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That I know John only too well. But if you read most of those recent posts, the message never really got through.
I left off posting or even showing any interest in this company as it was pointless. I still have some shares which would have cost me more to sell than I could have got for them,so they stuck.
Even if the share price quadrupled plus it would make little difference.
My interest now is superficial - merely to see what
ingenious BS they will come up with to con their way
out of sharing anything - even a dime
To be anything but cynical with this company makes one a good candidate for the 'funny farm'.
I find it hard to believe how you all can have so much faith in that this company will deliver. (I mean deliver anything but BS press releases that they have proved,alone, such releases have little, if any, value especially on 'pinkys').
If there is any truth in the saying 'a leapard never
changes its spots, then don't hold your breath.
The attitude to take is the same as
a citizen of Missouri - the 'show me' State.
Bon Chance!
BAC US CURRENTLY $7.11 in Europe. The dollar is down against the Euro and British Pound.
BAC ABOUT $6.90 in Europe
(Frankfurt Exchange)
UNDERSTANDING BAC AND the banking crisis, and a few other things to boot. What I have taken the time to share with you here I know is not for everyone, for a number of reasons, but many minds come to this table, many silent ones, from whom we never hear. Therefore, perhaps some will find it presents an alternative view to the mainstream that media would have us see.
To do one's own 'due dilligence' somethng we are constantly urged to do, we need as much information as possible upon which to evaluate, and stimulate our own minds, and form our own conclusions. We do not have to accept any.
How people love to find a useable correlation between an a and b set of circumstances that will provide them an 'edge' in their market 'speculating'.
Applying a little of what should be 'common sense' reasoning( but, it seems, nothing is less common) should tell them that if ever a discovered correlation should be so rigid, and work so well, or even reasonably well, that it could become 'a rule', we could all become millionaires. And, if we all could become millionaires, then we would need to be, if only to survive economically, as demand for goods would rise, and so would prices....and......
But wait, even that latter 'rule' taken from basic economics is not necessarily true, as in 'rigid', for then it would be a 'law', and there are no 'laws' in economics, though many refer to them as such. Nothing in economics, which is a behavioural 'science,' and therefore can be manipulated, can be proved empirically,
We have to accept by facing the evidence, we live in a 'virtual real' world, and a simple definition of virtual reality is - an artificial environment that is created with software and presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as real.
Now that is what is happening, constantly, and increasingly, in the financial markets, economies, and politics. The 'software' can be metaphoric as a perception placed in the head (mind). Maybe it adds real meaning to the expression - being 'soft in the head' (smile).
In a world of derivities, one simple meaning is - A derivative is any financial instrument, whose payoffs depend in a direct way on the value of an underlying variable at a time in the future. This underlying variable is also called the underlying asset, or just the underlying. Examples of underlying assets include - well, i will just deal here with one, the applicable one to the context of our virtual real world - a derivative can be on another derivative, which in turn can be on another derivative, which in turn.....'by George I hope you have got it' (might exclaim Professor Higgins).
,
It is my premise that it was derivatives which had become the unsustainable bubble that is currently bringing down the 'financial house of cards'. Not because it is really unsustainable, because imagination, and perception is not finite, only we set the limits. But, because it was relatively new, and appeared to work so well, financial derivatives got out of hand to a point where even the perpetrators, the professional practitioners, the manipulators, (these euphemisms) reached to where they had lost sense, of themseves, what was reality. Consequently, they had to call a halt to take a breather, do some serious accounting, and rob the public purse to return some sanity, and financial stablity in order to rebuild with some
hoped for better understanding of this wild derivative beast.
Like money in the bank, if everyone who had a deposit there wanted to draw it out at the same time, the bank could not fulfil its obligation. Luckily, except in extremely rare occasions it doesn't happen. It is perhaps more so with gold, most of what is in existence is stored. I would say that if everyone who had bought gold, one way or another, wanted to take possession, today, there would not be sufficient in existence, never mind the vaults, to meet that demand, even given a year to do so. And this is why the price is not in the stratosphere, the demand is being met by that which is not real. Such is the world of derivatives, the world of virtual reality where, in the words of the song - 'anything goes'.
