Barry Ritholtz of The Big Picture makes the case for Bank Nationalization, this time in a fantastic interview on Yahoo!’s Tech Ticker. Must-see whether you agree or not. Ritholtz on TechTicker
TARP
Ken Lewis: Even More Myths About Banks
Kenny Lewis, Chief Executive Undertaker at Bank of America, took the opportunity to write an op-ed piece in today’s WSJ. Some of the bank myths he aimed to dispel: The banks aren’t lending, The banks are insolvent, The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) hasn’t worked, Taxpayers have given the banks billions and won’t get…
Get-TARP Hero: Iberiabank
Where is the pride among the community bankers who had avoided the sub prime gold rush and have treated their balance sheets like they gave a damn? Apparently, the pride is in Lafayette, Louisiana, the home of Iberiabank Corporation. Iberiabank (IBKC) has become the first financial institution out of over 440 to return TARP funds…
Hot Links: Maxine Waters, Bailout Nation and A-Rod
Hot Links for Weekend Reading This week, we watched another episode of half-educated Congressional grandstanding. This time around, the focus of misguided indignation was how much TARP money ended up being paid out to executive compensation and bonus by the largest banks. The show-stealer was none other than Maxine Waters, the representative of California’s 35th…
Geithner Makes His First Impression…And It Sucks
As I watched the Dow Jones Industrial Average do that cascading-down-400-points thing that it’s gotten so good at, I listened in disbelief as our new Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner went through the whole litany of how we got to this point. Does anyone really need a recap of the last 18 months and what’s gone on? …
Hot Links: Gold, TARP and Pink Slip Parties
Hot Links for Weekend Reading This past Sunday, the most memorable commercial on the Super Bowl was Cash4Gold‘s spot featuring MC Hammer and Ed McMahon. What made the commercial memorable was not the humor (down-on-their-luck celebs melting their gold for money). No, the memorable aspect was the very existence of a cash for gold company…
Who Really Gets Punished by a Wall Street Salary Cap?
Yesterday, the Obama administration announced that firms who are significant moochers of the TARP will have salary caps imposed on their executives of $500,000 per year. While the effects will be deeply felt on Wall Street, let us not forget that many other individuals and businesses will also be devastated. Below is a list of…
People I Can Do Without: Winter '09
The greatest stand-up comedian of all time*, George Carlin, had a bit in the late 80’s called “People I Can Do Without“. While his version included people like “a dentist who has blood in his hair”, I will keep mine strictly investment-related. The Reformed Broker’s “People I Can Do Without” Magazine editors and advertising executives…
Pigs at the Trough: Wall Street Takes a Bonus Anyway
In late December, ex-CEO John Thain snuck in $15 billion worth of Merrill Lynch bonus payments to executives and employees a month earlier than usual. He did this while his merger partner to-be Bank of America was in Washington telling officials that a $20 billion rescue package was essential for survival. The fact that anyone…
Hot Links: Ken Lewis Edition
Hot Links for Weekend Reading: The country is made up of two types of people right now, those who care about the Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch saga and those who truly don’t mind being robbed and pillaged in broad daylight. When the news came out that Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain requested a $10…
