Bank analyst Meredith Whitney out with two notes to clients over night:
1) Ain't Gonna Happen, where she argues that "normalized" earnings for banks is a fallacy, that it's more likely we will see protracted consumer deleveraging, fewer consumers who qualify for credit, and dramatic regulatory change, which will negatively impact earnings for a protracted period, and
2) The Great Exit: The Biggest Market & Bank Risk Over the Next Four Months, a long note on the importance of the Fed's agency MBS purchase program, where she argues that uncertainty over when the program will end (now scheduled for end of Q1 2010), and who the substitute buyer for the Fed will be, means that "prices will go down meaningfully and rates will go up meaningfully." She argues that it is possible the mortgage market will again shrink notably: "We believe this represents one of the larger risks to the banks and overall market over the next several months."
- Crescenzi: Fed Exit Best As Process, Not Event
- 'Mother of Carry Trades' Leading to 'Asset Bust': Roubini
- The Dow 30 in Real Time
- The CNBC Stock Blog
Questions? Comments? tradertalk@cnbc.com