As I said earlier, the Financial Markets will be rebuilt, banks will thrive and rule the day, again, as they are the fulcrum by which all else is raised.
Unfortunately, I fear, that it will be 'derivatives' that will rebuild it, or help to. Virtual reality has few, if any, bounds and that has an attraction which, like a drug, will be found too hard to give up.
If you have managed to reach so far - Happy days, and may you live in profitable times.
WHERE ELSE? How many places today can you double your money in around two weeks. Both BAC and C could have doubled your money.
Rothschild was right when he said you have to buy when blood is running in the streets. It was so obvious that they would not let the two top banks go under, and there would be some correction to the over reaction. I banked on BAC (No pun intended) because of the name. It would, as I expressed in earlier posts, have been psychologically damaging to have allowed a bank with the name of 'Bank of America' to go under. (I was thinking as a psychologist).
All life is about thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions. And, we now live in a virtual real world where it is so easy to feed our perceptions. It is a world where just about anyone with equipment that can be picked up off the shelf and fake just about anything from his kitchen table.
They say there is forged money circulating that even the FBI find difficult to detect. Check and double check your coins - so many are faked. I have found one or two US silver dollars in my collection that are fakes.
The important thing is knowing what we are up against, and to be constantly aware because it will only get worse.
In the markets, with BAC or any, don't let greed blind your vision and good sense. There may be a recovery in the near future, but there is still a lot of 'punishment' to be meeted out. We are NEVER going back to square one.
And if you don't accept anything else I have said, remember this.
The greatest danger facing our world is NOT 'Global Warming' 'Climate Change' or whatever name you give it. Nor is it 'economic downturns.' It is - what do we do with a rapidly growing world population, in a world where industry and commerce aided by constantly improving technology can function with less and less people.
Cheers, sleep well, and I hope you all cleaned up over the last couple of weeks.
Happy Days
THANKS TO ALL WHO responded re the e-mail that purported to come from BAC. You confirmed what I believed it was. I sent a copy direct to BAC when I got my first one. I thought they would have at least thanked me and eased my concerns.
But, now knowing what has happened within the banking fraternity including BAC, I guess they had too many graver things on their mind, and still have.
(However, I did wonder if perhaps there was an account in 'my'
name with BAC with a few hundred thousand in it, and perhaps
I could make a speedy withdrawal........(smile) ) Well, what's a hundred thousand or two with banks that can write off billions, and not bat an eye.
IF YOU HAD READ IT WITH UNDERSTANDING, you would have seen, as some others have done, and gave me the answers for which I was searching, that it was to see if anyone else had received such e-mails.
I naturally suspected it was some attempt at a scam as I said in my post that I had received one before and informed BAC whom I expected to look into who is doing it, and put a stop to it.
I guess it is difficult to stop as may be it is originating from differeent sources.
I am always happy to read other posters alerts on scams and the like. They inform me, so I do not see them as negative.
In fact, actual 'bashers' here, or in any forum, don't worry me. If I were heavy into margin, and day trading 'long' and the 'knocker' was someone high profile and credible, it could do me harm. But I don't put myself in such a position. (been there, done that, don't pay))
The same applies if I were heavy into margin and day trading shorts and someone high profile and credible hyped the stock it would concern me - could wipe me out. And that is why I would not trade that way.
A good sailor no matter how many years he has been at sea always respects it. He would never get over confident and lose awareness for the elememts which can so quickly turn against
him.
No hard feelings from this end. I understand we don't all see things the same way.
Happy days.
IF ANYTHING I HAVE WRITTEN scares you, then you have a low breaking point. Wouldn't like to be next to you in battle.
Lighten up a bit. In fact, I am probably holding more BAC shares than you. Just a guess. I am holding quite a lot bought
at 3.65. So I have a lot to be excited about.
But that does not mean I don't exercise caution or give in to the desire to run around, whooping, like a wild Indian tanked up on firewater, doing a war dance.
COOL HAND LUKE
JUST GOT THIS E-MAIL FROM BAC (?) I had one once before some time ago and notified BAC but they never responded, not even to acknowledge.
I do not have, and never have had any type of account with BAC.
Anyone else had the same?
