Regulating Fannie and Freddie

**seireikhaan** · 09-15-2008, 22:56

Originally Posted by drone

Under the mattress is the safest place!

Bank of America got Merrill Lynch for a good price. I suppose at some point they will stick a capital 'T' "The" in front of their name after this. BoA looked at Lehman, but decided they were a lost cause without government backing and jumped on Merrill who was healthier. At the end of this mess BoA is going to be a juggernaut. I think I need to start complaining about the interest rate I'm getting on my checking account...

AIG does not look to be in a good position. Don't know who is willing to take on that risk.

I've been wondering when Ford/GM will ask for a bailout. They are both bleeding cash, and will eventually go through their reserves. Then I saw this on over the weekend:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...091203341.html
Sounds to me like a "we bet everything on gas-guzzlers, can you please loan us money cheap while we retool our factories for small fuel-efficient vehicles that the Japanese have a 20 year head start on" whine.

So what happens when Bank of America pulls the same

that all these other numnutzes have done?

**drone** · 09-15-2008, 23:22

Originally Posted by makaikhaan

So what happens when Bank of America pulls the same

that all these other numnutzes have done?

I haven't seen the balance sheets, but I believe Bank of America is fairly isolated from the mortgage crisis. They avoided sub-prime lending and investing, and they have a huge amount of capital. They had tried earlier to start an investment banking arm, but it never really took off, so taking over Merrill Lynch gets their foot in the door and shores up Merrill's investments. What sank Lehman is not debt, but the inability (or the appearance of) to raise capital to cover that debt. Banks like Wachovia, Washington Mutual, etc, are in trouble, best to avoid those, once the blood is in the water it's only a matter of time. There are a few big banks that kept away from the mortgage wheeling and dealing, those will be the best bets for survival. As far as where your money goes, look up the rules of FDIC insurance. If you have more than $100K with any one bank under one name, start up an account elsewhere and transfer.

**seireikhaan** · 09-16-2008, 01:55

Originally Posted by drone

I haven't seen the balance sheets, but I believe Bank of America is fairly isolated from the mortgage crisis. They avoided sub-prime lending and investing, and they have a huge amount of capital. They had tried earlier to start an investment banking arm, but it never really took off, so taking over Merrill Lynch gets their foot in the door and shores up Merrill's investments. What sank Lehman is not debt, but the inability (or the appearance of) to raise capital to cover that debt. Banks like Wachovia, Washington Mutual, etc, are in trouble, best to avoid those, once the blood is in the water it's only a matter of time. There are a few big banks that kept away from the mortgage wheeling and dealing, those will be the best bets for survival. As far as where your money goes, look up the rules of FDIC insurance. If you have more than $100K with any one bank under one name, start up an account elsewhere and transfer.

Drone, I'm not talking about in the next year or two. I'm talking about 15 or 20 years down the line, when they inevitably succumb to the same sort of stuff that Fannie, Freddy, and Lehman have. What then, when we've got an even bigger crisis our hands? BoA will be so gigantic that the government will inevitably have to bail them out too. Honestly, I can't believe I'm saying this, but with so much of the world economy at stake, the heads of these super banks should be getting the death penalty for this. SOMETHING to get it through their heads that they can't just do whatever they want and get an 8 million dollar buyout offer so they can go retire in comfort to Miami or Panama City.