greedcanbgood

U.S. Bancorp: 'Best Bank in U.S.'?

Amen Reverend! True enough, they've slipped past many of the pitfalls in the markets these past 2 years. I think they deserve some kudos. Very little sub-prime, not too leveraged on CDS (though we don't know for sure) and pretty steady performance.

Impact of Obama Plan on Prospect of Big-Bank Breakups

Jasper - look at the spreads on debt issuances by these institutions. This is a good indicator of how the market preceives risk. PNC, BB&T and USB (USB especially) consistently fund debt at a MUCH lower rate than peers. My issue with the chart is that it's sorted by how many "notches" a company's rating was lowered - but one needs to also consider from where it was lowered.

Impact of Obama Plan on Prospect of Big-Bank Breakups

Bad table, not so useful....or at least sorted VERY poorly. Banks like USB, BB&T and PNC STILL are mainting VERY high ratings and generally fund much cheaper thier their respective pier groups. This indicates significantly less risk in these institutions when compared to the rest of the industry. A rising tide raises all ships but the chart/article fail to make note of the converse.

Stress Test Not Stressful Enough?

Excellent piece of writing!

Look, the situation today is both complex and simple at the same time. Want to know if things are turning around or not, keep an eye on employement and then keep an eye on credit losses (which typically lag by several months). When unemployment is stable to down and financial institution charge-offs are also stable to down, you will know that we've hit the bottom.