Banks

I have not been on this planet for a long amount of time, but I know that it is very stupid to not even allow but to encourage JP Morgan to further consolidate. There is no way this will not fail, it may not be in the next ten years or the next fifty years, but if we continue this pattern it will come back to bite the country. Banks are already given too much power and influence over the machinations of the modern market. The biggest failures in American economic history have been caused by banks, directly. In the Great Depression banks allowed an overleveraged economy, without building any safeguards to protect themselves or the economy. In 2008, it goes without saying that the failures of the banking industry allowed for a complete implosion of the market. People lost their jobs, livelihoods, and the awful ramifications are still being felt all these years later. Why are these banks continually allowed to have an impact on our lives in such a drastic way? The FDIC should just insure deposits completely, shareholders should not be insured at all, besides that, we need to find ways to limit these banks. Unfortunately, it would take something Great Depression level to allow for that kind of change. The power these banks have extends to the easily corruptible minds of our politicians, and that has to change. The only way that will change is through a complete catastrophe which would require a New Deal-like recalibration. This is too big picture however, the larger question is, how do we profit off of this? Picking exactly when (if) these banks will fail completely is an insurmountable task to a kid on a Mac. The only apparent solution is to ride on the coattails of the rich and powerful. How one would do this, besides just buying a banking ETF is an interesting question. Buying six months out of the money calls on certain bank stocks would be a tool one could use. The question at that point becomes, how do you pick the right time to buy? Well, I use a pretty simple method. Top executives at the recently failed SVB sold a significant amount of their shares just days before it was claimed by the FDIC. Now, executives at a company can sell their shares for any number of reasons. An executive might sell shares for any number of reasons: buying a new house, diversifying, or for a million other motivations. Executives only buy shares of a company for one reason. I use this website to check for a rash of buys from officers of the company, and I’ve found it to be helpful http://openinsider.com/. Using this tool, to check the level of buying/lack of selling can help one to make a smarter buy. Thanks for reading this inaugural message, good luck.