Washington Federal’s Roy Whitehead on Banking, Public Trust, and Regulations

Washington Federal’s Roy Whitehead on Banking, Public Trust, and Regulations

Whitehead’s point deserves underscoring because it illustrates reason for economic optimism. Investors may well be “once bitten, twice shy,” but investor psychology can turn on a dime, much faster than can institutions with serious structural weaknesses. Not that winning back trust will be–or should be–easy. “If I could wave a magic wand,” admitted Whitehead, “I would bring back Glass-Steagall–or something like it.” Continue reading Washington Federal’s Roy Whitehead on Banking, Public Trust, and Regulations

Met Grill’s “Guess the Dow” Panel Predicts a Sunnier Stock Market in 2012

Met Grill’s “Guess the Dow” Panel Predicts a Sunnier Stock Market in 2012

There are no experts in predicting the future, of course, but a good way to get a balanced view of the here and now out of people is to ask them about six months or a year from now, which tends to defeat the tendency of momentary worries to overshadow all else. On that basis, things are looking up: The group’s averaged guess for the Dow on December 31, 2012 was 13,482. The 2011 winner was Smead Capital’s outspoken Bill Smead, who was also the overall winner. He called Dow 12,000 and it closed at 12,217. Continue reading Met Grill’s “Guess the Dow” Panel Predicts a Sunnier Stock Market in 2012