Shah Gilani pulls back the curtain on dangerous big bank shenanigans. The bottom line: The 2008 financial crisis could happen all over again. Read more...
big banks
Article Index
The Next Bank Meltdown Won't Be an "Accident"
Do you want the truth about what shape banks are in right now? Sure you can handle it? Shah Gilani explains why nothing has really changed. Read more...
Why It's Time to Sell Too-Big-to-Fail Banks
I'm not buying any bank stocks at these levels. I don't own any at present. And if I did, I'd either sell them or at least hedge them.
But it's not that they're doing poorly. They're not.
Citigroup beat analysts' expectations and finished up yesterday - even though the Dow took a big tumble. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase didn't do badly last week, in terms of their earnings and profit numbers either.
Admittedly, if you're a "too-big-to-fail bank or a shareholder, it's been a good ride.
But here's why it's about to end...
Too Big To Jail: It's a Dark Day For the Rule of Law
The opening line of a December 11, 2012 New York Times editorial on federal and state authorities choosing not to indict HSBC for money laundering reads: "It is a dark day for the rule of law."
It may be a dark day for the rule of law, but it's business as usual for the banks.
America's heralded and frighteningly powerful Department of Justice, along with all of the not so heralded or frightening banking regulators, simply refused to prosecute Britain's biggest bank out of fear of "collateral consequences."
In other words, they're "too big to prosecute."
That's what Andrew Bailey, the chief executive-designate of the Prudential Regulation Authority, said about the usual deferred prosecution agreement that accompanied HSBC's $1.9 billion fine. The Prudential Regulation Authority is set to replace the U.K.'s Financial Services Authority - the country's current toothless watch dog,
It's just another example of too big to fail and too big to jail.
Deferred prosecution agreements and hefty fines levied against the world's TBTF banks have become commonplace. Still, there are relatively few criminal charges, just wrist-slapping, don't-do-it-again fines and public spankings.
It is a dark day for the rule of law because the money cloak has effectively been cast over all things having to do with justice.
Let's call it what it is: buying immunity.
It may be a dark day for the rule of law, but it's business as usual for the banks.
America's heralded and frighteningly powerful Department of Justice, along with all of the not so heralded or frightening banking regulators, simply refused to prosecute Britain's biggest bank out of fear of "collateral consequences."
In other words, they're "too big to prosecute."
That's what Andrew Bailey, the chief executive-designate of the Prudential Regulation Authority, said about the usual deferred prosecution agreement that accompanied HSBC's $1.9 billion fine. The Prudential Regulation Authority is set to replace the U.K.'s Financial Services Authority - the country's current toothless watch dog,
It's just another example of too big to fail and too big to jail.
Deferred prosecution agreements and hefty fines levied against the world's TBTF banks have become commonplace. Still, there are relatively few criminal charges, just wrist-slapping, don't-do-it-again fines and public spankings.
It is a dark day for the rule of law because the money cloak has effectively been cast over all things having to do with justice.
Let's call it what it is: buying immunity.
To continue reading, please click here...
It Looks Like the Market Is Saying "OMG"
Today I want to talk about a few things I've been scratching my head over lately.
First, about those polls leading up to the presidential contest.
How come they were so wrong? How come the candidates were inches apart right up to the finish line, and then it's like a "tortoise and the hare" kind of ending?
Did Romney even finish? Is he finished? Is the Republican Party finished?
Maybe the problem is the questions they ask, the pollsters, that is, or the way they ask them. Maybe they ask questions like a lawyer leading a witness would.
You have to wonder who pays for those polls, too. Survey says: the Super PACs - or is that the stupid hacks? Don't you wish they'd post the questions they asked along with the "Survey Says" results?
And, how stupid are the markets, make that investors, you know who you are. The day of the election, the market was anticipating a Romney victory, after all the polls said it was more than possible, so we got a smart little rally.
Then reality set in. Four more years. And you think it's going to get better?
Here's something else to chew on. If you think the Republicans are going to roll over and play dead, now that they are dead, think again.
The only way to fight back when you're dead is to kill the other guy, so you're both dead. Then, of course, you say, I was dead first, I couldn't have killed the economy, I couldn't have driven us over the fiscal cliff, they did it!
It looks like the market is saying, OMG (that's Oh My God, for you non-texters), we're going over the cliff and there's no stopping us.
Trust me on this one, that cliff everyone's been talking about - it ain't the only cliff.
First, about those polls leading up to the presidential contest.
How come they were so wrong? How come the candidates were inches apart right up to the finish line, and then it's like a "tortoise and the hare" kind of ending?
Did Romney even finish? Is he finished? Is the Republican Party finished?
Maybe the problem is the questions they ask, the pollsters, that is, or the way they ask them. Maybe they ask questions like a lawyer leading a witness would.
You have to wonder who pays for those polls, too. Survey says: the Super PACs - or is that the stupid hacks? Don't you wish they'd post the questions they asked along with the "Survey Says" results?
And, how stupid are the markets, make that investors, you know who you are. The day of the election, the market was anticipating a Romney victory, after all the polls said it was more than possible, so we got a smart little rally.
Then reality set in. Four more years. And you think it's going to get better?
Here's something else to chew on. If you think the Republicans are going to roll over and play dead, now that they are dead, think again.
The only way to fight back when you're dead is to kill the other guy, so you're both dead. Then, of course, you say, I was dead first, I couldn't have killed the economy, I couldn't have driven us over the fiscal cliff, they did it!
It looks like the market is saying, OMG (that's Oh My God, for you non-texters), we're going over the cliff and there's no stopping us.
Trust me on this one, that cliff everyone's been talking about - it ain't the only cliff.
To continue reading, please click here...