer concludes that the financial shares are due a further fall of up to 5o%. With house prices still falling, credit deterioration spreading and derivatives markets deeply unsettled, is anyone willing to bet that Bear Stearns is the last of the $2 sales?"

I believe the bear market has a tight grip on the financials.