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I TRULY HOPE I AM WRONG but, when I saw that screaming dancing monkey, my mind had a flashback to the movie 'A Bridge Too Far'
As those paratroopers, just landed and marching down the road to the bridge, they passed a mental institution and a lot of the inmates had come out down to the roadside. They were dancing, jumping up and down, and screaming in their insane sounding laughter as the troops passed.
Sean Connery who was playing the part of the British officer turned to his second in command and said - 'Do you think they know something we don't?'
Little knowing at the time, though there was some unease at the quiet, that they were walking into a trap - a command of German Panzas who just happened to be refitting at Arnhem were between them and the bridge.
It was just the sound of the monkey, and look on his face.
As I said, I hope for all, there is no substance in the flashback.
See you 'at the bridge'. (Hope it isn't too far).
BAC $6.18 in Europe (Frankfurt exchange)
DOES ANYONE THINK THESE 'assurances' are given
"...I think Ben talks on 60min Sunday, and the Chinese want assurances that their $$ is safe with us......"
at some public announcment? We have to start wising up, and acting more mature in our thinking and behaviour. The media, I suppose, only treat us in the way we deserve by our stupid naivety. Can't blame them.
But there is going to be a lot of action in the financial markets - all of them. But the real substance behind the movements will be done by those who know already where we are going, and when, long before we do.
As I said in an earlier post, when we can think of what we would do with $5BILLION (right now) and five billion is only one 12th of what Madoff misappropriated, then we are just beginning to shed some inner light on our future.
(My computer is playing up, sticking keys, and jumping screen
display, so apologise for errors)
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT over the weekend, or as long as you need
because, if you want to see the future, it will help your vision.
Stop thinking in thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or millions. THINK! What would you do with say $5BILLION. Where would you put it right now, and why?
When you work that out, if you get near the ball, then you are on the road to making it big time.
Millions are NOTHING today, they do not move markets. There is one hell of a lot of money out there in tight hands just waiting
for the timing.
Why do you think those TOP Executives were grabbing all they could robbing their banks just before their collapse was revealed to all.
What has happened to the Madoff BILLIONS (got that, not millions?) or the Rubin billions conveniently hushed up in the noise of Madoff. (Oh! you did not know about that?) These are only ones that have come to light.
All this money has not disappeared. It's WAITING! Huge opportunities for it are coming, but TIMING is EVERTHING. And they know when the time will be ripe. I assure you IT IS COMING.
But only WHEN THE PRICE IS RIGHT.
The market today for the billions is a world wide market, they do not see just single nations. IT IS 'ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM'.The world is their SUPERMARKET.
We are shopping and thinking about the corner store.
IT IS END OF MARCH OPTIONS next Friday. On looking at the March options there could well be a pull back to around 4 by Friday close.
If there is going to be a sustained market big rally through April, kicked off by what the G20 come up with, which I am confident will be significant (one way or another), then any pull back before then will allow the smart longs to hop on board and pick up the dumped shares.
These obviously are just thoughts of possibilities that say Take Care! They always manage the market to give them all the advantages. Who are 'they'? Figure it out for yourself. Clue: the ones that ALWAYS win.
SORRY IT IS April 2 the meeting But this will be a very signifcant meeting and some groups are getting together before
DON'T FORGET THE G20 ARE MEETING in London today and this weekend
He said some banks may yet need public support, but Bank of America isn't likely to be one of them.
"While some banks may need more public support in the future, I don't believe we will." he said.
We have to learn how to translate formal rhetoric. But first never forget that rhetoric is just what it is - rhetoric.
We have all seen presidents, men who should be above reproach, stare us in the face and publicly lie through their teeth.
No, I do not think that Lewis is deliberately trying to deceive us any more than a parent may not necessarily intentially be quite truthful when trying to reaasure his child of some matter that is, or may, cause it concern. ,
'I do not believe' within the context, I would say, means, I don't really know, but at this moment in time I doubt it.
