Parsad

About friggin' time! Not sure why this wasn't implemented after 2008/2009. Clawback compensation and ban executives/directors from the industry if a bank fails! Cheers! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-asks-congress-to-give-regulators-authority-to-claw-back-executive-compensation-171255897.html

Great pickup by him! Cheers!

Insurance is different than banking. Really no other industry uses as much leverage as banking. When depositors start to demand their money, there is little a bank can do but sell their fixed income portfolio and meet redemptions. Insurance on the other hand has two significant advantages over banking...less leverage and reinsurance to protect a sudden large claim loss. People don't understand how vulnerable banks actually are and there aren't more run on banks! That being said, Fairfax operates with more leverage than many other insurers, which makes it more vulnerable than other insurers (something I wish they would reduce over time). It's just fortunate they have great portfolio managers that usually position themselves well compared to macro events. Really, does Fairfax even need to operate with half the debt that they carry? They have plenty of asset to equity leverage to hit their ROE target. They don't need at least half their present debt load...if any! If Fairfax would reduce leverage, I think the markets would be more comfortable maintaining a price above book. As long as they continue to operate with significant leverage, they will have more problems maintaining the same level in market price stability as Markel or Berkshire. Cheers!

Yes, even dumber than Tucker Carlson! What type of incentives would this create? Can you imagine it being duplicated by others?! Cheers! https://www.yahoo.com/news/san-francisco-air-black-reparations-133030821.html

The one thing I've realized between 2008 and now is that banking needs a hard-assed regulator to stand guard. Politicians on both sides of the aisle should just stay the fuck out of the banking business and have zero say in its regulation! A well-capitalized and regulated banking industry is essential to a functioning and growing economy and embodies the trust of its customers. Cheers! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gop-senators-pushed-to-keep-banking-rules-loose-one-week-before-svb-collapse-152706948.html

Expect more failures: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/silicon-valley-bank-failure-going-183638370.html Cheers!

+1! Mini bubbles popping everywhere. The government has been busy and will remain busy for another year or two. Cheers!

I think that's why the government had to step in and backstop the banks. Contagion and fear go hand and hand, and when you start to have a run on the banks, it is a very scary and delicate thing! Anyone who remembers 2008-2009 knows exactly what I'm talking about. A lack of liquidity is what exacerbated The Great Depression when the market collapsed and the run on banks began. While I'm not a fan of government bailouts, they are a necessary evil to prevent a greater systemic failure. Cheers!

Yup. FDIC fees should increase. I disagree on the bank not being a Joe Six Pack bank. Since corporations provide jobs...if the corporations suffer, jobs suffer, pension income suffers, health insurance disappears, etc...the repercussions make it a lot more than the wealthy learning a tough lesson. Cheers!

I agree! But you also want to create the right incentives. The bank executives should have their bonuses and options scrapped. Maybe even a partial clawback of the last year's salaries for the top executives, risk officers, etc. Directors should have all their director's fees for the last year clawed back. And probably tighter scrutiny of regional banks, brokerages, insurers, pensions on the same level as too big to fail institutions. We've seen this movie too many times in the last 15 years! Cheers!

Thank you Spek for the balanced and factual response! With members like you, I have less work! Cheers!

The difference for the big four banks and larger institutions is that they've offset potential outlier events using derivatives. Does anyone know how much of BAC's unrealized loss is offset by derivatives? Cheers!

+1! A dependable, secure banking system is necessary for any long-term development of an economy. What is the point of saving if you cannot be sure the fund's are safe when in low-risk/non-risk assets. Cheers!

Looked at Bank of Hawaii this morning. Most regional banks leverage increased in the last few years. There are only a handful operating at less than 10 times asset to equity leverage. Most have crept up to 13-18 times. Leverage is a killer for financial institutions during outlier events. I think there is more pain to come for the banking industry as rates haven't topped out and contagion fears spread. Cheers!

