What a Lovely Frickin' Day!

[ubuy2wron]

My approach is to scour for risks so I am more cautious. For instance, this US big bank comparison chart causes me to believe that Morgan Stanley and Bank of America have sold the most Euro sovereign debt insurance. ARe these charts anticipating defaults in the fall?

 

Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank, said yesterday it had a $16.7 billion exposure to the five countries at the end of June, including loans and leases. This includes $15.2 billion of “non-sovereign” exposure, according to a quarterly report. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender purchased credit-default protection of $1.77 billion as a hedge against potential losses, according to the filing.

 

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-08-05/citigroup-has-31-7-billion-gross-exposure-in-five-nations.html

From this I can conclude then that the exposure is really concentrated with the Fed and the ECB and other unknown parties then. If this is true then I think levered positions on BAC may start to make sense. 

[DCG]

Aother huge lawsuit files against BAC. Down 15% more today.

 

 

[Valuebo]

Meanwhile the redemptions at Fairholme probably multiply by the day...

 

[ERICOPOLY]

Aother huge lawsuit files against BAC. Down 15% more today.

 

 

 

Yes but note that the lawsuit is from AIG, which is down 8%.

 

So if people assume BAC is going to take a huge loss from this lawsuit then this is particularly odd.

 

[biaggio]

these bad mortgages were probably in the countrywide portfolio, which the US government made them buy.

 

Is that right?

 

If so, you would think that B of A is owed a favour by uncle SAM?

 

 

[berkshiremystery]

David Tepper (aka Appaloosa Mgmt.)

 

CNBC's David Faber has reported that Tepper sold out BAC, WFC and significantly cut some C.

 

[Uccmal]

Does it strike anyone as odd that the S&P downgraded US treasuries, then there is a market rout, and a flight to safety....

 

In US treasuries. 

 

 

[JSArbitrage]

The blue chips are holding up really well.  No 10% drop on WFC, KO, XOM, BRK etc. 

[Uccmal]

these bad mortgages were probably in the countrywide portfolio, which the US government made them buy.

 

Is that right?

 

If so, you would think that B of A is owed a favour by uncle SAM?

 

 

 

You are correct.  But I dont think you will be seeing any favours for this.  Consider it a gift to be allowed to stay in business 3 years ago.

[DCG]

I posted in this thread on Friday saying while many stocks were well off their highs, they didn't yet look 'cheap' to me. Now there are some real bargins out there. Wow.

 

Companies like BAC and C aside, take a look at companies like:

 

AAPL

V

MA

GS

ETN

WFC

USB

LOW

HD

XOM

 

..and so many others.

[Liberty]

Mr. Market is totally nuts today..

[Valuebo]

Vix up almost 50% just a few minutes ago...  ::)

[Liberty]

Here's another indicator that there's panic in the air: Google Finance loads more slowly than usual.

 

If the hordes of people checking their stocks is large enough to slow down Google's servers, we know we've got the average person sweating...

[txlaw]

Here's another indicator that there's panic in the air: Google Finance loads more slowly than usual.

 

If the hordes of people checking their stocks is large enough to slow down Google's servers, we know we've got the average person sweating...

 

Haha.  So true.

[DCG]

The fund withdrawals from the 90% of individual investors that base their decisions around fear and impatience has probably barely began.

 

I'm doing a bit of buying with the small amount of cash I have available, but it doesn't look like many large value investors are stepping in yet.

[ericd1]

How soon we forget...Evidently there's an oil glut now...futures ~$83...energy sector hit hard like financials.

 

I guess we're going back to $10/bbl - LOL

 

 

 

 

[JohnDoe700M]

http://www.iranian.com/main/news/2011/08/08/iran-s-revolutionary-guards-commander-becomes-opec-president

 

Anyone smell a 1973 all-over-again?

 

[Parsad]

I'm doing a bit of buying with the small amount of cash I have available, but it doesn't look like many large value investors are stepping in yet.

 

They are.  It's the non-value guys that paid up who are selling.  We'll know who was buying and selling when the 13-F's come out later on.  Cheers!

 

[roughlyright]

Anybody has a opinion on Bank of America Preferred shares? I am looking at BAC-PL, which is now trading at $689. The par value is $1000. This is supposed to pay $72.50 in dividends. Here is the text from the prospectus.

 

"SECURITY DESCRIPTION: Bank of America, 7.25% Non-Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, Series L, liquidation preference $1000 per share, and with no stated maturity. Non-cumulative distributions of 7.25% ($72.50) per annum are paid quarterly on 1/30, 4/30, 7/30 & 10/30 to holders of record on the first day of the month in which the payment is due (NOTE: the ex-dividend date is at least 2 business days prior to the record date). The dividends are non-cumulative and if the board of directors does not declare a dividend or the company fails to pay a dividend declared by the board for any quarterly dividend period, the holder will not be entitled to receive any dividend for that quarterly period and the undeclared or unpaid dividend will not accumulate. Dividends paid by the preferred are eligible for the 15% tax rate on dividends under normal holding restrictions and are also eligible for the dividends received deduction for corporate holders (see page S-40 of the prospectus for further information). The preferred shares are convertible any time at the holder's option into 20 common shares of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), an initial conversion price of $50 per common share (a 25% premium from the initial price). On or after 1/30/2013, if the price of the common stock exceeds 130% of the conversion price for 20 of any 30 consecutive trading days, the company may, at their option, force the preferred shares to be converted into common shares at the then prevailing conversion price. In regard to the payment of dividends and upon liquidation, the preferred shares rank equally with other preferreds and senior to the common shares of the company."

 

Any comments?

[ERICOPOLY]

I think AIG has bottomed (everybody gets to guess for fun every now and then).  Can't believe how many warrants I have now.

[junto.investing]

I think AIG has bottomed (everybody gets to guess for fun every now and then).  Can't believe how many warrants I have now.

 

You mentioned several ways to play this one... do you mind me asking which option(s) you ultimately went with?

[Smazz]

How soon we forget...Evidently there's an oil glut now...futures ~$83...energy sector hit hard like financials.

 

I guess we're going back to $10/bbl - LOL

 

 

Im going to enjoy some getting it up you know where. Where? Well lets just say they will wish they kept hold of some of the actual commodity to make the pain more bearable... having said that, benzene would probably sting!

[ERICOPOLY]

I think AIG has bottomed (everybody gets to guess for fun every now and then).  Can't believe how many warrants I have now.

 

You mentioned several ways to play this one... do you mind me asking which option(s) you ultimately went with?

 

I went with AIG & BAC warrants.  I also got BAC 2013 $10 strike calls.

[DCG]

I also got BAC 2013 $10 strike calls.

at what price? Looks like they're currently around $1.15.

[txlaw]

I think AIG has bottomed (everybody gets to guess for fun every now and then).  Can't believe how many warrants I have now.

 

You mentioned several ways to play this one... do you mind me asking which option(s) you ultimately went with?

 

I went with AIG & BAC warrants.  I also got BAC 2013 $10 strike calls.

 

No AIG.  But bought the same calls on BAC that you did.