BAC IN EUROPE (about $4,50)
Bank of America Corp (Frankfurt Stock Exchange)
sector: Financials . industry: Banks · View BAC on other exchanges
As of 6:50am EDT
3.63EUR Price Change
-0.13 Percent Change
-3.46% Analyst Recommendations
No one in a high profile position will tell the truth of what this 'economic crisis' is about and why it was 'caused' to happen, even if they know it, which I am sure most of them do. I don't really blame them for a number of reasons, mainly connected with their health and well being
Every cause has an effect, and to the creators of a cause, it is the 'effect' which is the focus. Unless it produces the desired effect. if not, then it would be a failure. Therefore, if we are to understand what is happening, and when it is likely to end, we need to know the 'WHY?'Why it was caused, and 'WHAT?' is the objective.
I cannot go into it here. Anyway, like with picking stocks, all must do their own research, 'due dilligence'. This is difficult, I know, unless you have acute perception and a VERY OPEN mind that rejects conventional thought through media conditioning.
Warren Buffet is a very successful man, but so is Kissinger,
and George Soros (now why have I selected those two). But successful, entrepreneurial, people in the financial, or political world rarely,if ever, share their true knowledge. They are also only too aware so many hang on their words, and make decisions upon them.
All I will add is 'NOTHING, repeat, NOTHING is ever what it seems in the world of money and politics.
IN CASE ANYONE was wondering what point I was making in the previous post it is this. If 'certain people' wanted to send the whole banking system down the chute for their own reasons, and it was felt that Mark to market say was the cause to the point where mass opinion forced a change, they could easily dream up an equally effective means of accomplishing their intent.
Another way of putting things. I assure you that if Mark to Marketing, uptick, down tick, shorting, or any other quirk in the market was causing a problem, and operating against the interests of the 'Casino' er sorry, 'Wall Street', operators
it would be changed in a flash.
WHEN THESE 'ACCOUNTING' practices are introduced, or any other 'machinations, of the markets'. they are not
originated by the naieve, or the insane.
The people in the position to dream them up and effect them are well versed in 'real' economics as well as the Academic Theory variety. They are masters of cause and effect. And their agenda is different to ours.
While the effects seem so often to reflect naivety, madness, or stupidity this is because we are viewing them from another angle - OUR side.
Whether it is Mark to Market, uptick rules, or any other imposed practice that currently appears to cause (to us) a problem and should be removed, or whatever, there are many others that can be dreamed up to produce an effect that will
be favourable at the time for certain interests which do not generally correlate with ours (the mass).
My attitude is to let them do whatever they may and adapt to 'their game plan'. Trying to fight it, or wasting energy in frustration is no way to go - jusr go with the flow.
There are three things the market can do. It can go up, it can go down, or it can flatline. It rarely if ever flatlines because then the market makers and brokers don't make any money.
Oh, it can oscillate - go up and down but get nowhere.
Now whatever they introduce will cause one of those to happen.
Detect what it is as it reveals the trend then go with it. Well, that is if you want an easier market experience with less frustration.
It's only a suggestion you can take or leave.
BAC IS $4.86 in Europe - up 7.3% (from Europe's yesterday's closing)
If anyone read my previous post before I corrected an error, please note I meant $12 not $7. In my mind at the time was the current price around $5 It is now corrected.
THE 'CALLS' relate to options. A call option is where, if you believe the share price will rise, to put it crudely, you can, for a small amount, 'place a bet' that the price will exceed(pick one of the target prices (called a 'strike price') given in the table of options you think it will exceed.
You also get to choose the month (from the same table) at which you expect the price will reach your target.
Like with the share price, there is a bid and ask.
At the end of the period selected if your 'strike price' selected has been passed you can elect to 'call' (buy) the share at the strike price, or take the money that equates with
the difference between the strike price and the current share
price.
For example, if you had selected a MAY '10' call for BAC. You would be betting on the share price exceeding $10 by the time the option expires (usually 3rd Friday in the month). In this case 3rd Friday in May. If the share price has reached, say, $12
you have made $2 per share profit for an option you may have paid as little as 50c for (sometimes les than that)
Options appear complicated at first, but simple once it sinks in and you are used to the terminology. It permits you to get into a stock for much less than the actual stock price.
You can both buy and sell your option before the expiry date as sometimes you are in profit before that time of expiry.
I 'write' 'call' options on the shares I own. These are known as 'covered options'. Which means I have the shares to cover
if 'called'. But that is another story.
