Thursday, March 26, 2009

Quick Notes for the Day - March 26

There have been several firms that accepted TARP money that are now looking to repay those funds as quickly as possible. It is interesting that what was once looked at as the taxpayers just throwing money into a black hole is now going to be returned with interest by many of the firms that received it. We have heard from Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, and now Bank of America.

Also, a very good editorial written by a former hedge fund manager details the how short sellers drove down the market and what the government should do about it. A very good but somewhat technical article.

Bank of America CEO Eyes TARP Repay in April - Reuters - "Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said the largest U.S. bank wants to start repaying $45 billion of federal bailout money next month, after completing a government stress test, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday."

Have We Seen the Last of the Bear Raids? - By Andy Kessler - The Wall Street Journal - "The short-sellers probably saved us five to 10 years of poor bank earnings... So is that it? Is the downturn over? After bouncing off of 6500, or more than half its peak value, and with Citigroup briefly breaking $1, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied back more than 1200 points. So, is it safe to go back in the water? Best to figure out what went wrong first -- what I like to call a bear-raid extraordinaire."

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