Wells Fargo Expects to Post Record $3 Billion in EarningsSo Soros says the US banking system is insolvent? Oh boy. I would like to be insolvent like WFC

the US banking system is an excuse to print money

Let Bernanke keep "printing" money! He and Geithner are solving the whole mess alone.When the financial system becomes stable they will exit with a profit for taxpayers and banks will have more robust equity reserves. Credit spreads will come down, the housing bubble has bursted and houses are more affordable, IR came down and alleviated the pressure on the middle-class, the US economy will keep pumping, exporting a lot, growing and in the end I believe the US will have a lower deficit after this mess is solved.

QuoteOriginally posted by: BullBearWells Fargo Expects to Post Record $3 Billion in EarningsSo Soros says the US banking system is insolvent? Oh boy. I would like to be insolvent like WFC A company can be both insolvent and profitable at the same time (especially if assets are marked to fictional optimistic values).

QuoteOriginally posted by: Traden4AlphaQuoteOriginally posted by: BullBearWells Fargo Expects to Post Record $3 Billion in EarningsSo Soros says the US banking system is insolvent? Oh boy. I would like to be insolvent like WFC A company can be both insolvent and profitable at the same time (especially if assets are marked to fictional optimistic values).It's unbelievable how so many people in this forum wants the efforts of Bernanke, Geithner and other US authorities to fail!Just accept the facts. Bernanke did a great job. The US banking system just needs some time. With everything stabilized the crisis will be solved and the economy will grow again (but it won't happen overnight, it will take some quarters).Marked to fictional values? lol This is a serious accusation! Just because you or me thinks the fair value is x or y we are not the almighty one to impose our opinion.Anyway, this is just one quarter and just from one bank. I hope some quarters from now everything becomes fine, the economy can grow again and jobs will be created. Things won't be solved overnight of course but they are taking the right steps to solve the mess.Thumbs up to Bernanke! Brilliant job! We just need some additional quarters and the economy will be fine.

You are also forgetting the kitchen sinking that probably went on.Also I think T4A is referring to the retraction of FAS157.

I certainly do not want Bernanke and crew to fail. I just don't want them to create the illusion of success that leads to greater failure at a later date. I also don't want their efforts to absorb too much of the wealth-generating capacity of the country. The majority of the analyses that I have seen suggest that housing prices are still too high and equity prices are still too high. My worry is that they've been trying to catch a falling knife at great expense to the future.No one seems to be accounting for the effects of future taxes, yet. As far as I can tell, forthcoming taxes will: 1) absorb about 30-60% of the pre-crisis level of corporate profits; 2) reduce new business formation in the U.S.; and 3) reduce the ramp-to-volume of innovation.

I totally agree with T4A. Here in Europe we have(d?) not co-ordinated hectic programs, from "infinite" collateralisation to bank nationalisation (temporary or permanent), to wait-and-see. Fig-leaf actions, like subsidies for car replacements, ... but nothing about innovation drivers. G20 might have helped to streamline ..But if the magma of innovation cooles down, it will become really cold on the economic surface? Tax formation? To me, reorganizing (and harmonizing?) the tax systems, is one of the most challenging tasks. Because in a Mad-Max society the best innovation climate becomes senseless, at the other hand?

This is the reason why the crisis became so deep:naked short selling and the blood on the StreetPhantom sharesUncertaintyLack of transparencyFearPanicMaddoff schemesGovernment plans changing every weekRisk of deflationInvestment projects and decisions being delayedCredit spreads of healthy firms going unbelievably high due to all those factors aboveFirms restructuring their operations, downsizing and firing workers to be able to surviveIf there were so many phantom shares in the market then it cannot be at fair value. Valuations are all wrong! Markets cannot be in equilibrium after such manipulation and fraud schemes.The drop in the market cap of most firms was driven by naked short sellers that must go to jail ASAP.I am referring to the following drops:- Sell-off 1: Sep/Oct 08 total panic sell off [institunional investors and almost everyone else] // S&P @ 840- Sell-off 2: Maddoff sell off [1st wave of retail investors; last investors still "alive"] // S&P @ 750- Sell-off 3.1: Obama's first stage in the government beatting down the US economy [1st wave of mutual funds, some institutional investors] // S&P @ 805- Sell-off 3.2: Headlines all over the place defending the banking system nationalization --> Sell Off [2nd wave of retail investors] // S&P @ 676WFC is a great example on how the Street messed up with some firms. They sold everything, asking questions later, even the firms that are going to survive this crisis.How many shares are still floating? I hope some Banks can start paying dividends soon. The bill for naked short sellers will be huge!Seriously, people that have been engaged in naked short selling must go to jail. A "fine" is not enough. They caused massive destruction to investors, taxpayers, workers that were laid of, etc...Some of these guys can even afford to go to the media and tell everyone how they were so great and how they made so much money by shorting large chunks of Banks' shares. A criminal investigation on their accounts would easily say if they have done Repos first and how many shares were (still are?) floating and who sold them.