Incidentally, options are sold in blocks of 100. So, if you have 5 options it means you have 5 blocks of 100 shares = 500.
If your option expires worthless ( not passed your strike price), all you lose is the cost of your option which is a small proportion of the cost of the actual share.
Hope that helps. There is a lot of further information on the internet.
I HAVE PAID a high price for what little 'enlightenment' I have got. I pass it on to you for free. You are even free to consider it, or dump it. That is the beauty of these forums.
They merely offer you food for thought. No one forces you to eat.
BUT RECOGNIZER where is your logic? You can't have your 'short squeeze' if you don't have 'shorts'. That is the point I keep trying to get across. The short traders help to provide the
volatility for trading.
Some traders are both longs and shorts. They play up and down.
As I say, they come in all shapes and sizes. THe top professional shorts will help to 'squeeze' out the 'minnow' shorts because they are clogging the drain. (if you get what I mean).
Happy Days (well sad ones are a waste of life)
WHILE THE EXPLANATION LEWIS gives helps to placate the nervous, and bewildered by it all, it does not give the real story.
Of course, he cannot. There are restraints on what people of his stature can say, publicly, no matter what they know, or believe.
Unfortunately, unless you put your mind in gear, and appraise a situation more thoroughly, it will mislead you from a better understanding of how things will work out, and why they don't, according to your expectations.
If, as is being presented this massive economic crisis was brought about by all these high ranking, well educated, 'streetwise' financial executives and politicians, all over the world, being either naive to the point of insanity, or just plain recklessly greedy, and you will swallow that, then read no further. This is NOT for you.
This view would insult MY intelligence, and I hope most of you who continue reading, are at least as intelligent as I. I wish to believe so. But I accept there are exceptions.
My premise is, it did not just happen. Even ordinary Financial 'Bubbles' don't just happen. Someone causes them, and benefits the most from their effects because they are in at the beginning, know where it is going, and know when it will burst.
Many bubbles are purely to redistribute money from the many to the few like the South Sea Bubble, Tulip Mania, The original Ponzi, and currently Madoff (to name a few).
But what we are now experiencing on a world wide scale, is NOT a bubble, though they have been used in the process of its development.
THERE IS A REASON for it. It has been well worked out in advance, and there is an end game. It has a number of minor objectives which are connected to the main one (many birds with one stone).
It has not been brought about by incompetence, or madness. And, in spite of how things may seem. or are presented, it is under expert control.
ORDO ab CHAO: From out of the chaos will come order. Whether you like the new order, or not, is immaterial, you are going to get it. CHANGE upsets many people because the unknown or unfamiliar makes them feel insecure. But change, as the Chinese believe, spells opportunity.
Now if you don't see what I am getting at without spelling things out in fine detail (because I am not going to), then you are going to be continually baffled by what is going on. And, you will become VERY frustrated at the markets. (and your nation's politics)
Cool your emotions. Emotions have no place in the speculation game, they should be kept under tight control. Emotions stop you thinking rationally and applying logic. If you don't agree 'no skin off my nose', as I understand it is not easy to break out of a lifetime of expert conditioning.
NOTHING IS EVER WHAT IT SEEMS in economics and politics. Confirmation of the truth would destabilise the social cohesion of the nation within minutes of it being known. People always claim to like the truth, but when they get it, they can't take it.
I am not saying accept what I say here as the truth. I am saying THINK and apply REASON!
Happy Days to all
BAC IN EUROPE This morning
Bank of America Corp (Frankfurt Stock Exchange)
sector: Financials . industry: Banks · View BAC on other exchanges
As of 4:25am EDT
2.50EUR Price Change
+0.10 Percent Change
+4.17% Analyst Recommendations
That is about $3.12 almost unchanged from the close Friday.
RECOGNIZER YOU ARE LUCKY as many, probably most, brokers will not class stocks below $5 as marginable. In fact they are classed as 'penny stocks' - yes even selling at $4.99.
The term penny stock has evolved with the market. In the past, penny stocks were stocks that traded for less than a dollar per share. The SEC, however, modified the definition to include all shares trading below $5. (Investopedia)
You are correct in indicating that this market is ideal for chartists trading, as long as attention is paid to 'timing' to get the best results.
