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lol. GMAC bank popped up again as Ally, now this will be bailed out by someone and pop up as some sort of friendly-sounding bs (Super Happy Mortgage Company, perhaps?) This will all just continue - zombie financial companies re-tweaked and renamed and bailed out instead of clearing the rot out.
Hey OJ; my 27 ounces of dark chocolate has not kicked in yet, so I'm still too sassy. Ally......huh, as this was and still is grown in MI in the same dark places as mushrooms and using the same type of the best of manure for bedding....another note past the games they play. GMAC/Ally was supported to support the auto bailout. While not a friend of all such things gov't; one of another main reasons for we taxpayers to support this machine is that Chrysler Credit (which crashed and burned), as well as private new/used auto dealers use "GMAC" to finance auto sales. At the time of the banks being a bit shy about lending money to anyone for an auto; this was another resource for monies. Ally and its ads have not been unlike GM and playing lose with words and thoughts. GM's ad from April, 2011 notes by the then, CEO; that GM had paid back all of the taxpayer bailout monies. That part was true; but it was because GM tapped another TARP portion of money to do this and still owes a "manure truck load" of taxpayer monies. GM never did reply to my note about this deception when I contacted their investor relations dept. Guess they don't want me to be a customer of their products. Oh, well; as things stand today, I will be buying a Canadian import before the fall months of MI. Canadian import you ask........that would be a mini van from Chrysler of Canada. 'Course this continues to tweak folks in conversations about whether they are buying "American" or not. In MI, during the old auto days; signs were posted at all parking lots for the UAW and some factories. "Don't park an import in this area!" So, here I mention a van whose parent company monies is pretty much split between the U.S. taxpayers and Fiat of Italy, but with U.S. parent company facilities in MI and I'm talking about buying a van that is built in Canada which likely also contains parts from about 20 other countries. If the van were a dog, I sure as heck don't know what the bark would sound like from such a breed, eh? Shell games, let them continue to find the ultimate winners and losers. If we gather and hold all of the bad guys; I fear we would run short of enough crosses and spikes. Take care, Catch
Who's everyone banking with these days? We all know about the big name banks - reputation tarnished over the past few years and pisssed off many customers with less customer-friendly banking policies (i.e. Increased banking fees, etc).
What do you guys think when all you hear from Fox (Business) News all these years putting the blame on homeowners for starting the mess by not meeting their obligations to pay? How about their rant about not increasing banking regulations but decreasing them? Blame it on the government and their interference and not on the banks. Oh the average person doesn't understand free markets and capitalism and the destructive interference by the government and so on. That's the message and sentiment they've been conveying.
Hi Kenster, We use a medium sized local credit union for our emergency monies and an auto loan if we ever need another one. I am boycotting the big kids and I don't care if they want to give a toaster oven or a cash back credit card to switch. As to some of the talking heads; one would think they are being paid to present some of the statements issued. But, you too; know that too many of the population are not well schooled in anything related to household budgets, let alone money in general. Apparently common sense left the building, too. Regards, Catch
Yes a lot of people have been switching to Credit Unions because they've become sick and tired of the changing/increasing banking fees and general ugly view of their industry and what's happening.
There's also been a surge in business in many of the smaller local community and regional banks too.
Some have also turned to USAA Bank which has traditionally been open to Military families but have opened up to the public.
Some non-traditional banking options I've seen people turn to in greater numbers include Fidelity, E-trade, Capital One, Schwab, etc. Actually I know of a couple of friends who are actually banking with Ally and are happy with them too (no check fees, no ATM fees, etc). Online saving accounts from ING Direct, Discover Bank and American Express also seem to be popular as well.
I've been using a credit union (actually two) for years. Far less expensive and better service than banks. I'm surprised more don't use them. No check fees, free checks, no ATM fees, better CD rates than most banks, better paying money market accounts, better auto loan rates, etc. One of our credit unions is an on-line CU -- this one tends to give the better rates.
