Comments on: Bank of England’s King blames frugal foreigners for the credit crisis http://monevator.com/did-foreigners-cause-credit-crisis/ Make more money, invest profitably, retire early Thu, 24 May 2012 00:24:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: The Investor http://monevator.com/did-foreigners-cause-credit-crisis/comment-page-1/#comment-22005 The Investor Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:29:38 +0000 http://monevator.com/?p=3413#comment-22005 @Faustus - Hah, yes indeed. @Faustus – Hah, yes indeed.

]]> By: Faustus http://monevator.com/did-foreigners-cause-credit-crisis/comment-page-1/#comment-21964 Faustus Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:13:47 +0000 http://monevator.com/?p=3413#comment-21964 Agree that HSBC and Standard Chartered look best placed - I suppose they can always threaten to relocate to Hong Kong/Singapore if the Chancellor tries to get nasty. With so much volatility would like to see SC reach about £13 though before investing. Agree that HSBC and Standard Chartered look best placed – I suppose they can always threaten to relocate to Hong Kong/Singapore if the Chancellor tries to get nasty. With so much volatility would like to see SC reach about £13 though before investing.

]]> By: The Investor http://monevator.com/did-foreigners-cause-credit-crisis/comment-page-1/#comment-21910 The Investor Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:18:33 +0000 http://monevator.com/?p=3413#comment-21910 Hmm, indeed. I hold shares in HSBC and Standard Chartered and I've been wondering if I should have offloaded some of the latter when they approached £17 the other day. Trouble is it still looked a decent price for a great franchise. I suspect it'll be volatile for a while but those two should ride it out, or spin-out lucrative offshoots if required. As long as the regulation touches everyone, it's a level playing field. On the broader non-self-interested point, it's a welcome move. We've gone from too big to fail to proven to be too big (even bigger in fact) to fail. Something has to change. Hmm, indeed. I hold shares in HSBC and Standard Chartered and I’ve been wondering if I should have offloaded some of the latter when they approached £17 the other day. Trouble is it still looked a decent price for a great franchise.

I suspect it’ll be volatile for a while but those two should ride it out, or spin-out lucrative offshoots if required. As long as the regulation touches everyone, it’s a level playing field.

On the broader non-self-interested point, it’s a welcome move. We’ve gone from too big to fail to proven to be too big (even bigger in fact) to fail. Something has to change.

]]> By: Faustus http://monevator.com/did-foreigners-cause-credit-crisis/comment-page-1/#comment-21902 Faustus Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:20:29 +0000 http://monevator.com/?p=3413#comment-21902 King lets many bankers off too easily here - their excessive leverage and risk-taking were based on flawed assumptions which could easily have been avoided. Look at the different fortunes of HSBC and RBS for example. He's right though about the need for tighter financial regulation, and it looks as if Obama has set an example with his plan to curb the size and risk-taking of banks which George Osborne will follow (assuming a Tory government from May). This sure makes me glad now I didn't fall into the temptation of picking up any shares in the big banks last summer and autumn - their price has gone into freefall today and the future looks very uncertain. King lets many bankers off too easily here – their excessive leverage and risk-taking were based on flawed assumptions which could easily have been avoided. Look at the different fortunes of HSBC and RBS for example.

He’s right though about the need for tighter financial regulation, and it looks as if Obama has set an example with his plan to curb the size and risk-taking of banks which George Osborne will follow (assuming a Tory government from May).

This sure makes me glad now I didn’t fall into the temptation of picking up any shares in the big banks last summer and autumn – their price has gone into freefall today and the future looks very uncertain.

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