Richard Bove Quotations

This problem doesn't exist to the same degree at the other major brokerage firms because they haven't lost top people like Morgan Stanley has.

Mr. Oken may have lost some credibility with analysts when the bank's net interest margin dropped dramatically,

PNC has a major home run here. I don't see a downside.

Ninety percent of a retail bank's primary business is lending money on residential real estate, and that cycle is over.

But that cycle is over. The banks are going to get squeezed.

Imagine the doctor who built an office next to a Ford factory. If the workers lose their jobs and those benefit plans disappear, this doctor isn't going to be able to afford his office.

From 1965 to 1982, the yield curve in this country was inverted 47 percent of the time, yet bank earnings averaged a more rapid increase than non-bank earnings. Bank stocks also outperformed the S&P 500, on average, over that period.

I wouldn't own any bank stocks in the Midwest. They're exposed to the problems of the auto industry and the Ford layoffs today are just the latest example.

I think it's clear that the banks that are more tied to the retail sector are going to have a much tougher quarter compared to those with diversified positions. The banks in the retail sector have to deal with interest rate compression, loan volume will be tougher, and they don't have the trading or investment banking that are hot now.

I think that if we were talking about this kind of mortgage market four years ago, it would be a real crisis for Lehman. But today, given the kind of diversification they've done, it's nowhere near a crisis.

It is significant because it expands J.P. Morgan's distribution capability without forcing the company to buy anything. It also allows Fidelity into the new issue game without becoming an underwriter.

The ability to utilize those marketing programs is going to be enormous for Bank of America. You'll see a significant increase in the bank's credit-card activity now that they have MBNA.

Midwestern banks are accustomed to shifts in the local economies. They plan for it. However, they do not avoid it. They get hurt. Their loan losses rise. Their earnings tumble and their stock prices are impacted. It will happen again.

Treasury prices have been rising and oil is up and down,

The problems in the credit card division are structural, and kind of long-term,

Trading is the biggest business in the world, one of the fastest-growing and one of the best, and Merrill has been behind the curve here. This quarter shows that Merrill is catching up to where it needs to be.

This transaction, if it occurs, would be a major plus for the company.

This selection clearly indicates that Mellon is not for either sale or dismemberment. It is more likely to go on an acquisition binge.

You have to have scale in this business. By doubling the size of their credit-card business, Bank of America will lower their cost of handling each individual account.

It would have been difficult for Goldman not to do well. Goldman is more oriented to equities than debt, and stocks rose throughout the period.

These brokerages are going to say about the quarter that just ended, 'It never happened,' because basically all of the core businesses you look at were flat or down somewhat, ... Depending on the company and the nature of its earnings base, earnings will be weak to very weak.

People got all upset because they don't like to see people they know getting pushed out, and they don't know the new people coming in, ... But this company has been underperforming for some time. Significant change is needed.

Some firms are projecting 30 percent M&A growth next year, after 36 percent this year. Companies are still sitting on piles of cash, and they'll get to work after the new year.

This event highlights, once again, the difficulty in determining earnings for derivative transactions.

They know everyone. They know what everyone's thinking, and they know where the next deal may lie.

It's a significant amount of stock coming to market. But it's a pretty liquid stock and they've been buying back shares over time. We don't think the impact will be that significant over the long run.

It is quite possible that Wal-Mart could, at some point, follow a similar course by simply opening a thousand bank branches in its stores and then challenging Congress to close them down. We think Wal-Mart will do this and that Congress will back down.

It's a grand-slam home run. They wind up getting rid of the high-cost, labor-intensive delivery systems and get in return a business which has a faster secular growth rate with a higher rate of return.

It's the luck of the draw. Goldman has the assets and the people and the technology and the products out there, and at certain times it all comes together.

It's not an international bank. It doesn't have an international reputation. It's not a core business.

It's increasingly difficult to be a regional broker. There's a lack of trade to worry about, yes, but you're also dealing with pricing weakness, competition from the big New York City companies and the universal banks that offer everything from checking accounts to financial advisory services.

Not only are long-term factors pointing to considerable strength, but short-term developments in the last couple of months have been positive.

In general, this should be a mixed quarter. Clearly, M&A is strong but the IPO market has slowed down, the equity market is weakening and the fixed income market is limping along.

In general, this should be a mixed quarter, ... Clearly, M&A is strong but the IPO market has slowed down, the equity market is weakening and the fixed income market is limping along.

If you believe this a secular story then you should ignore cyclical swings. The banks may have bad quarters every now and then but so what?

If you look at volume on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq over the last five years, there's been no real increase in the number of shares traded. In addition, proprietary trading has gone from 19 percent to 52 percent of that total. So you're seeing more competition for fewer individual trades.

Citigroup needed a lot more earnings to hit its estimates and Sandy just found them in a dominant company. This will give them a foothold in the United States, which is critical because that's where the money is made.

because it reinforces Mr. Dimon's hand to make the changes he wants.

His legacy has been tarnished dramatically in the last few years. He came in with a reputation as a brilliant strategist and he's going out as someone who couldn't manage everything he has under one roof.

The industry is out there building branches at an extremely active clip -- a new one is slated to open every 2-1/2 hours until the end of 2005,

The likelihood is that they would close offices and would get rid of a lot of people. They see (personal advisers) as a very expensive way to do business.