JUST HOW BAD IS IT?
The write-offs just keep on coming. A table we saw from Agora Financial
(www.agorafinancial.com) showed the following in write-offs in the third and fourth quarters, in
billions of US$: Citigroup $11.3, Merrill Lynch $8.5, Morgan Stanley $4.7, Bank of America
$3.9, Barclays $2.7, Wachovia $2.5, Bear Stearns $2.0, J.P. Morgan Chase $1.7, Goldman Sachs
$1.6, Lehman Brothers $0.7.
We have also seen the following numbers from Canadian banks: CIBC $0.46, Royal Bank of
Canada $0.36, Bank of Nova Scotia $0.19 and Bank of Montreal $0.50. BMO’s losses followed
earlier ones (on natural gas futures) of some $0.6 billion. We still need to hear from Toronto
Dominion and National Bank of Canada.