Book Value

It is quite refreshing to see some real and objective analysis come out of the sell side, particularly from one bank regarding another, but I must admit that if I had to pick a bone with Lim's analysis, it wouldn't be the content or quality, but the timeliness. What the hell took you so long to come to these rather astute observations, dude?

All you need to read.

Ten days ago Zero Hedge presented the idea of applying an Asbestos-type settlement to the neverending lawsuits against Bank of America which if continue at the current rate will result in the swift and brutal end of the massively undercapitalized bank by a thousand Rep and Warranty litigation cuts. Yesterday, we were happy to see that the idea has received far broader billing, and is being taken up by non other than Reuters: "When some look at all of the litigation arising from Bank of America's big role in the U.S. mortgage mess, they start thinking of asbestos and how thousands of lawsuits arising from that cancer-causing product brought down many manufacturers more than a decade ago. The solution back then to dealing with claims filed by more than 750,000 workers exposed to asbestos was the creation of dozens of "asbestos settlement trusts," which have paid out tens of billions dollars in damages. Some of them are still going strong today. The asbestos trusts were seen as an innovative approach to deal with seemingly endless litigation and provide a measure of compensation to sick workers and their families. The system for dealing with claims also allowed some of the hobbled manufacturers to emerge from bankruptcy largely free of the crushing weight of lawsuits." In other words, the choices for Bank of America are now two: either it prepares for a slow, painful, insolvency as all of its cash is bled out in litigation fees and "one-time" lawsuit charges, or, almost just as bad, it funds a massive trust, ringfencing all past, current, and future claims, and which is funded...by nearly all of Bank of America's equity. Yes, the end result will be a near wipe out of the existing Bank of America stock, but it will not be bankruptcy! In essence, what BAC will do is a bankruptcy remote "prepackaged bankruptcy" in which it spins off its contingent liabilities, with an equity buffer of whatever the litigants choose (most likely up to about 95% of the firm's current equity value), and proceeds to grow as a simple bank (with or without Merrill) and fund itself through retained earnings, in the process shedding off the "cancer" that are $1.2 trillion in toxic mortgages. The result of this would be a BAC share price of under $1 but that is inevitable. The alternative: freefall chapter 11 and technically 7 (which will never be allowed by the administration, sorry Chris Whalen), means BAC trades to $0.00, and the status quo system of crony communism is finished.

You know the saying...It's not paranoia if they're really after you. Europe is much, much closer to universal bank collapse than the media is letting on. You, my friends, are getting a distorted picture of mis(or dis, depending on your paranoia level)information. Enter Bear Stearns 2.0 without a JPM to swallow it with Fed help, or Lehman Brothers 4.0x5!

The IMF says Euro banks are severely undercapitalized, the EU says the IMF is full of it. Reggie says they're both so optimistic that the word disaster can't even be spelled correctly without someone in a marble office breaking out into hives...

Tangible stores of wealth are indeed seductive, and apocalyptic overtones add to their allure. But what is tangible can be taken. Trading in apocalyptic settings has minimal gain and even the most tangible things carry risk: there is no profit in an unshakable faith in them. The only unshakable faith should be in one’s capacity to foster a world worthy of wonderful and useful ideas, avoiding religious matters. It is here that the rules themselves change in unpredictable ways. Bureaucracies collapse: the largest predators in the food chain become extinct. The best hope is to rise out of it and rise quickly and the smaller, nimbler, and more cunning can live to see brighter days. There is no science to living in such circumstances. But perhaps there is an art in it. If the world does melt under the unlaboring stars, one should not despair of it.

For what it's worth, the DAX is almost back to yesterday's "flash" crash lows.  I'm not sure what is going on there (Greece, sovereign debt in general, slowing economy) but it is unlikely that yesterday's move was solely related to a fat finger or rumors of a downgrade.  The Dax is now down over 20% for the year.  I think the weakening economy and horrible stock performance will further impact Germany's willingness to fund bailouts across Europe.  Yes, maybe it would help their market, but I suspect the average German is going to be more worried about sending money out the door at a time of weakness, than what is the "right" decision longer term. 