However, we do use a local bank for our home mortgage. We're happy with the local bank for that purpose -- they didn't sell our mortage, and allowed us to "modify" our mortgage to achieve lower rates. Friendly and helpful folks.
FWIW, I use a combination - a brokerage as a hub (including bill payment, wires, EFT, checks - all free), a large CU for the bulk of cash (better interest rates) and HSA (likewise), a local bank for safe deposit (lowest cost), and a TBTF bank for ATM access. (Keep a little bit of money in the bank, and use it for cash.)
Now that may seem like I'm supporting the TBTF bank, but the way I figure it, it's costing them a whole lot more to service that small account than they're making on it. And this way, I don't ding the brokerage for all those ATM rebates. Where I live, the bank has an ATM in a 24hr store one block from me, a branch two blocks from me, a branch 4 blocks from me, a branch 6 blocks from me, a branch 7 blocks from me.
It sounds like a joke, but the reality is that I'm almost always going to be using that bank's ATM, and I'm not going to have my brokerage paying them $3 a pop for that.
On a related issue, US PIRG just came out with a report about how these banks are going after college students (with WF being the worst, or at least largest). Here's the NYTimes article on the gouging (and the full PIRG report here). Even worse than the banks are financial entities that seem to have sprung up for the sole purpose of getting fees from college students.
Reply to @Old_Joe: Yah, some definitely are like that, but you may have to do some research to make sure those that advertise as such aren't, um, stretching the truth a bit. One bank in my state still advertises itself as a "community" bank, but the local group that owned it sold out to a publicly traded regional bank quite a while back.
We do have a locally owned bank in this town where we have our checking account, and a credit union that gave us a great deal on a mortgage refinance - better terms, lower costs, and no lies, unlike the TBTF bank that ended up with our mortgage after the housing collapse.
I have no use for bank of Mexico, (as my friend at work calls them). They take your fingerprints to cash a check. I have several checking accounts locally and via internet. I do think people should read the agreement and decide if they like the terms. Most of the people on this board pay attention. That is what is needed. I have a son in college, hopefully he would read the paperwork and/or ask me about the account before he signed up. I think a lot of people like to complain. If you don't like the terms, go elsewhere. It's not that hard.
Reply to @msf: Yeah, from everything that I've ever heard, WF is a close runner-up to BofA when it comes to screwing the little guy. One thing about Warren Buffett that I've noticed over the years- how the companies that he favors treat their customers is not a factor in his investment decisions. There might be some sort of lesson there, but if so, I don't think that I like it.
Reply to @Old_Joe: It's called being the world's biggest crony (which I think is Buffett's own Buffett rule as he gets older - and it was probably not a bad decision as the market changed.) I believe the companies (especially the subsidiaries) also have to be nearly as old as he is, with some exceptions. Hey, at least the Nebraska Furniture Mart (a subsid) makes for a wholly thrilling backdrop for nearly every CNBC interview (with Becky Quick, no one else, dammit!) in Omaha.
As for investing in companies that treat their customers well, I don't think that's the primary consideration for the majority of managers or Buffett. This isn't a Buffett market built on fundamental analysis and sound reasoning - I wouldn't be surprised if he retires in the next year or three and/or takes on a more removed role (a la Jean Marie Eveillard of the First Eagle funds.)
My prediction is that Buffett takes over Archer Daniels Midland and maybe one or two other companies before then. As for bankster bailing out, Buffett has the money to come in and get the kind of terms he gets. He has put his bet with Wells Fargo, and they would seem to be the least worst off (despite the crap they took on with Wachovia) of the TBTF - although that's not saying much of anything.
