jdl51

Where's the Outrage at the Banks?

"Whoa there for a moment, lets be fair and think back in the early 1990's when our government who regulates our banks told them and other financial institutions to ease credit for those who normally cannot qualify for a home loan."

Let' be fair and tell the truth here. The CRA was implemented to stop banks from redlining neighborhoods that they were taking deposits from but refused to lend to. The banks were never "forced" to lend to anyone but were required to lend to qualified borrowers in neighborhoods that they serviced. The banking fiasco had its roots in irresponsible lending to just about everyone, not poor unemployed ghetto folks. If that were the case, we would not be having foreclosures in every neighborhood in the country, but would be limited to a few homes in the poorest neighborhoods that the right constantly tries to blame for the collapse of the whole financial system. You'd have to be an idiot or completely ignorant of how the system works to believe that. Banks went on a lending binge to anyone that walked in the door regardless of qualifications because they were more interested in making fees, securitizing the loans, passing them on to investment bankers who with the collusion of the rating agencies, sold them to an unsuspecting world and then the cycle repeated itself until it collapsed. And to multiply the problem, investment banks sold insurance policies, but they couldn't call them insurance policies because those are regulated so they called them credit default swaps. They sold them to anyone who wanted one, again to collect the fees on something they never thought they would have to pay off. Unfortunately the whole house of cards collapsed. The previous administration didn't believe in regulation and looked the other way while all this was going on instead of jumping in and putting a halt to it or at least try to regulate the derivatives industry which would have lessened the losses considerably. If you want to blame someone, blame the mortgage brokers that sold these subprime loans to people they knew wouldn't be able to pay, the appraisers that juiced their numbers, the regulators who were asleep at the switch and the ratings agencies that didn't bother to do their due diligence and check the underlying mortgages. Any link in that mortgage chain would have put a stop to the whole mess, yet all of them were too greedy to do their job responsibly.

Bank Earnings: Reality Check Ahead

So no concrete information, just passing on a rumor is the best you can do? How about some facts instead of printing a comment from another article. Some experts? Are these the same experts who haven't reliably predicted any of the catastrophes the financial system went through the past couple of years?

Should You Invest in Banking Stocks?

Betting on financials, or the market in general, to go down this time of the year is more often right than not. We are still feeling the effects of the meltdown in real estate but things are less bad than they were a year ago. I sincerely doubt that BAC and C have hit their highs and anyone holding these two, especially BAC, should make out very well in the long term. 0% from the Fed, 5% mortgage rates and 14% +/- on CC added to BAC's Merrill acquisition, it would be almost impossible not to make a ton of money.

Are Financial Stocks Preparing for 'The Fall'?

Robert0713 wrote:

"You realize, don't you, that you're now just a welfare queen? sucking off the hind tit of the taxpayer? and you're proud??"

Obviously one of the pissed off ones. Too bad, so sad.

John Paulson: Long Financials

"How long between his actual trades and reporting? Cause when he sells it will signal the coming disaster that is bearing down on us. Too bad he isn't forced to release his positions daily. Then we all might have a chance in hell of avoiding the brunt of the next crash."

I doubt he committed $3 billion with the thought of pulling it out in a month or two. The Fed doesn't plan on raising rates for at least a few months. With the decreased competition in the banking industry, the spread in interest rates and a bottoming of the RE market, Paulsen made a very smart move. Too bad the doom and gloomers are missing out.

Would You Buy Bank of America Common?

If the government sets up an aggregator bank to relieve these institutions of their toxic debt, it could very well be possible to make a small fortune on a $60,000 investment. It's always darkest before the dawn, as they say.