oldgoldbug

Citigroup: The Death of Buy-and-Hold Investing?

I first heard about Sandy Weill back in the 70's when he was moving up the Shearson ladder. Back in those days Shearson had the reputation of playing fast and loose and getting into lots of trouble. Sandy led the pack of thieves nicely. I suppose not much changed. So Sandy and friends put together the behemoth of Citi which IMO was just a way to continually cash out more and more money. This was all about Sandy and friends making lots of money - if employees and shareholders got hurt well then too bad. It all sounded really good and the regulators (and BOD's) went along with everything - I wonder how much money had to change hands and in what form to get such a hands off approach from the government. In fact, the "bailouts" could be viewed as belated attempts by the government to fulfill the regulatory function abdicated in the past. Unfortunately the cost to society appears to be extraordinary and all so a few could make an extra billion or two.

10 Banks 'Guaranteed' to Survive and Prosper

Bear Stearns declared bankruptcy? Did I miss that? I thought JPM gobbled them up.
Gotta agree with Lilliana - COF really stinks and HBC is right there with them.
Chartwise, I wonder if BAC (10.61) and C (5.91) are going to make it - they look like they are on life support. The amount of stock being unloaded is remarkable - some pretty big players are spooked.

Eddie Lampert's Troubles: It's Not Just Sears

My experiences with Sears as a customer and an employee have not been good. From the mid 80's on it acted like a company with no ethics (although how many actually are ethical?) Now it tough times, the loyalty just isn't there anymore.

Too bad the authors didn't publish this list 6 months ago - it is an impeccable short list.

Dow Price Targets

GM probably has the best chart.

The Paulson Plan: Compelling Banks to Lend at Bazooka Point

Why wouldn't the banks lend to those just foreclosed upon? We have a Secretary of the Treasury who skipped town just before what he helped set up hit the fan. I would say both are adept at taking the money and running.
But it bothers me that he didn't blow the whistle some time much earlier. Perhaps as long as his buds were getting the big bonuses everything was fine. I can't imagine that he has a conflict of interest. Its also surprising that the one bank that made a squawk about forced government intrusion is one of those flaky West Coast banks and not a part of the NY East Coast sophisticated elite.

Go for the Gold

User 244150 - Thank you. I wondered when somebody would speak up about all the bulls who apparently have been able to endure this onslaught with such aplomb. "Don't worry, buy more". WITH WHAT? Who recommended selling at anywhere near the top to be able to put money in this market now? No one. What happened to GRMN at 124? Oops, its 33 now. Probably a stock to consider almost 100 points lower.
It still bothers me that the long Government market is at 4%+/-. It may be that market is the only one able to contain the amount of money coming out of long liquidation of institutional portfolio therefore it is unusually strong in the face of high inflation or is it saying "deflation, deflation, deflation." I guess we will find out soon enough.