Bank Stocks: Risky by Nature
Citigroup (NYS: C) CEO Vikram Pandit offered his assurances this morning that a possible European banking crisis wouldn't clobber his bank. Citi's exposure to Europe is "extremely manageable," he said.
Phew.
But where have we heard this before?
Maybe it was November 2007, when a Citigroup analyst said Morgan Stanley's (NYS: MS) maximum loss exposure to the souring U.S. housing market was "very manageable."
Maybe it was December 2007, when AIG (NYS: AIG) CEO Martin Sullivan assured investors that "U.S. residential housing exposures are manageable given AIG's size, financial strength, and diversified global businesses." The possibility of loss was "close to zero," he said.
Or in late 2007, when an analyst bullish on Bank of America (NYS: BAC) opined, "The losses are not only manageable for the bank, but were long ago discounted by investors," echoing the words of the bank's CFO earlier that year.
Perhaps it was July 2008, when then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said of the weakening banking sector: "This is a very manageable situation."
And so on.
All of these quotes were made by people with more information, better research, and deeper clarity into a bank's books than any individual investor can dream of. For investors, the biggest risk with bank stocks isn't that they'll underappreciate the complexity of the company's balance sheet. It's that the people running the show do, too.
At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorMorgan Houselowns preferred shares of Bank of America. Follow him on Twitter,@TMFHousel. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America and Citigroup. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of AIG. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.
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