Bank of America?

Nothing is wrong. I sold off to get the tax write off but will definitely buy back.

Really? Buying back? I bought a bunch of shares in 97 when it was MBNA. Since then it had a 3/2 split, a stock dividend & then became BAC. So I have doubled+ my original investment, not counting the div. I was thinking of dumping it & paying the tax piper (because of the overall bank problems), but maybe I should keep? SandyBeth

I don't want advise anyone on stock purchases. But BAC definitely is a great stock to buy or keep. Once this credit thing is over BAC is one financial stock that'll go up.

Just to set the record straight, Bank of America has been around a lot longer than MBNA. Even when banks in the US were prevented by regulation from operating outside of a single state boundary, Bank of America was one of the top 2 or 3 largest banking institutions in the world. And to keep this on thread, I would think if Buffet is buying, there likely isn't anything wrong with Bank of America, just a temporarily very value priced company.

Elizabeth Richardson

In 1995, Bank of Tokyo merged with Mutsubishi Bank to become the world's largest, surpassing Sumitomo Bank. Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bank was triple the size of Citicorp, the largest in the US.

The period I was referencing was in the 1960s and earlier.

Elizabeth Richardson

While we are on the topics of banks, what about WB (Wachovia)? Their write-off was bad news but they don't have significant exposure compared to others. Is this stock just getting unnecessarily dragged down by the rest?

Disclosure: I do own a little of WB and will keep that for the long run.

I have recently bought Wachovia, BofA, and Countrywide. In my opinion, (worth exactly nothing) is that these are sound companies getting beat up by Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. So far, all I have proved is that cheap stocks can get cheaper. But such is the lot of the value investor.

-- Doug

Buffett has owned Wells Fargo (WFC) for many years. The distinguishing feature about WFC today is that it is not involved in the "credit mess" - i.e. according to their latest press statements and earnings release. BAC, WB, C, FRE, and others are invloved in the credit mess - i.e. according to their recent press and earnings releases.

Anyone wishing to read and compare and contrast press statements made by some banks (unnamed here) may find that, unlike WFC, deliberate obfuscations abound. Buffett has proven that he is capable of deep analysis of individual issues. While his depth may be beyond most of us, a sufficient analysis is well within reach. Banks are hard to analyze - especially when they issue statements to the effect that "we are well positioned" "we have utmost confidence in our leveraged products operations" - after taking billion dollar write-downs. Make sure you understand where a bank makes / loses its money ... if Buffett were a hedge fund, he could be buying BAC in order to lend it out in an equity swap.

These are not your mother's banks.

What I meant to say in my post was that MBNA was absorbed by BAC. SandyBeth