helplessobserver

Total Rating:
+2 / 0

381 Comments

    • Thu Oct 16th 15:04 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Two Banks That Don't Need Handouts: PNC, BBT
      I know BBT having been a shareholder for the last 15 years. In the hey day of mortgage mania their loan policy was and is "20% down or mortgage insurance". BBT's expansion is in the leasing and insurance business. Like the old Smith Barney Ads, "we make money the old fashioned way, WE EARN IT" applies to BBT. Nuff, said, except this fine bank will probably be ruined in takeover to save C. Something has to be done with C before GM comes crashing down. Both are ticking time bombs.
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    • Thu Oct 16th 12:18 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Great Hedge Fund Unwind Is Under Way
      It important for investors to know we are in a secular bear market that began about 8 years ago in 2000. The recent climb in the DJI to 14000 was merely a cyclical bull run within this secular bear. Secular markets, both bull and bear last a long time, typically 15 to 20 years so we have a long time to wait for the next secular bull. In the secular bear from 1966 to 1982 the DJI was range bound between roughly 500 and 1000. It hit 1000 five time before it finally broke thru and the new bull run was underway.
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    • Thu Oct 16th 12:03 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Reality Bites As Stocks Continue To Collapse
      Seems like the hedge funds, the so called "smart money", are exiting the market at exactly the wrong time and calls in question their competence. Sure back in their ivy league MBA classes they mastered non-correlated markets. If oil is going up, buy oil/energy assets and short transportation assets. Any rube on the street can find that out from listening to Cramer, plus Cramer does not charge $400 per semester for his correlation tutorial.
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    • Wed Oct 15th 17:29 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Is JPMorgan Hiding Losses?
      Out in Flint, MI there is a house that has a 130000 mortgage. This hulk is stripped of all plumbing and appliances, the roof has a hole in it and the basement is a cesspool. If JPM owned this they would mark its value to a bit below 130000. The realtor selling it requested the owner FNM to lower the ask to 4000. Anything over 4K is plain and simple a lie, with the relaxed accounting rules I suspect there are lots of lies out there.
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    • Wed Oct 15th 17:14 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Earnings Preview: PNC Financial Services
      Another of my local banks. It like BBT is good shape.
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    • Wed Oct 15th 17:12 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Earnings Preview: BB&T Corp.
      Fatcat, you got it wrong, BBT is in the old fashioned banking and insurance business. Has no exposure in sub-prime market. Mortgage terms are 20% down or mortgage insurance. I expect them to report at least 60 cents in this difficult lending enviroment.
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    • Wed Oct 15th 12:14 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      BB&T Corp: Stock Dividend Analysis
      As a shareholder in BBT and concerned a year and a half ago about skyrocketing home prices around here, I stopped by a local branch to find out what their mortgage lending policy was. The policy was short and sweet "20% down or mortgage insurance". Their 10Q is free of sub prime loans, but shows Fed Agency loans underwater. These are being held for investment so are not being written down. In the ensuing panic the stock was beaten down from 43 to about 18 and now trades solidly near $30. I expect BBT will be asked to pick up some of the local bank road kill in future quarters. I'm sure JPM, GS etc have BBT on their acquisition list, but they will have to pay up to get this good bank.
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    • Tue Oct 14th 20:59 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Boone Pickens' Holdings
      With the CHK CEO being wiped out in the market, it shows running a exploration and natural gas company is quite different from managing a stock portfolio. We wont see much of Pickens or McClendon on TV from now on. Like other comments I like Pickens plan for shifting motor transport over over to gas. The problem is compressed natural gas needs to be stored at very high pressures to get much mass into a reasonable volume. Propane stores at 177 psi in a liquid form at 100F which makes it nearly perfect for automobile use. While a gallon of propane has less energy(91000 vs 120000 btu) that equivalent gallon of gasoline, it is still an excellent automotive fuel.
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    • Sun Oct 12th 15:26 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Credit Default Swaps: A Blind Date Gone Wild
      Yes, and the big banks did not have to put up any margin when they wrote the insurance, being "credit good". Other non-bank writers put up what margin the "club" thought was appropriate.
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    • Fri Oct 10th 17:34 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Lehman CDS: It Won't Be Over Today
      Whidbey is right, weak counter parties that treated the premiums as free money are the real threat. When the CDS bandwagon was rolling it was the big banks and investment banks who wrote the contracts and did not have post any margin, i.e. they were credit good. Soon weaker players joined the game and posted little margin with bankruptcy as their ultimate backstop.
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    • Fri Oct 10th 11:50 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      BofA Offers World’s Worst Borrowers Astonishing Concessions
      The long article above boils down to this simple statement. "Load up BA's balance sheet with more liabilities so they can then be transferred to the taxpayers.
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    • Fri Oct 10th 11:41 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Heart of the Matter: Why Banking is Broken
      The core of the solution is to get these tainted assets on the taxpayers balance sheet without causing a revolution where real blood is spilled on the streets.
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    • Fri Oct 10th 11:30 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      What Does JPMorgan Think?
      The big banks are major players in the CDS market, setting the rules and the pricing as market makers. With the LEH CDS pricing today we will find out just how naked these "smart money" players are as the tide runs out.
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    • Thu Oct 9th 10:59 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      U.S. Bank Nationalizations: One Step Closer
      Injecting capital into banks is a far more effective than using taxpayer money to buy toxic paper. With a $1 injection lending can be increased by $10, but you have to remove $10 of debt to move $1 from the loan loss reserve to the bank's capital account. Once this is all over in several years by my reckoning, the banking system can buy back the government stake and return to private status.
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    • Wed Oct 8th 11:59 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      BofA Shares Plunge on Earnings Shortfall
      Maybe BAC needs capital to meet its LEH CDS obligations which will be due shortly. It this is a big tab, BAC like all the others taking the hit will be staggered.
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