jasonjim

The Real Deal with Ken Lewis

Over time the purchase by Lewis of Merrill and Countrywide will be proven to be a stroke of genius because both of these companies will add so much to bottom line profits. It is very easy to see the negatives in these purchases and make cynical statements about how stupid they were, but very difficult to see the positives which will surely emerge.

Head Winds and Models: No V-Shaped Economic Recovery

I think what we will see is a "M" recovery but very shallow not a deep M, and this trend will continue at least for a year maybe longer, a series of shallow dips and shallow peaks with a slow but inexorable trend upward over the intermediate term.

Thoughts on REITS, Financials and the U.S. Dollar

Good quality REITs will follow the financials upwards IMO. Many of them are seriously undervalued, which gives an opportunity not only for their great dividends but also for serious capital gains over the intermediate term.

Judge's Refusal of BofA / Merrill Bonuses Could Unleash Reality on Financials

Good for the Judge. It is about time that somebody seriously questioned the need for these ripoff the shareholder bonuses to already overpaid, spoiled, and thoroughly dispensable employees (most of them anyway).

Royal Bank of Scotland's Vision for Recovery Lacks Humility

It is so easy to criticize and condemn. But RBS is somewhat in the same position as BAC in the states, in a little bit of trouble but when Lester gets it turned around and operating as it should watch this juggernaut of a bank take off into the stratosphere as writeoffs decrease and earnings increase like in the glory years. For somebody willing to invest and wait for 1 or 2 years for the payoff this is a no brainer of a buy situation at present valuations, despite the most recent manageable quarterly loss.

Open Letter to SEC: Wall Street's REIT Bait-and-Switch

I see nothing wrong about the transactions discussed in this article. It is normal business with a buyer beware sign. The banks win by having their loans repaid. DRE and WRI and other REITs win because they get rid of debt on their balance sheets. The purchasers of the equity offering who buy at a discount may or may not win depending upon how the market views the transaction. Since DRE and WRI and other REITs are in a much better position now to conduct their business I expect that their shares will rise, maybe considerably. So the purchasers of the new equity will win also. Everybody wins, so what is the problem here?

Duke Realty: Another REIT on the Mass Dilution Bandwagon

So Tyler, Mr. Smart Guy, what would your solution have been to resolve the serious debt problems faced by DRE? Instead of bashing the company, maybe a little credit is due the company for getting itself out of a financial mess in a very tight credit economy. When business improves in the future they can always buy back the surplus shares to improve the EPS. As you point out this is serious share dilution, but the share price has been mired at a very depressed level for a long time now, so the value is already diluted by over 200% compared to its previous highs because of debt problems. The new share issuance assures the market that the debt problem is no longer an issue. The price for this is 50% dilution, which is better than the present 200% dilution. The shares are now worth $20 IMO rather than the $8 or $9 range or less that we have seen for months.

The Next Leg up in Financials

BAC's assets are toxic right. So your answer to remove their toxicity from BAC's books is to refinance them. With who? Who is going to pay 100% value for an asset which is toxic? It is toxic for a reason, mainly because the loan is not being repaid. Your scenario doesn't make sense to me.

Changing Accounting Rules: Remember the Aftermath of the French Revolution

This article is extremely biased to the negative side on the M2M issue. As an investor I want assets valued at fair value in an "orderly market", not at forced sale distress values reflected in a "disorderly market". M2M attempts to do that by trying to establish an orderly market with PIPP, and in the interim giving the banks the opportunity to value the securities they have at what they think their true value is, under regulatory supervision so no funny games are played. What in the hell is the matter with that scenario, and what would the author of this article propose as an alternate solution to the problem?

Big Banks: Pulling Off the Ultimate Bait and Switch

The bottom line is that something substantial has to be done to get the country out of the mess created by all of these greedy and stupid financial experts, and while Geithner's plan might not be perfect what plan would be? There will always be those who profit from any plan devised, and if nobody profited the plan wouldn't work. So give Geithner credit where credit is due, and hope that his plan works.

S&P Downgrades Investment Bank for Being Too Good at Investment Banking

The bank guys if nothing else can smell a dollar profit a mile away. They will buy alt-A and other toxic debt for 10 cents a dollar on the open market, then sell it later to Geithner's public/private consortium for say 20 cents on the dollar. A 100% gain in a few months--not bad. Geithner's crew will sell them for 40cents on the dollar because they will be secured by the government, for another 100% gain. Oh how the merry wheels of finance continue to roll. Let's hope the taxpayer isn't the one who eventually has to pay for the broken pieces in the puzzle.

Feds Balance Opposing Sides While Large Bank Stocks Fall

Big time rich shorters are killing the stock market, ruining many of the great firms listed thereon, and eventually will destroy America unless something is not done soon to curb their greedy appetites. Why is the SEC taking so long to reinstate the uptick rule, can't they see what is going on, or are they just stupid? I thought I'd never say this but it appears that Schapiro is even worse at the job than Cox was. At least the latter stopped shorting in financials for a time.

The 'Good Bank': An Alternative Solution to the Banking Crisis

Geithner and Bernanke are essentially doing or about to do exactly what you propose in this article, so why don't you write an article praising their efforts instead of being so negative about everything that is going on, and trying unsucessfully to be so much cleverer than the administration.

The Debate over Banking Reform

Good article. Something in the way of control of these institutions has to be done and this framework is a good start. But the present dithering over whether to reinstate the very simple "uptick rule" makes me wonder if any bureaucracy created by the government can effectively control anything except their own empire building.

Earnings Preview: 3 Companies That Could Surprise

One sentence in your article Charles caught my eye. That sentence was "the market is coming off of overbought conditions". Cripes Charles, I never in my lifetime have seen a market that is so oversold and negative, to the point where valuations of many stocks are at absolutely ridiculous levels relative to true value.