The Bad News Banks
One of the reasons I find the valuations of the mega banks so attractive is that the bad news is already priced in because they are still operating under a recessionary scenario. For patient investors, that's good because it means your downside exposure is limited. And by downside, I mean risk of capital loss, not volatility in the stock price. With all of the chaos happening in the world, volatility in prices seems to come and go these days.
The mega banks are already quite profitable -- not as much as they were when balance sheets were leveraged 40-to-1, but still extremely profitable when you consider how conservatively they are being run today. I'm looking at the core profits these banks' operations are earning absent charges due to headcount reductions and other one-time charges. Indeed, while it would be great to see profits climb to levels of 2005 and 2006, at today's equity prices, that is not necessary to capture significant upside value from stock price appreciation....381 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
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