The immortal words of Gomer Pyle rang out in financial headline after headline this week, “Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!”
First the banking sector became awash in surprisingly good news. Four of the US top banks smashed all earnings estimates and posted collective net profits of $13.6B for the second quarter.
Bank of America (BAC) posted a profit [...]

On Friday it was announced that State Street Corp. became the first of 10 large banks to repurchase warrants held by the US Treasury. The warrants were put in place to assure that taxpayers are rewarded for their collective TARP loan to banks as the finance sector recovers.
The transaction occurred on Wednesday and cost [...]

Serious investors should watch specific key ratios; which I provide freely to any RunToGold reader.  The major asset classes include gold, silver, oil and stocks.  At all times and in all circumstances gold and silver remain money.  Oil is the worlds primary energy source.  Among other purposes, stocks should represent the wealth generating capability of the [...]

BANKS HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH CAPITAL
At a congressional oversight panel on the government’s financial rescue program the tax evading Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testified, “Currently, the vast majority of banks have more capital than they need to be considered well capitalized by their regulators.”  With the recent fair-value lying accounting changes banks have reported surging quarterly profits. [...]