About Banks

I saw a very clear, four-color HD vision of men and women in business suits in the financial district. They were at a traffic light waiting to cross the road.

A voice over said, “Isn’t it strange that these educated people place all their life’s savings in one bank?”

The Federal Reserve lent Dexia Bank in Belgium $100 billion during the crisis, Dexia closed on Friday. RBS in the UK is on the verge of collapse (again), Moody’s just down graded the credit rating of twelve British banks and Unicredit in Italy is tottering, their shares have more than halved. The Bank of Ireland shares used to be €18.00 they are €0.10 (ten cents) this morning. Down €17.90 from the old high. The Financial Times this morning said Soc Gen and BNP Paribas in Paris are seeking to “reorganize”.

The Friday announcement about Dexia mentioned reorganizing. Once a bank closes I’m not sure how much reorganizing can be done. One can shuffle the furniture around in empty buildings, I suppose. The Belgium government says it will nationalize the local branches of the bank for €90 billion, the Belgium government is as broke as Ireland and Greece. Should be fun to watch.

The moral of this vision is spread ya money about and buy gold. I tell people it’s wise to have at least six months money in cash out of the bank, in ya hand, or under the bed.

One day the ATM cash machines will close. The Euro faces collapse sooner or later, the British Prime Minister Mr. Cameron said today the Euro has three weeks to live unless something dramatic is done. European politicians are not famous for acting dramatically. (sw)