short WFC

Charlie Gasparino: Another Crash 'Has to Happen Again'

the idea that investment banks took on 'too much risk', misses the point. they are REQUIRED by their job description to take risks to make profits, when the gov reduces risk on some investments (FDIC, FNM etc) these 'banks' MUST take on further risk or they are not doing their job

Banks Won Concessions on Stress Test

i clearly remember bernake et al talking about 'building confidence' . that was jarring enough that they would openly talk about manipulatng pubic opinion rather than fixing economic fundamentals,

right after that they come up with 'stress tests'. to understand these complex activities one must always ask what is the interests of the parties

stress tests results were negotiated between the gov whose stated interests are 'building confidence' and banks whos stated interests are ..well ..sure seems like bone headed status quo , bonuses, and continued clueless mingling of 'utilitily' banking (managing mom and pop accounts) with investment banking.

so these stress tests are to be believable? that requires stunning gullibility, its infuriating that this is what our leaders expect of us and frightening to see it happening.

still fresh destruction of financial 'services' industry and fed balance sheet dont seem to inspire our leaders to action other than shallow opinion 'fixes' . reminds you of anything? historical examples abound. nero playing the fiddle while rome burnt or the rearrangment of chairs on the titanic..where meaningful activities can fix these fundamental problems?

we need to separate the invetment banks from utility banking and we need true transparency of present banking insolvency. once the gov owned ones open up, other will have a choice to open up or risk losing customers. however bad it is, there may still be enough money and time to fix it.

not for long. one more round of these escalating bank failure cycles and its truly all over. next year there will be as many ARM defaults as they were subprime. good luck coming up with any bailout money for that

meaningful stress tests may have been obtained if the books and the crtieria were discussed openly and testers interests were clearly aligned with economic and banking priciples.

any exposed problems would have laid baseline confidence level going fwd.

pls tell me why i'm totally wrong...

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

u left out ibm announced good earnings yesterday