I'm Very Tempted to Buy Small Banks

Filed in archive Investing on September 30, 2008

I know we're headed into the 2nd Great Depression and all, but darn it if I'm not tempted to buy in to some of the public regional banks that haven't yet been swallowed up. Here's my theory...

Sovereign Bank - SOV - Trading at $4.14 as I write this. Was $10.23 on September 19th.

National City - NCC - Trading at $1.86. Was $5.61 on September 19th.

Fifth Third Bank - FITB - Trading at $11.12. Was $18.88 on September 19th.

We've seen some crazy things, but has the world REALLY changed that much in in the last 10 days?

Take a wad of cash, say $10,000 (or less depending on how much of a thrill you want), and invest it evenly in those three stocks. Unless all three completely crash and burn, you probably come out ahead. If two out of three fail, you probably come out even, because at least one will survive and return to former glory. If two succeed and one fails, you make out pretty good, because you could easily see a double and a triple happening in short order. If all three survive, you could potentially double your investment in the next couple of months.

Yes it's risky. But by spreading it 3 ways, I see it as a real opportunity to make some big profits in a short time. (If you had bought these three stocks near the close yesterday, you could've woken up this morning and taken your 30% profit and moved on.) I think this market crash is overblown, and not every small bank is going to eaten alive.

DISCLAIMER: I don't know nothing about nothing. If you follow anything I say based on thinking that I'm some sort of financial expert, you're out of your mind. No one has a clue what the stock market will do in the future, so if you're going to invest, don't blame me or anyone else if it doesn't work out.