C.elder

Why Bank Nationalization Will Never Happen

We should all pray that Nationalization does not take place!
Do you really want Barney Frank(or any other politico) running the banks and giving jobs in banks to his pals;relatives;campaig... contributors;lobbyists;hangers-on etc etc?
These politicos are the same people that brought us the US Govt deficit which was already astronomical before the bailout.The same politicos who have been overspending for decades now with no thought to who/how/when all this govt debt would be repaid.The same bunch that caused the subprime mess by legally obligating the banks to lend a minimum of 20% of their mortgages to sub-prime borrowers(go look at the NYT of 1998 praising the Clinton admin for forcing the banks to lend in this manner in order to give poor americans the chance to buy a house).The same politicos that bankrupted Freddie mac and Fannie mae.Should I go on???If these guys takeover,it's time to emigrate.

Predicting the Financial Sector Rebound

Clearly we all agree that the analysts don't know anything more than we do.For those with short memories Whitney was pushing Bear Stearns as a great company a year or so ago!.So we should ponder why the analysts are slamming other banks?A few ideas for us to think about-it distracts attention from their own institution(note Whitney always slammed someone else just as her own parent co.CIBC was announcing horrendous problems);are these analysts truly independent?Or are they issuing statements to generate more volume of trades that their companies make money on regardless if the stock goes up or down?Note that Citi is the most heavily traded stock in the DJIA,and has been for months-does this make any sense in an economy as big and diverse as America's?Surely industrial companies should dominate the DJIA trading volumes?Well, they don't.It's good old Citi,and this is fueled by...you guessed it the analyst reports;and where do all those volumes get traded...you guessed it,the brokerage companies.As for Goldman's,everyone knows they compete with Citi across the investment banking spectrum,and anything that does Citi down is good for Goldman's.
I wonder though why Citi does not cut its credit lines on Goldman?Without these Goldman would soon disappear.
Anyway,just some thoughts for you all...