Duude

John Paulson: Long Financials

I'm quite confident that Paulson's next 13F will show his exposure to financials has decreased precipitously. He knows more money will flow to financials with the publication of his June 30th holdings. It provides him with the needed liquidity to unload at least part if not all of his position. Financials are an early cyclical, but they are far from out of the woods and 2010 will reveal it more clearly.

Late Payments on Credit Cards Reach Record Levels

I want to chip in my two cents here. I believe the banks offering credit cards are creating some of the default rate themselves. I have stellar credit. Never late and a high FICO score. Recently, Chase took the step to charge me a monthly fee for just having an open account with them. I've never paid such fees. They also tripled my minimum payment. I called them and they whined that they were losing money on my account. I had a 3.99% promotional rate good for as long as the balance was outstanding and I wasn't making additional purchases that they could tag me with a higher rate. They told me they would go back to the old terms if I agreed to double the interest rate I paid. I've had cards for years and never had a company pull this crap on me. Nevertheless, I refused. Clearly, JPM Chase isn't in as great of shape as everyone seems to believe.