Hi B1,

Thanks for that report.

In the latest issue of Investor's Digest, a couple of commentators state that the last of the effect on the banks has not yet been seen and is still unknown. So the opinion you report is certainly not unanimous.

I was surprised that, with miserable earnings reports this week, that the banks actually rallied strongly. Perhaps the market had the reports pegged to be "the worst-case scenario" as Ms. John states, and the stocks bounced on a feeling of relief. But I think it has more to do with them raising their dividends, as they all have a significant yield associated with them.

When the banks are issuing shares, one has to wonder what they need more cash for. The incessant nickle-and-diming they do to their customers raises a lot of money already, and if they cannot pay their losses with that, their exposure is extremely high.

All that said, I was waiting this week with cash in hand to buy bank stocks after these quarter reports, thinking that they were going to be knocked down substantially. I am still holding the cash as I was completely fooled by the rally.

Cheers,

Bluenoser