Long BX and GS, short everything else... why? they'll make money on everyone else's distressed debt. BX and GS actually hire smart people. The other banks are archaic old boy's clubs with MBA retards, a la George W. I think the best indicator is this: your bank hires a lot of PhD's, it's a buy Your bank hires mostly MBAs, it's a sell.. MBAs can't compute more advanced probabilities, because they're too stupid. They use crap risk models.
What if you could downgrade a company and buy shares as it sank. Then 3 months later upgrade before the makets open, gap open the stock and unload. Why that would be cheating. That would be stealing. That is the investment banks for ya.
Smart Money gives GS money so they can earn a return. Dumb Money gets their money taken. That is correct.
Upgrades/Downgrades and the whole rating system is a fucking joke. I hope they become things of the past when trillions are lost due to triple A rated CDOs.
I think Citi was under and thats why the fed began printing $$ for them in November.....its one thing if Bear fails...Many middle Americans don't know who they are...But if Citi fails? Bank runs occur across the globe...LEH will be taken over at a huge discount for its IB and name.
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Citigroup Inc's (C:Citigroup, Inc C 19.59, -0.81, -4.0%) chief financial officer Gary Crittenden said Thursday that, "if current trends prevail, it is fair to conclude we will continue to have substantial additional marks on our subprime exposure this quarter." Crittenden made the comments on a conference call sponsored by Deutsche Bank. Crittenden added that it's reasonable to expect that credit costs will continue to rise through 2008, and that provisions for losses in its consumer business will also grow. Crittenden said that the company expects revenue growth of 9% "two to three years out," and sees long-term expense reduction of $15 billion. The comments pressured Citigroup shares, driving them down 74 cents, or 3.6%, to $19.66.