Cisco is using some of their foreign cash to acquire the Digital TV software maker NDS for $5 Billion.  They are using the foreign cash to avoid paying taxes on repatriating that money back to the U.S.. I sure hope that this is a business that Cisco is committed to operating in.  I’ve long been...Read More

He is exactly right.  Goldman turned into a trading firm where the focus is far too short term in nature.  They have really talented people but the model is more hedge fund oriented, as opposed to client focused.  John Pierpont Morgan is probably rolling in his grave at how things have changed. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/goldman-s-change-in-culture-hurts-clients-greenberg-says.html INVESTING IN...Read More

I tend to agree with this analyst in that I think China is in a lot more trouble than the consensus believe.  If they were able to avoid a collapse after their immense building spree of the last decade, it would be an exceptional accomplishment, and would go against quite a bit of economic history....Read More

Today we had some big news with the Federal Reserve announcing the results of the dramatic stress tests.  As a whole the US banking industry did quite well, which is to be expected considering they have double the capital that they had three years ago. I was somewhat surprised to see Citigroup, which has one...Read More

The idea that the Federal Reserve can accurately forecast the financial results and capital ratios for these massive banks assuming an 8% decline in GDP, a 50% decrease in stocks, a 20% decrease in housing prices, and an unemployment rate of 13% is truly laughable.  There are just far too many inputs and projections to...Read More

We should see the release of Federal Reserve’s draconian stress test this week which should clear the path for many of the stronger banks to increase their dividends and share buybacks.  It is important for these companies to be able to operate in the shareholders best interests, yet still follow all regulatory guidelines. For the...Read More

It looks like the Federal Reserve is back at it providing leaks to the press, and as usual it sheds a negative light on the banks.  I’m all for higher capital requirements but the rules have to be clear. It’s silly to come up with these fictional “stress tests” scenarios, where one group argues that...Read More

It is interesting to see that hardest hit states from housing are leading gains in employment.  It is important to remember why states like California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada were growing so fast to warrant the increasing home prices in the first place.  They are very desireable places to live, particularly for the baby boomer...Read More

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan was on Bloomberg this morning talking about the U.S. Consumer and his company. He mentions that Bank of America is past the stage of capital concerns, and now the issue is earnings. There are about $2 Billion of additional mortgage related expenses per quarter that will ease over time,...Read More

Today Treasury announced that they will be selling $6 Billion of AIG stock, and AIG announced that they will be buying up to $3 Billion of it.  This is enormously accretive to AIG shareholders being that if AIG were to pay $29 a share from Treasury, they would be purchasing their own stock at 52%...Read More