Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Bank Of Morons

Here's a hilarious comment I came across on one of Mish's threads today:



So Ken Lewis buying shares of the company he imploded is bullish for not just BAC, but for the entire market?

Because....?

Because he's proven to be such a savvy investor with Countrywide and Merrill Lynch?

Hah!

At least the complicit board of directors participated in the farce.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Giant Ponzi Schemes every where...For those who don't have a subscription to WSJ, I pasted the jist of this article about State Street...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123241302665896223.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Further, in the fourth quarter, State Street took a $450 million charge to cover declines in the value of investment pools known as "stable value" funds. Plus, the firm said some of its unregistered "cash collateral pools," which aim to maintain a $1 net asset value, fell below this target because of declines in the value of the underlying assets, without specifying when that happened. The firm said "a substantial portion" of the declines in these assets came in the fourth quarter.
State Street said it has been redeeming its clients, primarily institutional, at $1, partly because none of the securities in the pools "is currently in default or considered by the pools to be impaired," the filing said.
If it has to book further losses, State Street may end up under pressure to raise more capital to cover them, which is tough to do these days. And it also may be forced into putting the suffering conduits, now not listed on its balance sheet, onto its books.
Kfell

Anonymous said...

List of John Thain's office furnishing...Looks like he didn't buy from recently divorcees unlike our host...

The following is a list of the items in his suite:

Area Rug $87,784
Mahogany Pedestal Table $25,713
19th Century Credenza $68,179
Pendant Light Furniture $19,751
4 Pairs of Curtains $28,091
Pair of Guest Chairs $87,784
George IV Chair $18,468
6 Wall Sconces $2,741
Parchment Waste Can $1,405
Roman Shade Fabric $10,967
Roman Shades $7,315
Coffee Table $5,852
Commode on Legs $35,115

Anonymous said...

I find expensive office furniture and other pricey perks, in use by execs at public companies, to be disgusting. Gotta love WalMart, even the CEO shares a room on business trips. Private company execs can do whatever, its their money they are playing with.

Slow out