I do it.
I cannot understand why then you are so worried about 'shorts'
, as you say. if you trade, they help give the market the volatility traders love.
My post to which you refer was to address your question, or suggestion, to me. To be unhappy with my response is your privilege.
IF YOU UNDERSTOOD MY POINT, which I have covered sufficiently before, you would know I didn't need to put anything up on my screen re- shorts.
Now if there is illegal naked short selling in the stocks that is different, but the people behind such large companies would not permit that to happen. These are not OTC or 'pinkies'. The companies are held by institutions.
Many people on margin are getting margin calls as their stocks dip below $5 so they are having to unload. This will pull the whole market down.
I guarantee that if BAC was worth $5. $10 or $20 (true value)
it would soon bounce back up there.
Smart money which sees a stocks true value is happy to see it pushed down below.
Have you seen MSFT which pays a very decent dividend for the current times, and has growth. It has a low PE. But it has been pulled down 50%. There are many great buys out there to
attract 'Serious (Big) money.
We are in a huge wild bear market. There will be corrections, but no return to a charging Bull for a long time, though some analysts may tout it as such when a 'correction comes'.
Use common sense, and reason. Banks can't get all these billions from the government and then after a couple of weeks start behaving as though there had been no problem.
It is sucker money which pushes prices up above true value, and it is the 'suckers' who have been hit and have little money left, or are too shaken to get back in.
All of you, whether you like to hear this or not, it is fact and will rule now for some time. This world is being CHANGED
dramatically. That includes the USA. What we are going through is to force through that change, and it won't be done overnight.
Watch some good old movies or TV programs like 'The Honeymooners' (Gleeson) 'Three Stooges' or Laurel and Hardy and enjoy for a few moments the America, and the world, as it was. Then Sleep well, (I do)
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I SAID stop worrying about the shorts, they are the least of your worries. In fact, as I have explained. If you are a smart speculator they can work for you.
I have also explained, they are not a homogenous bunch. They come like longs in all shapes and sizes.
I AM ASSUMING LAKE HOUSE has a lake attached. If so, you may need that lake to go jump in, if things don't work out as planned. Just a thought (smile)
BANK of AMERICA: A Risky Bet That May Be Worth It - Barron's (14 comments}
by: SA Editor Rachael Granby March 07, 2009
BANK of AMERICA (BAC) is trading near $3, down from $37 a year ago, and the bank is taking a beating over Merrill Lynch's larger-than-expected losses. But Bank of America could be a home run, writes Barron's Jacqueline Doherty, if it can avoid Citigroup's (C) fate.
Critics say BoA, like Citi, will have to boost its capital base by converting preferred shares to common, diluting common stock shareholders. The government's 'stress tests' can't bring much good news for the bank either. But BoA can still turn itself around.
BoA's tangible equity ratio is 2.68%. CEO Ken Lewis says regulators would like to see that number at 3%, a goal he feels the bank can reach by the end of the year. Assuming total assets remain unchanged, BoA would have to raise its equity base by $8B; BoA plans to get there through a combination of retained earnings, asset sales and shrinking its balance sheet. "It's our earnings power that people are missing," says Lewis. "We can absorb a lot of [hits] and still be profitable."
The bank could generate over $100B in revenue this year after mark-to-market write-downs. Despite problems at its credit card unit, Merrill and elsewhere, Lewis claims BoA will be profitable this quarter and for all of 2009 unless things get significantly worse. (Analysts expect BoA to lose $0.01 per share in Q1, and earn $0.57 this year.)
BoA's Tier 1 capital ratio is 10.6%, well above the 6% regulators usually deem adequate. And when the economic crisis passes, BoA shareholders could benefit from something the crisis forced: a massive buildup in BoA's loss reserves. As of the end of 2008, those reserves stood at $23.5B, almost double the level from the year before.
Barron's warns that "anyone buying BoA shares is making a home run-or-strikeout bet, not an investment." Even so, "the bank's chance of passing regulatory muster may be better than the bears say." While some of the forecasting might be iffy, BoA makes a decent speculation at less than $3.25.
