I can accept things like local government for Cops, Firemen and things like that, but not in my face kind of government.[/QUOTE]
You see thats all local government services we pay for in taxes. The Feds are out of control, and poking around on the state level.
New Hampshire is at it again!!! They are getting pissed about what the Feds are doing.
Here is a snip of what they are doing. 9th/10th amendments!!
HCR 6 – AS INTRODUCED
2009 SESSION
09-0274
09/01
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 6
A RESOLUTION affirming States’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.
SPONSORS: Rep. Itse, Rock 9; Rep. Ingbretson, Graf 5; Rep. Comerford, Rock 9; Sen. Denley, Dist 3
COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
ANALYSIS
This house concurrent resolution affirms States’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.
09-0274
09/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
A RESOLUTION affirming States’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.
Whereas the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, Part 1, Article 7 declares that the people of this State have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent State; and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right, pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America in congress assembled; and
Whereas the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, Part 2, Article 1 declares that the people inhabiting the territory formerly called the province of New Hampshire, do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other, to form themselves into a free, sovereign and independent body-politic, or State, by the name of The State of New Hampshire; and
Whereas the State of New Hampshire when ratifying the Constitution for the United States of America recommended as a change, “First That it be Explicitly declared that all Powers not expressly & particularly Delegated by the aforesaid are reserved to the several States to be, by them Exercised;” and
Whereas the other States that included recommendations, to wit Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia, included an identical or similar recommended change; and
Whereas these recommended changes were incorporated as the ninth amendment, the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people, and the tenth amendment, the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people, to the Constitution for the United States of America; now, therefore, be it
So what are everyones predictions for Friday?
I say down.
Oh, and have a good night!!! I am out!!
lol you guys are so angry, name some partsof the stimilus package you dont like please.
Who knows what gonna happen tomorrow, It seems to start with the dow futures and goes from there!
Back to the speech...He said today...This the first package to address the unemployment issue... Then the next issue will be the financial sectors...and then then the third package will be the housing default issues thats homeowners refinancing @ 4% across the board....This is gonna be a very big price tag....and they are saying It could bring the market down to the 5000's.......
But Sirius is gonna be up!
Positions ABK AIB AIG BAC C F GTOX SIRI
What Industry Insiders Are Saying About the Banking Sector
Mr. Ware, the information Amarillo National reports to the FDIC show things are going extremely well for your bank, something most financial institutions can't say right now. How's business?
Pat Ware: We're very fortunate to have good people in place who do a great job when they come to work. We can be proud that a number of the measurements used to evaluate a bank -- deposits, loans, capital -- have set records. We managed to sidestep the problems that the big banks ran into.
Given all we saw last year in the financial world, it appears the era of the mega bank is over.
It sure seems like it; that's hard to tell. The J.P. Morgan model is surviving. But I think that's due to good management and recognizing the problems and just getting them out of there. But Citigroup is no more; they're splitting up as we speak. I think all the new regulation we're about to have forced on us is going to make it hard to have a big megabank financial supermarket.
Investors would be scared of that, and probably regulators would be scared of that ...
Right. I think investors are going to figure out that from here on if they don't understand a balance sheet or the income statement then they need to stay away from it. All the off-balance sheets and the derivatives were just the straw that broke the camel's back for these big banks.
How could regulatory changes affect your business?
They could come in and tell us our interest rates are too high. It'd be hard for us to explain to them that the risk in this market is different from the risk in another market you're looking at. We're always worried about regulators coming in and telling us who we can and can't lend to. And that's mostly what started this whole deal -- regulators telling banks which loans they had to make. Ninety percent of the time Community Reinvestment Act loans are good but 10% of the time it's bad; it becomes a disaster. If we had to write off 10% of loans, we wouldn't want to be in this business.
When you look at a bank's balance sheet, what's the first thing you look at?
For me it's different than with everybody else. The first thing I look at it is deposits and their mix of deposits. What percentage of their deposits are demand deposits? [Deposits that pay no interest, such as checking accounts.] Investors can see that in FDIC filings. That gives you a good idea how a bank keeps its cost of capital low. Demand deposits are free -- the more loans you can make with free money, the better. It's a perfect business model if you run it right -- and price the risk.
What's the biggest danger facing small banks?
The biggest danger in the near term is the national banks that have been bailed out. Now they're coming in and paying up big time on deposits. To compete with that we have to pay up too and that squeezes our margin. The fact that these banks have done everything wrong and now they get to use all this taxpayer money really makes it harder on the smaller bank. They're trying to get customers because nobody trusts them anymore, and because people realize that there's so much risk on that balance sheet, the banks have to pay to get people to put money in. That makes it hard for us.
When -- or if -- there's a rally in the banking sector, who's going to lead it?
I think regional banks, especially the ones that didn't take any bailout money. I like Frost. Its executive management team knows what it's doing -- how to control costs and build customer relationships that pay off over the long haul.
What do you think is going to be the clearest signal that the economy has turned around?
In the big picture it's going to be whenever job losses slow down and house prices start to stabilize, and that might get consumer confidence up again. The biggest element of that, of course, is spending. If we see an uptick or a small increase in people buying big ticket items, people buying cars again and houses again, that could be the first sign that things are starting to normalize.
Amarillo National has a very low percentage of non-performing, or "classified," loans. What does that number mean, and how can investors use it?
That indicates our loan officers made prudent decisions at the start of the loan -- we don't just pump up our balance sheet full of loans to please Wall Street or in case somebody was trying to buy us. We make loans that help the bank out for ten years and not just the next quarter. The amount of classified loans shows you're making good, consistent lending decisions.
We have a directors' loan committee that sets our loan-loss reserve policy, and these guys on Wall Street, these big banks, their hands are pretty much tied to what an analyst says their loan-loss reserve needs to be. They're basing that off some regression analysis -- they're not the officers making the loans. Our loan officers who are making the loans to the customers, they can see the problems evolve from the get-go.
What is a good margin of safety for loan-loss reserves?
There's a sweet spot. We want to keep our reserve at 1.20% to 1.25% of our total loans. I truly think the bigger banks listen to whatever regression analysis (financial industry observer) Meredith Whitney pulls out of the air and that's what they set their loan-loss reserve at.
Wall Street tells banks what earnings they have to hit and one of the numbers they can fudge with is their loan-loss provision. That directly affects earnings.
How long are banking stocks going to stay depressed?
I think the big banking stocks are going to stay hammered until the government stops telling them how to run their banks. I think the regional banks that didn't take the TARP that have good management are going to do really well. I'd buy Frost. Banks that are set up like Frost and are well run like Frost will be the best things to own.
Many happy returns!
-- Andy Obermueller
Senior Investment Strategist
StreetAuthority Investor Update
whats up Bill.... Just hanging out selling a little of bac as it meets my predetermined gains.... ABK is looking good today... where do you figure is a good selling point... got in at 1.10 set a sale for 1.49 but changed it to 1.35...
Dont know whats up with Sirius today...I do have enought shares at a cost adv around .12 to try to compound....but now I afraid...They proberly figure every one is gonna sell high and buy back and with my luck once I sold
It would proberly never look back again...and the gain is not worth the risk...
That about it for now...hope your Killing them...talk at you later...Tony
I bought BAC at 4.74 and sold today at 6.05
I have set my ABK at 1.50 to sell
See....ABK isn't a dog. lol
I want to get rid of AIB.....haven't figured my point out yet.
I want to start cashing in and re-positioning.
SIRI............phew! I am not putting anymore money in at this time.
Same here....for now....good luck, buddy! Make that cash!