Comments
Ally and its ads have not been unlike GM and playing lose with words and thoughts. GM's ad from April, 2011 notes by the then, CEO; that GM had paid back all of the taxpayer bailout monies. That part was true; but it was because GM tapped another TARP portion of money to do this and still owes a "manure truck load" of taxpayer monies. GM never did reply to my note about this deception when I contacted their investor relations dept. Guess they don't want me to be a customer of their products. Oh, well; as things stand today, I will be buying a Canadian import before the fall months of MI. Canadian import you ask........that would be a mini van from Chrysler of Canada. 'Course this continues to tweak folks in conversations about whether they are buying "American" or not. In MI, during the old auto days; signs were posted at all parking lots for the UAW and some factories. "Don't park an import in this area!" So, here I mention a van whose parent company monies is pretty much split between the U.S. taxpayers and Fiat of Italy, but with U.S. parent company facilities in MI and I'm talking about buying a van that is built in Canada which likely also contains parts from about 20 other countries. If the van were a dog, I sure as heck don't know what the bark would sound like from such a breed, eh?
Shell games, let them continue to find the ultimate winners and losers. If we gather and hold all of the bad guys; I fear we would run short of enough crosses and spikes.
Take care,
Catch
What do you guys think when all you hear from Fox (Business) News all these years putting the blame on homeowners for starting the mess by not meeting their obligations to pay? How about their rant about not increasing banking regulations but decreasing them? Blame it on the government and their interference and not on the banks. Oh the average person doesn't understand free markets and capitalism and the destructive interference by the government and so on. That's the message and sentiment they've been conveying.
We use a medium sized local credit union for our emergency monies and an auto loan if we ever need another one. I am boycotting the big kids and I don't care if they want to give a toaster oven or a cash back credit card to switch.
As to some of the talking heads; one would think they are being paid to present some of the statements issued. But, you too; know that too many of the population are not well schooled in anything related to household budgets, let alone money in general. Apparently common sense left the building, too.
Regards,
Catch
There's also been a surge in business in many of the smaller local community and regional banks too.
Some have also turned to USAA Bank which has traditionally been open to Military families but have opened up to the public.
Some non-traditional banking options I've seen people turn to in greater numbers include Fidelity, E-trade, Capital One, Schwab, etc. Actually I know of a couple of friends who are actually banking with Ally and are happy with them too (no check fees, no ATM fees, etc). Online saving accounts from ING Direct, Discover Bank and American Express also seem to be popular as well.
However, we do use a local bank for our home mortgage. We're happy with the local bank for that purpose -- they didn't sell our mortage, and allowed us to "modify" our mortgage to achieve lower rates. Friendly and helpful folks.
Now that may seem like I'm supporting the TBTF bank, but the way I figure it, it's costing them a whole lot more to service that small account than they're making on it. And this way, I don't ding the brokerage for all those ATM rebates. Where I live, the bank has an ATM in a 24hr store one block from me, a branch two blocks from me, a branch 4 blocks from me, a branch 6 blocks from me, a branch 7 blocks from me.
It sounds like a joke, but the reality is that I'm almost always going to be using that bank's ATM, and I'm not going to have my brokerage paying them $3 a pop for that.
On a related issue, US PIRG just came out with a report about how these banks are going after college students (with WF being the worst, or at least largest). Here's the NYTimes article on the gouging (and the full PIRG report here). Even worse than the banks are financial entities that seem to have sprung up for the sole purpose of getting fees from college students.
We do have a locally owned bank in this town where we have our checking account, and a credit union that gave us a great deal on a mortgage refinance - better terms, lower costs, and no lies, unlike the TBTF bank that ended up with our mortgage after the housing collapse.
As for investing in companies that treat their customers well, I don't think that's the primary consideration for the majority of managers or Buffett. This isn't a Buffett market built on fundamental analysis and sound reasoning - I wouldn't be surprised if he retires in the next year or three and/or takes on a more removed role (a la Jean Marie Eveillard of the First Eagle funds.)
My prediction is that Buffett takes over Archer Daniels Midland and maybe one or two other companies before then. As for bankster bailing out, Buffett has the money to come in and get the kind of terms he gets. He has put his bet with Wells Fargo, and they would seem to be the least worst off (despite the crap they took on with Wachovia) of the TBTF - although that's not saying much of anything.