Guns' number one salesman

Up in November, up more in December, and probably a record today.

Original story on Examiner.

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I get lucky sometimes

Last November, I almost went to work for Alpha Bank & Trust, a new bank in Alpharetta. I was within one step of getting the job, with a big bump from where I was at Bank of America, when it fell through on some technicalities.

Well, I guess in the long run I ended up on the better end of the deal, because Alpha Bank & Trust was seized by the FDIC today, and all of its assets were transferred to Stearns Bank in Minnesota.

Yep, I would have been laid off today due to a bank failure if I had ended up in that job (which I really was looking forward to), with less than a year of service.

Sometimes, I guess things do work out after all! I do feel bad for them, though, but at the same time I can't help but feel extremely lucky somehow that things went the way they did.

Another 800-Pound Gorilla, Please

OMG!!!

WTF???

LOL!!!

SRSLY???

Now that those exclamations are out of the way...

Bank of America might be interested in being a white knight for free-falling Lehman Brothers. Why they would consider this without a tremendous safety net (especially since it has MBNA and Countrywide messes to clean up) is completely beyond me.

Hoyazo ought to get a kick out of this.

Unless the deal was similar to JP Morgan Chase's buyout of Bear Stearns (which meant up to $29 billion in potential losses being backed by the Feds, i.e. us), I don't see how they would seriously consider an acquisition.

They've done stupid things before, though. That's why their stock price went from 51 to 17. It's back to 33, but with this deal I'd be shorting this stock if I had ANY spare change at all.

Morons.

Deliverance

Way back on June 11, I wrote a post about withdrawing from Bodog, and whether anyone had experienced some issues with BoDog's payout service.

Unless you've done a moneyrgam transfer with them (which I had not), you have to request payout in the form of a check. I'd heard about and read some horror stories about it taking much longer than anticipated to receive checks, and hoped it would not exceed the 15 business day timeframe that was being published on their website.

So, on June 15, I initiated the payout.

On June 16, it was approved.

However, the check was not sent until August 19 - 41 business days after the request was approve, or slightly more than twice the anticipated wait time originally published.

Considering what seems to be happening on other sites, with a few bloggers unable to withdraw money from Full Tilt as of late, I guess I should be thankful that it finally showed up at all. I did, at least, get a bit of credit in my account for the interminable wait, so I do have to give BoDog some props for that.

In all seriousness, though, you guys need to find a more stable payout method, whether it's through check providers or through another online service. While it's good the funds did show up eventually (which is better than FTP), it's still a ridiculously long time.

If the question is, "How long does Bodog take to process checks?", the answer seems to be 41 business days, despite the 15-20 day timeframe currently on their website.

I am hoping it improves back to the expectation very soon.

Calling a bottom

Do you remember a week ago when I said that it may finally be a good time to buy BAC, and I was lifting my curse against the stock with it dropping into the teens? If not, click here.

Last week's price when I made the post: 18.54.

Today's price: 32.28.

That would be a 74% gain. In one week.

I hope you bought some and made a nice killing. Just remember to ship me an appropriate commission. If that isn't calling a bottom, I don't know what is.

Oh, and you're welcome.

Lifting the curse

I've decided today that it is finally time to lift my curse against BOA's stock.

Since leaving a year ago, I sold off any remaining stock I had in the company, thanks to retirement plans and other employee benefits.

Since then, the stock has fallen from 51 (ha!) to a low today of 18.5.

I think that is enough of a fall now for Bank of America, so I am lifting my curse against them, regardless of who remains there or any stupid practices they may continue to have.

With the stock under 20, I'm now thinking it could be a good long-term buying opportunity. For now, though, I'm satisfied with the damage done to their stock price and current market standing. It might be a good opportunity, depending on their earnings release next week.

Karma is fun sometimes. I consider this score settled. A drop of over 60% puts us even, don't you think?

The last gloat post

UPDATED 6/12: Word of more layoffs starts trickling out.



BAC Stock price when I left, June 2007: 49.19

BAC Stock Price when I cashed out my remaining shares, August 2007: 51.30

BAC Stock Price Today, June 2008: 29.66.

The best way to gloat?

ALWAYS go by the scoreboard.

I guess I got the last laugh after all - seeing that they have cut their earnings outlook, may cut their dividend, are selling a lot more preferred stock (and taking on more debt), cutting benefits as well as jobs, and are moving out of the Plaza in a couple years.

They've even fallen down to being the #3 bank behind JPMorgan Chase - which hasn't happened since 2001. Now, they are also saddled with Countrywide Mortgage.

On a more local level, the reorganization continues - to the point that my old department, in the end, had all duties moved to Chicago! It looks like anyone who remained was also either sacked or transferred as both business and debt (especially bad debt) expanded significantly.

Scoreboard.

You know, I think this picture is missing something...

That's better.

All your friends are belong to us

As further proof that they can't develop anything worth a damn anymore and are much better in mergers & acquisitions, Microsoft may now be looking to buy Facebook after failing in a bid to buy Yahoo!

A lot of Facebook people (myself included) would be quite nervous at such a combination, given Microsoft's (lack of) adequate security protection on a large number of its products.

On the bright side, it might mean that doodling at Facebook during work could now qualify as workplace productivity - something to keep in mind the next time you poke someone.

I do wonder, though, how they place Facebook's value at $15 billion. That sort of valuation reeks of 1999-2000. We all know how well THAT worked out.

IRS plus efficiency equals terrifying future

Apparently, the IRS installed a new computer program that allows for records to be updated daily instead of weekly.

We should probably all be very frightened, long-term, of this development.

Short-term, though, it means that the election-year bribe tax rebate stimulus checks ($600 for single folk, $1200 for married couples, $300 for each dependent child) will actually begin to be direct deposited on Monday instead of in May.

Let's be glad they lack the motivation to become as well-motivated in other matters.

One last trip note

The price of gas went up 23 cents from Thursday through yesterday, finally topping $3. It's ranging here from 3.06 to 3.35.

I'm thinking most of you feel like this picture too.

H/t to Cowboy Poker for the picture.

Monday Morning Merger Madness

Today was one of the rare mornings when the rest of the family left to house on time. This meant I could enjoy about 15 minutes of quiet before heading out the door to work myself.

I made myself a bowl of cereal, and flipped on the TV to CNBC as I tend to do each morning.

News came across that Barclays was finally buying ABN Amro - which had been brewing for weeks. Not a surprise, aside from the price tag of $91 Billion.

The shocker, though, that made me almost choke on my Raisin Bran was that it was apparently a three-way deal, as ABN was selling Lasalle Bank (based in the Midwest, mostly Chicago) for $21 Billion.

To who?

Take a wild guess.

This makes the bank's share of U.S. Deposits right at 10%. So, this is the last merger for a few years - it has to be. After U. S. Trust, MBNA, Sallie Mae, and now Lasalle, that's enough to integrate at once.

Come 2010, though, who the hell knows.

Wonder if any of us will be sent to Chicago to help with integrating. I'm sure Chicago would be more interesting than Connecticut.

We're #1!

Courtesy of Reuters:

Bank of America passes Citigroup in market value

Based on market capitalization, BAC is now worth $239.36 BILLION dollars, edging out Citigroup by $20 million.

I worked for Citigroup at Smith Barney when they were #1 and left to come back to Bank of America. I didn't leave Citi on very good terms, so I'm quite glad to see them dethroned. I'm even happier that we're the ones to take them down.

OK, that's the end of the advertisement for today.