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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Les H who wrote (194934)	4/4/2009 1:18:07 PM
From: Les H	Respond to of 306849

Rallies don't impress celebrity bear, fundamentals do BRIAN MILNER E-mail Brian Milner \| Read Bio \| Latest Columns April 4, 2009 Battered U.S. bank stocks enjoyed a healthy rally this week, buoyed by the many billions in taxpayer dollars Washington keeps throwing at them, by signs that the G20 leaders might actually have a plan, and by a change in how financial institutions account for all the sludge clogging up their books. The Financial Accounting Standards Board, which determines what rules U.S. companies must follow when adding up their numbers, has relaxed requirements that forced financial institutions to account for massive paper losses stemming from possibly temporary damage to assets caused by the credit meltdown. Critics say the easing of mark-to-market rules allows the banks to play fast and loose once again with asset values. Advocates of the reform say it's ludicrous to force institutions to value securities at current distressed market prices if there's no actual market for the stuff. Whether you believe the new numbers or not, they will immediately show up on balance sheets for the quarter just ended. But if you're thinking this might be the time to load up on crippled U.S. bank stocks, let me introduce you to Meredith Whitney, the most bearish bank analyst never to be fired from a job on Wall Street. theglobeandmail.com That probably means she'll no longer have the effect on the markets since they no longer control when she's scheduled to appear on CNBC.