Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktVital Statistics:
| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1206.4 | -0.2 | -0.02% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 2307 | -23.050 | -0.99% |
| Oil (WTI) | 85.74 | -0.370 | -0.43% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 77.161 | 0.096 | 0.12% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 2.17% | 0.01% |
Initial Jobless Claims came in at 403k, slightly higher than the 400k estimate. Later this morning, we will get Leading Economic Indicators, Philly Fed, and Existing Home Sales. It will be interesting to see if the Existing Home Sales confirms some of the increase in activity we are seeing from the homebuilders. Yesterday we saw some big prints in the call options for Toll Brothers and D.R. Horton. (14,000 contracts). It looks like others are positioning themselves ahead of earnings announcements. NVR’s earnings were a mixed bag this morning. Something to keep an eye on.
Other companies reporting today / last night: PM, LLY, EBAY, NUE
Steve Wynn went on another epic rant on his earnings conference call yesterday. Here is the audio and transcript: Wynn Resorts 3Q conference call
—————————————————————————————
Thought I’d add a link to Huntsman’s WSJ op-ed on TBTF. Not being a financial guy, I was surprised by the following numbers:
More than three years after the crisis and the accompanying bailouts, the six largest American financial institutions are significantly bigger than they were before the crisis, having been encouraged to snap up Bear Stearns and other competitors at bargain prices. These banks now have assets worth over 66% of gross domestic product—at least $9.4 trillion, up from 20% of GDP in the 1990s. There is no evidence that institutions of this size add sufficient value to offset the systemic risk they pose.
The major banks’ too-big-to-fail status gives them a comparative advantage in borrowing over their competitors thanks to the federal bailout backstop. This funding subsidy amounts to roughly 50 basis points, or one-half of a percentage point in today’s market.
— Mike
Filed under: Uncategorized |
All Things in Moderation 
Wynn………..another epic anti-government rant. Wooohooo
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During financial crises, governments invariably do shotgun weddings between the weak and strong banks. FWIW, a lot of people on the Street think that happened with Paulson. The biggest problem children: Merrill Lynch, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Countrywide were absorbed at a time when no sane banker would ever imagine doing a merger. JP Morgan bought WaMu, Wells Fargo bought Wachovia, B of A bought Countrywide and Merril). Buffet politely declined from buying AIG. Fannie and Fred were rightly dumped at the government's feet. I suspect the rumors were true – the healthy were told to buy the weak.So now we have a bunch of really big banks. I certainly think B of A will try and spin out / sell Merrill at some point. Countrywide is a black hole and will probably be wound down. The other banks have more or less been absorbed and re-branded. Wells was always a bit player trying to break into investment banking and will probably return to its roots as a big commercial bank. So conceivably the government could tell JP Morgan to spin out Chase, and tell B of A to spin out Merrill.
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"The major banks' too-big-to-fail status gives them a comparative advantage in borrowing over their competitors thanks to the federal bailout backstop. This funding subsidy amounts to roughly 50 basis points, or one-half of a percentage point in today's market."Ugh. I'm far from a professional financial guy, but . . . ugh. That just sounds like a recipe for present day market distortions and future too-big-to-fail disaster.
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Here you go NoVA:AComg! The regulation could determine the future of health care"It’s a big moment in health policy wonk land right now: the Obama administration has just published the final Accountable Care Organization rule."
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"During financial crises, governments invariably do shotgun weddings between the weak and strong banks. FWIW, a lot of people on the Street think that happened with Paulson. The biggest problem children: Merrill Lynch, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Countrywide were absorbed at a time when no sane banker would ever imagine doing a merger. JP Morgan bought WaMu, Wells Fargo bought Wachovia, B of A bought Countrywide and Merril). Buffet politely declined from buying AIG. Fannie and Fred were rightly dumped at the government's feet. I suspect the rumors were true – the healthy were told to buy the weak."Wells Fargo and Wachovia were slightly different, as the government arranged marriage was originally with CitiGroup & Wachovia. Wells bought Wachovia to expand it's foot print to the east coast, and the FDIC (Sheila Blair) approved it because it was a better deal despite Geithner's objections that it undermined his deal making credibility.
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thanks jnc4p. there's a side-by-side of how the proposed and final rules differ. http://www.cms.gov/aco/downloads/Appendix-ACO-Table.pdf
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Huntsman is right about fixing the too-big-to-fail problem; which possibly explains his performance in the polls. His conclusion about the CFPB is a bit over the top though. Perhaps that is designed to offset the 'tax hike' of eliminating bank subsidies.
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OT: Was it Mike that I was discussing the individual mandate with yesterday? either way, check out the link dump.
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NoVA:Thanks for the link! That was good.
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