It could be a complete dud as an investment, or it could be an amazing buying opportunity!
Investors began selling off shares of National City Bank (NCC), a stock that traded for as high as $27.21 in October 2007, predicting it would be the next bank to fail. Bank officials, however, dispute that they will be the next to fail, citing stronger equity positions than other recently failed banks. Reportedly, the mortgages that this regional bank holds are less concentrated in areas of the country where home prices have fallen the most, such as Florida, southern California, and Nevada.
The current fire sale is up to 93% off the October high, but it's an 'as is' sale, so hopefully the goods aren't broke when you get them home - or fall apart shortly thereafter!
***
This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, "Riddle Me This".
Monday, September 29, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
DISGUSTING.
It's funny how high-ranking politicians and government officials just conceded this week that we're in a financial mess nationwide. Rewind to the previous week, and they were still telling the American people that everything was fine and our economy was "sound".
Even a young banker from Indiana could see this coming. Not to toot my own horn, but in November 2007, I wrote a blog post entitled, "The State of Our Economy" as seen here: http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathen/entry/14766/ In May 2008, another post by the name of "Postage, Mom, & Corn-Fed Beef" ( http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathen/entry/18062/ ) warned about stagflation. A month later, in June 2008, I asked who would be caught holding the bag next in the post called "Musical Chairs. Who Will Be Out Next?" as you can see here: http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathe...
It's not something I'm especially proud of, nor did I really ever want to say "I told you so," but it appears to be unfolding just as predicted. I guess you tend to think that these high-ranking officials have special privileges, powers, and information -- something beyond the grasp of the 'average Joe' -- but obviously not. Maybe they just need to read the news with some critical thinking involved like this Midwestern banker does.
If you hold politicians on a pedestal, you're going to be disappointed. When I read that the CEO of Goldman Sachs made $70 million last year ( http://www.nypost.com/seven/12132007/business/goldman_ceos_pay_may_be_70m_in_07_56960.htm ) I think, no wonder we have the politicians we do! Why would anyone ever want to be a politician when they can run a company into the ground for $70 million, losing over half of shareholders' wealth? Executive compensation has gone out of control. They could have hired any idiot off the street to do the same at many of these companies for much, much less.
But it gets better! Why work for $70 million a year when you can get fired and collect $68 million?! Chuck Prince, former CEO of Citigroup, made just that to get lost and join the unemployment line, as seen here in this CNN article: http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/07/news/new...
You may have read a few months ago, too, that Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo inadvertently hit 'reply' instead of 'forward' to an e-mail asking for help, which was sent to him by a customer facing foreclosure. If not, here's a link to the story in the LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/21/...
To comment on Mozillo's compensation package, using a word from his own inadvertent e-mail reply, I'd say, "Disgusting."
***
This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, "Riddle Me This".
Even a young banker from Indiana could see this coming. Not to toot my own horn, but in November 2007, I wrote a blog post entitled, "The State of Our Economy" as seen here: http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathen/entry/14766/ In May 2008, another post by the name of "Postage, Mom, & Corn-Fed Beef" ( http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathen/entry/18062/ ) warned about stagflation. A month later, in June 2008, I asked who would be caught holding the bag next in the post called "Musical Chairs. Who Will Be Out Next?" as you can see here: http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathe...
It's not something I'm especially proud of, nor did I really ever want to say "I told you so," but it appears to be unfolding just as predicted. I guess you tend to think that these high-ranking officials have special privileges, powers, and information -- something beyond the grasp of the 'average Joe' -- but obviously not. Maybe they just need to read the news with some critical thinking involved like this Midwestern banker does.
If you hold politicians on a pedestal, you're going to be disappointed. When I read that the CEO of Goldman Sachs made $70 million last year ( http://www.nypost.com/seven/12132007/business/goldman_ceos_pay_may_be_70m_in_07_56960.htm ) I think, no wonder we have the politicians we do! Why would anyone ever want to be a politician when they can run a company into the ground for $70 million, losing over half of shareholders' wealth? Executive compensation has gone out of control. They could have hired any idiot off the street to do the same at many of these companies for much, much less.
But it gets better! Why work for $70 million a year when you can get fired and collect $68 million?! Chuck Prince, former CEO of Citigroup, made just that to get lost and join the unemployment line, as seen here in this CNN article: http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/07/news/new...
