I still wonder what happens to brokerage accounts when the house goes down
worse, suppose a conglomerate BANK-INSURANCE-BROKERAGE goes bust
if an insurance experiences heavy losses, goes down, will the bank split it off to die?
if a brokerage gets sued without mercy, goes down, will the bank split it off to die?
if a bank faces derivative blowups, goes down, will the insurance company split it off to die?
or will they gather together, fend off the storm, attempt to survive?
I say they split, so watch Citicorp now
Travelers shholders want out, Salomon is under fire
the repeal of Glass-Steagal Laws in 1997 brought these financial arms together just in time for the bust
Citicorp will serve as an excellent example for learning how these mindless and collusive corrupt conglomerates will react to crisis, whether with solvency or prosecution or lawsuit
I expect all three in some cases
what synergy ever existed?
I will tell you
the synergy is for the insurance firm to offset bank derivative leveraged exposure
for the bank to engage in gold smashing and currency support for the benefit of brokerage
for false deceptive messages to be promulgated by brokerage analysts in support of investment banking, and to keep the insurance portfolios strong
the only missing link in these elephantine mammoths is to take on some press/media mouthpiece
God help us if they succeed
right now I believe the American public is extremely poorly served by press/media now, as they are beholden to their advertisers, many of whom hail from the financial industry with a vested interest in paper-based securities
I am anxiously watching the Citicorp Salomon Smith Barney Grubman Weill case
this has dead fish written all over it
Sandy Weill will be pulling out all his political chips
Rubin calls Clinton? count on it
/ jim
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