Like 14 other regional banks...five of which had their stock halted today. Risk management rarely prepares for outlier events. Cheers!

Mmmm...there's more here than we know. How did this all start? Who is holding what bag? Contagion among leveraged institutions is not easy to contain, especially when the Feds have no idea what bag will drop next. Fed had no idea about AIG while they were helping Lehman...and they had no idea about Lehman when they were watching Bear Stearns go down...and at the beginning, no one knew that derivatives could be so destructive where Bear Stearns would fail. So the Fed is slow to react (as we've seen with interest rates) in most cases. In this case, we had multiple mini bubbles, rather than one gigantic one. A couple of them have popped...we may have a couple to go! Cheers!

No, you aren't the only one. I often read it as well. Just to shake my head! Cheers!

That may be a good thing! Many of us remain too focused on investing. Personally, I read pretty much everyone...but follow no one! I once tried to follow Seth Klarman and learned my lesson pretty quickly. So I learned to take in information from everyone, but make decisions completely on my own. Cheers and thank you to everyone on here for all you contribute! Had coffee with Viking today for 3 hours...in person...what a wonderful guy! Cheers!

SEC Files Emergency Action Against BKCoin for Running $100M ‘Ponzi-Like’ Scheme https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sec-files-emergency-action-against-174334826.html I suspect there is a much bigger fish than FTX out there that at some point is going to get fried! Governments missed a huge group here by not regulating crypto! Cheers!

+1! Cheers!

This whole North America is broken position always makes me laugh! Broken perhaps in how much debt the governments are carrying and not balancing their books, but in terms of innovation and economic dominance in technology...the U.S. remains as relevant as ever. These things run in long-term cycles. But the U.S. free-market system always resets and powers back up. I remember how everyone thought the Japanese would dominate the U.S. when they were buying up all the golf courses in Hawaii. How did that turn out? Now it's China. I guarantee that the U.S. will reset again, and pour money into research and development in the next cycle. Cheers!

Advocates see no conflict between dei and academic excellence. “It’s hard to imagine being a good teacher if you don’t know how to actively engage all students,” says Sharon Inkelas, an associate vice-provost at Berkeley. Nor is it a matter of political belief. These statements “are descriptions of things that people have done that have enabled them to be successful in the classroom,” says Professor Inkelas. A referendum has already outlawed affirmative action in California, so state institutions cannot give preferential treatment on the basis of race or sex. A separate law bans employers from “controlling or directing” the political activities of their employees. “There is no litmus test attached to diversity statements. All that it’s asking is, ‘What are you going to be able to add to our campus? How are you going to deal with the diverse student body and faculty?’” says Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of Berkeley’s law school and a well-known First Amendment scholar. “The absence of lawsuits so far, despite threats, is an indication that the diversity statements are legal. They don’t violate the First Amendment.” They aren't dictating on how to hire...only that applicants have furthered diversity and inclusivity when dealing with the hiring process. In other words, give all candidates a fair shot regardless of race and gender! Cheers!

If you think about it, our neural network is exactly what AI needs...as they say, why reinvent the wheel? Nature has already created a near perfect brain. Cheers!

I imagine the U.S. reception of scientists, doctors, engineers and technology experts from every part of the world is what partly has lead to the exceptionality of the U.S. in the last 100 years...from Einstein and Oppenheimer to Elon Musk and Andy Grove. https://startalkmedia.com/20-immigrants-refugee-scientists-who-made-america-greater-part-1/ The Chinese are simply spending more money on research and development. Diversity and racial quotas have nothing to do with it. Higher wages, more funding for research, less red tape for development, and easier immigration would probably continue to attract more doctors, engineers, scientists and other experts. Cheers!

Amazing story of how a manhole cover during a nuclear test became the fastest man-made object ever created. Cheers! https://ca.news.yahoo.com/manhole-cover-launched-space-nuclear-010358106.html