NO NEED or INTENTION, ever, to call anyone out. I understand how difficult it is to cover everything clearly in these excahanges of comment. This leads to misreading, and misunderstanding.
I also know that many on these forums do not have English as their first language. Also there is a wide range of Financial Markets understanding amongst the contributors and those who just 'drop in' while surfing. Some are very new in the game.
We must, therefore, have, and show tolerance plus keeping emotions under control.
Enjoy the weekend
.
THIS NEWS WAS ALREADY OUT FRIDAY
So it should, in itself, have no affect on Monday. There is enough bad news already out there to move BAC down to $1. if it were in their interest to do so.
Big money that really moves markets already know these 'news'
items before it reaches the masses, so they would know long before Friday that this was taking place. International banking is a fraternity.
UPDATE 1-UK to take 75 pct Lloyds stake in asset deal-WSJ .....
Friday, 6th March 2009 ... LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Britain will take a stake of up to 75 percent in ...
Have a nice weekend
Naked shorting is usually done on the pink sheets and OTC. But
there is so much crookedness going on today where big money is concerned, that it has spread to the 'big board'.
It has been caught out (though nothing ever seems to get done about when a company has found there are more shares outstanding than are on the books.)
It would be hard to get away with on companies that pay a dividend. All those owniing shares at the qualifying period would expect their dividend, no matter how small. But the company would only pay out what are on their books.
Of course, few companies now are paying dividends, especially on NASDAQ.
Any broker on the big boards would know if any of their clients were naked shorting, so it would be easy to check and
punish those brokers for permitting such trades. However, there are ways it can be done if you are big enough. The SEC is a most ineffective controlling body which has been illustrated many times.
I mean, it insults my intelligence to try and have me believe that Madoff could, or would attempt to, do if there was an effective SEC. Even without an SEC it defies belief.
It has been made possible today where stock certificates are not held by the investor. We buy and sell without seeing the certs.
It just lets us know what we are up against, and there is nothing we can do about. If we don't like the Casino, we can stay away. EOS
Cheers
COUGAR12 I think you are sounding more like the thinking of a 12 year old. Personal banking, loans for an automobile etc., are small potatoes and quite outside our discussion on the macro economy of large companies requiring loans and banking facilities.
You are quite correct in saying that in a personal way we should live more within our means, buying as much as possible only what we need, and can afford. That may be forced a little more upon us by the new financial order.
I don't think my grandparents ever had a bank account or went inside a bank. So, as individuals, we don't need a bank.
Happy Days
I KNEW WHO IT WAS, but I do not like single out names, that is not important, it is a view held my many. And, as I explained, it is logical under normal conditions as I described.
This is far from normal. It was well organised for a purpose, which I do not wish to enlarge upon here. This is why it will not appear a quick one to resolve. Oh, it could be, if that was the intention, but it isn't.
That is a media distortion (misinformation) that money is being thrown at them and they won't lend.
Banks won't lend? That is their business, their raison d'etre. That would be like saying truckers (something to which you say you understand) won't carry goods.
The banks will lend more freely when they are directed to from their upper echelons. There is a reason, a reason tied into why the whole debacle has been caused, why they want to bring
about the effect that we are experiencing (worldwide). They are killing many birds with one stone.
No business of significance, including truckers can operate without their bank. If they could, Banks would not exist. Or they could never be so big they can hold Governments to ransom.
In an 'ideal' (to many people) commercial world that does not exist, and never has since it matured from the stone age, the banking, and financial markets, would not exist, and certainly would not be 'bailed out' with billions of dollars by governments - worldwide.
Our minds have to reason this out. Our Creator gave us the ability to think and to reason. If humans had never done this,
we would still be living in the stone age or even before.
Why?
Because everyone would have just accepted the life as taught them by their parents. Most just did follow on, but one or two
that realised that they had the mind power to think for themselves used it. So, our gap from the rest of the animal kingdom widened and our lives became more sophisticated.
We are pumped so much to conform, and accept everything we are told especially by people in 'authority' that we do it unconsciously. It is so easy, especially when most of our peer gtoup are doing it.
