BSCLossMan

Still Bearish on Financials - Stop Trading! (5/29/08)

I think it's silly to say C can quintuple in 5 years. At the height of the voodoo-security bubble, C was only 55, and all that voodoo is disappearing, and earnings for banks have to be much lower going forward. Maybe, at best, a double in 5 years

How Cheap Are U.S. Bank Stocks?

I'm no expert, but I look at the 2007 highs in bank/brokerage stocks as false highs based on voodoo securities. So to say C, for example, is about 50% off its high does not mean that it is cheap and will rise to those levels for a long time. With earnings very questionable going forward, book value almost a meaningless number, and write-offs every quarter (depending on what the bank wants to divulge), a still huge housing problem, I just cannot believe why people keep buying these stocks. The more they cut earnings and the more voodoo securities they admit to (& write down), the higher their stocks go. Other, non-financial stocks, miss earnings estimates by a cent, and their stocks get hammered. To me, a non expert, there is no sense to it.

A Debate Over Citi

With all the expert analysis on this site, as well as other sites--and I do mean it--lots of really good experts--no one that I have seen has mentioned what I believe is a very interesting point that I have dreamed up: You can't look at the highs of 2007. They are false highs based on voodoo securities and private equity buyouts. In addition, the earnings power of financials will be a lot lower because that voodoo will no longer be available. Therefore, in my estimation, C, as a $55 dollar stock, was a mirage. Likewise most of the financials. A similar argument, to some degree, could be applied to many non-financial stocks. Was $750 a real price for GOOG, for example? Anyway, I'm no expert, but these are my thoughts.

Goldman Analyst: Write-Down Concerns at Merrill and Citigroup

I'm no expert, but the more write-downs a bank has [it seems] the higher the stock price flies. Yet, if a non-financial company misses earnings by a nano-cent, the stock goes down brutally. Is this insanity?