johnhaskell

UBS: Can It Get Any Worse?

UBS is not now and never was a good place for US citizens to stash cash that they didn't want to report to the IRS. However it was and remains a good place for non US citizens to stash money they don't want to report to their home countries' tax authorities. Have you looked at demographic trends in Europe? Pension taxes are not scheduled to fall any time soon and tax havens may become more attractive.

None of this of course is to say that UBS will necessarily thrive in such an environment as there are many other banks- particularly those that operate only in CH and so can't be leaned on by other countries- that are probably better havens.

The Fed Is Banking on Hedge Funds, But Merrill Lynch Can't

Of the stocks listed above the worst performing is easily BKUNA. And who is the specialist for BKUNA? That's right, it's NASDAQ and doesn't have a specialist. I'm sure the NYSE listed names above would like to be down 95% over the past 12 months like BKUNA. Darn specialists!

What's even more interesting than the stock performance of C, NCC, WM, BKUNA etc is the frenzied excuse making and conspiracy theorizing that so much of the investment community indulges in rather than acknowledge that they backed incompetent management.