This is why most people lose their money in the stock market. But the 'losses' do not disappear. They don't go on a big fire
or to some 'money heaven'. They are just redistributed from the many (who don't use reason) to the few who do and have mastered an understanding of human behaviour, and WHAT MAKES THIS WORLD TICK!
Banks are owned by 'money lenders' the oldest, and most profitable legal business. Won't lend money?? They ARE lending money NOW! They are just more selective for reasons known to them, and to the few free thinkers of this world.
A money lender doesn't just make money, it gives something more than money, It is this something which is more important to them than money it gives POWER! (over the debtor)
MAKING PREDICTIONS as to timing, such as to when a stock will
move the next day, or next week, as so many of you are want to do
serves no useful purpose as to that movement. But, you don't need anyone to tell you that.
However, if it provides a source of entertainment, pleasure or comfort to the would be prophet, then there is some understandable reasoning behind it, I guess.
I suggest that the time and mind energy put to it would be better served in searching out solid, fundamental, reasons for why something in the markets should happen.
Some of you echo so much of what analysts have said are indicators without applying logic. For example someone wrote yesterday that 'Transport' is the indicator. That may well have substance when it is just a normal economic set back, as in slowdown.
The availability of money, as in a sound functioning banking system is the key. Can a transport company operate without money?
Do you know one company operating without a bank behind it?
In past economic down turns, even the great depression era, many small banks failed, but never the giants. There has always been
a solid banking and financial system operating. This is the first time we are experiencing a world-wide collapse, or severe shakiness, of anything near these proportions.
Until this is seen to be back in business, the situation can only
get worse. There is always a point of no return, where if something is not corrected we will have a breakdown of society to unthinkable proportions. And that is why this will not be allowed to happen.
Serious money entering the market, which is needed to support any
sustainable, or even convincing turn around, will not do so until it sees a solid fundamental reason for so doing.
At the moment there are many small and medium 'players' who are just waiting for an opportunity to 'get out'. It takes a rare breed, rarer than people think to buy into a collapsing market
once the collapse is well established. They will jump in on the way down at times because they do not believe it will continue.
Right? Of course, I have done it myself.
That should be enough for those with open minds to have got my point. IT IS THE BANKING SYSTEM which brought on this crisis, it will be the BANKING SYSTEM that will eventually repair it.
What brought on this world wide collapse? In one word 'DERIVATIVES'. They never existed in the past, certainly to NOTHING like these proportions. Derivatives are connected to virtual reality, a feature of our age.
I suppose 'fiat' money that is all current money is money backed by nothing but promise or perception which permits it to be accepted as a medium of exchange. (Well that is one explanation)
is a form of derivative
In a virtual real world ANYTHING can happen. Anything can be created. This why now we don't bat an eye when they talk of trillions of dollars, yet few people have any concept of just what a 'Billion' is. Even though I know, and have seen examples, it is still hard to imagine. Our minds have limitations. It takes great effort to push them beyond where life has conditioned them.
The market is due for a slight correction in which a few shaky shorts will buy back (you see, too many of these clog the drain)
Shorts are not an homogenous breed, they come in all shapes and sizes. When it comes, treat it with care. Never accept what the media backed analysts give as reasons and excuses. Apply your own
logic and accept that nothing is what it seems, or presented.
One thing is absolutely certain, and supported by historical evidence: Life as we know it, needs a solid functioning banking system. It can either be a nationalized one, private, or public traded one. It can function temporarily as an in-between to preserve some stability, but not for long.
I do not believe the USA would embrace a nationalized one. So, if you believe as I do that the Banks have to be back in solid business before anything meaningful, and positive to happen in the economy - which banks are going to be in the forefront?
Unless there is some very serious revelation about BAC that we don't know at present, I see BAC being there. When it will happen, I will not attempt to predict, but I am watching for those almost imperceptible signs like an eagle.
One word here. If you see signs of businesses on the move again
and pushing upwards, and it is sustained for some time, but at the same time media (mouthpiece of the establishment) continues to present the banks as being in disarray, then you will know that is a 'blind' for reasons of benefit to them (I can think of one or two). COMMERCE, AND INDUSTRY, CANNOT FUNCTION WITHOUT A REASONABLY SOLID BANKING SYSTEM.
Have a nice weekend to all