ACCOUNTANT

Banks Flail as TARP Is Looking Inadequate

wHat am i missing? BAC's second "bail-out" was a government bribe to go through with the Merrill acquisition and was designed to offset Merrill's horrific fourth quarter losses. It had nothing to do with BAC's on-going business.

Lewis stated back about 6 - 8 weeks ago that BAC did not need the first installmeant of the TARP funds but that the top nine banks were all required to take them to "protect the quilty". I do not seen anything in BAC's recent performance that would dispute that claim. Yes, they lost money in fourth quarter but was profitable for the year. Where is all of the doom's day garbage coming from?

Eliminating their dividend for a period of time until the country rebounds is prudent - it will save them $8 billion per year, which equates to $12 billion pre-tax. That will be short term - i think the dividend will be back in 2010, or 2011 at the very latest. I happen to believe that anyone that doesn't jump in at current prices are going to regret their decision, as this puppy could easily be a $50 stock in about 2 - 3 years.