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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (7647)	10/21/2003 2:23:12 PM
From: BWAC	Respond to of 25522

Bank <gets net margins of over 24%>. Borrow from the Fed discount window at less than 1%. Loan back out at whatever higher rate they want to charge the customer. Or more importantly do a carry trade and short term park it in Treasuries. "Bank" the interest rate spread. Its a Fed printing press subsidized 24%. Kinda like you taking a 0% 12 month credit card offer and buying a CD with the proceeds.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (7647)	10/21/2003 3:40:46 PM
From: chomolungma	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Could someone please explain to me why a company which is basically a commodity business gets net margins of over 24%? In my mind, a business operating in a truly competitive marketplace selling commodity goods should not be able to garner these types of margins. Don't compare financial ratios of non-finance companies with those of finance companies like Citigroup. It is an apples to oranges comparison. A "return on revenue" number for Citigroup is vastly different than that of, say, Applied Materials.