Early this morning, Henry Blodget penned a post titled "Here's Why Bank Of America's Stock Is Collapsing Again" in which he used Zero Hedge data among other, to determine that the capital shortfall for the bank is between $100 and $200 billion. It took BAC exactly 6 hours to retort. Below is the full statement.

After it was disclosed that Bank of America's firesale of its China Construction Bank is not going as well as expected, Moynihan's company, which was trounced by the market in the past week, continues to shed assets, this time offloading its $8.6 billion Canadian credit card portfolio to TD Bank for an unknown amount, a deal about which all BAC said was that the "transaction is expected to have a positive impact on the company's Tier 1 common and tangible common equity and the respective ratios." So it may also have a negative impact? That's encouraging. This news follows earlier disclosure that BAC has sold its UK and Ireland credit card business. Unfortunately for BAC shareholders, as long as the CFC bad bank is not nationalized by the Fed (sending its tracking CDS to parity with US default risk) such incremental asset sales will continue. Which also means that as BAC retains the non-performing assets, it is forced to sell its cash-generating trophies. At what point will there be nothing left of BAC but a husk that promises to everyone that going forward its Tier 1 ratio will be over 6% for real this time. And how long until the next Reps and Warranties lawsuit against BAC's mortgage handling practices?

Here is the next installment of the public evidence of a bank run in France. This is literally a carbon copy of Bear Stearns/Lehman Brothers, just on a larger scale. Listen to that sucking sound. It's the illustion of liquidity hitting the hard wall of reality! You heard it hear first.

• Global stocks rebound after Fed move (FT)
• Bernanke’s Interest-Rate Timeframe Draws Most Negative Votes in 18 Years (Bloomberg)
• Pass the Granade: BofA Sells Part of Mortgage Portfolio to Fannie Mae (WSJ)
• France Asserts Plans to Keep Triple-A (WSJ)
• S&P balks at SEC proposal to reveal rating errors (Reuters)
• Senate’s Baucus In Deficit Super Committee Trio (Reuters)
• SNB’s Franc Dilemma May Force Intervention Even After $36 Billion Losses (Bloomberg)
• Kan Moves Step Closer to Resignation After Japan agrees on Budget Funding (Bloomberg)
• Cracks in China Housing Push (WSJ)
• Australian Consumer Confidence Slumps to Lowest Since 2009 on Market Slump (Bloomberg)
• No exposure at all: none. Commerzbank Profit Drops 93% on Greek Debt (Bloomberg)

Sen. John kerry comments that the Chinese "are laughing all the way to the bank" on a downgrading of US Treasury securities.  China owns about 8% of the U.S. debt, so does that mean the rest of 92% debtors, including the U.S. taxpayer, would also be "laughing"?  

By now some readers may have read ludicrous stories about the Fed coining multi-trillion precious metal coins in a way to loophole the debt ceiling situation. Granted, this plan is so far beyond ridiculous that we have not wasted the time to comment on it. That, however, does not mean that the Fed is powerless to assist the Treasury in a modestly long-term term fix of the debt ceiling fiasco. In fact, as Stone McCarthy's Raymond Stone observes: "The Fed does not want to be a player in this debt ceiling/potential default debate. It didn't want to be a player in the Bear Stearns debacle, or the Lehman situation. But when push comes to shove the Fed will do what it can to avoid a default." In summary there are three avenues that the Fed can pursue in order to help Tim Geithner prolong the cash illusion modestly longer. The three options for Bernanke are to i) book profits; ii) prepay expenses and, yes, iii) sell gold. Combined, these three approaches could squeeze out well over half a trillion dollars, giving the Treasury breathing room not only past August 2, but potentially into 2012! That said, "The Fed would not want to advertise to Congress the possibility of delaying default. It does not want to take Congress off the hook on increasing the debt ceiling." But it will, if it has to, and the end result will be a delay potentially of up to a month. And if it means selling off the Fed's gold, so be it.

A European Bank Run: Step-by-Step. I outline the problems of a single bank that, unfortunately, is shared by many. This time next year, never let anybody tell you that this couldn't be seen coming as I illustrate how it will happen, and in detail!