You may have read a few months ago, too, that Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo inadvertently hit 'reply' instead of 'forward' to an e-mail asking for help, which was sent to him by a customer facing foreclosure. If not, here's a link to the story in the LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/21/...
To comment on Mozillo's compensation package, using a word from his own inadvertent e-mail reply, I'd say, "Disgusting."
***
This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, "Riddle Me This".
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tween Radio? No Thanks!
I can't stand the thought of having to pay for radio on Sirius or XM, but I was almost to that point. Then I discovered a new radio station.
If you share my frustration with the other "local" stations, and you're tired of having tweens pick the same 10 songs to be played over-and-over again (100.7 MIX-FM), or you're just sick of the non-stop commercials (HI-99), take a listen to a world-class rock station: 92.3 WTTS.
Although I still mourn the loss of 107.5 WZZQ from time-to-time, 92.3 has made up for it!
***
This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, "Riddle Me This".
If you share my frustration with the other "local" stations, and you're tired of having tweens pick the same 10 songs to be played over-and-over again (100.7 MIX-FM), or you're just sick of the non-stop commercials (HI-99), take a listen to a world-class rock station: 92.3 WTTS.
Although I still mourn the loss of 107.5 WZZQ from time-to-time, 92.3 has made up for it!
***
This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, "Riddle Me This".
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Comparing Presidential Candidates Tax Plans
Recently, the Washington Post provided a chart of how the two major contenders for the U.S. Presidential election would stack up against each other with their respective tax plans, as shown here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
The Washington Post chart has been re-drawn above (click here for larger view:
http://chartjunk.karmanaut.com/images/taxplans.pdf ) and overlaid with U.S. census information on median U.S. household incomes, as well those for the median male & female. It also attributes each area to the percentage of U.S. population that it will affect, which is interesting data to show.
The U.S. Census data puts things in perspective, showing the percentages of the population that the candidates' tax policy will affect. Those that re-drew this chart claim that the uppermost income bracket only contains approximately 1,000 people, while the lower brackets contain millions ergo their reasoning for the re-draw to scale.
As you can see, Obama's plan calls for more tax savings in the lower brackets, but this decrease is mostly offset by increasing taxes in the two highest income brackets. The net effect is almost neutral overall with an average cut of $160.
McCain plans to provide more tax breaks to the upper-end of the income levels. Overall, the tax rates for everyone will go down on an average of $1,195, according to the chart.
***
This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, "Riddle Me This".
The Washington Post chart has been re-drawn above (click here for larger view:
http://chartjunk.karmanaut.com/images/taxplans.pdf ) and overlaid with U.S. census information on median U.S. household incomes, as well those for the median male & female. It also attributes each area to the percentage of U.S. population that it will affect, which is interesting data to show.
The U.S. Census data puts things in perspective, showing the percentages of the population that the candidates' tax policy will affect. Those that re-drew this chart claim that the uppermost income bracket only contains approximately 1,000 people, while the lower brackets contain millions ergo their reasoning for the re-draw to scale.
As you can see, Obama's plan calls for more tax savings in the lower brackets, but this decrease is mostly offset by increasing taxes in the two highest income brackets. The net effect is almost neutral overall with an average cut of $160.
McCain plans to provide more tax breaks to the upper-end of the income levels. Overall, the tax rates for everyone will go down on an average of $1,195, according to the chart.
***
This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, "Riddle Me This".
Thursday, September 18, 2008
High Gas Prices Raise Even the Price of Cocaine
I found this quite interesting in the news today, as times are tough even for criminals:
Several newspapers around the country are including an Associated Press story about a 18-year-old drug dealer in Portage, Indiana, who allegedly has raised his price for cocaine due to the additional costs of delivery to his clientele. Reportedly, the northern Indiana man told a police informant that he's been charging an additional $25 "fuel surcharge" because of high gas prices, but was promising customers discounts in the future.
Perhaps he was going to buy a Prius…
***
This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, "Riddle Me This".
Several newspapers around the country are including an Associated Press story about a 18-year-old drug dealer in Portage, Indiana, who allegedly has raised his price for cocaine due to the additional costs of delivery to his clientele. Reportedly, the northern Indiana man told a police informant that he's been charging an additional $25 "fuel surcharge" because of high gas prices, but was promising customers discounts in the future.
Perhaps he was going to buy a Prius…
***
This blog post by Chris Wathen was also published in his Linton, Indiana based Greene County Daily World blog entitled, "Riddle Me This".
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