Not sure if this thread will catch on, because no-one here seems to have much to say about individual british banks, but thought i would add this header to see if we could discuss dividend yields, exposure to sup-prime, good ones, bad ones, take-over targets, when the crisis will end? do you think they have learnt their lesson? I, for one, as a property developer have seen first hand how much stricter they have become with lending habits, struggling to get decent rates for re-mortgaging, basically they appear scared to lend to anyone.

Interesting news from Northern Rock today.
They are enhancing the commission fees payable to intermediaries for introducing loan / mortgage business to them.
This is odd as they have spent much time and money convincing existing clients that they would be better moving their mortgage elsewhere.
My feeling is that the recovery plan is either ahead of expectations and they are priming to re-enter the market properly, or it is way behind expectations and they need to generate application fees to meet their repayment promises.
I tend to the latter, but it is a very strange move in the current climate.

I think UK is already in recession now. FTSE in bear territory, so expect the banks to be mauled by the bears even further.

there aint much left to maul, hyleo......many banks are 2 to 3....rbs is only 182p and they r 5th biggest bank in world. if they go under, uk is finished

uk needs conservative gov immediately as economy is screwed totally.....it will take a decade for country to improve at least, maybe even a generation. i dont know anyone that doesnt complain about state of the country.

what bottom targets do u have for barc, hbos, rbs, lloy......as i'm looking to buy in.......maybe 6-12 months time

this will finish labour gov off too........just announced tonight in scotland that snp are now number 1 party in polls in scotland.....labour has lost 11% in poll and is 2nd....even conservatives here aint that far behind them which shows the discontent here. if labour have lost votes in scotland, then it wull be meltdown in england......i think lib dems might even get 2nd place ahead of labour in next uk election

DREAM ON BABY//

If you think it's bad here check out stateside
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/

america is about to be disposed as number 1 superpower by china....and $ will soon go down the pan......usa is corrupt....and remember how they treated our british bankers in chains etc when all the evidence and witnesses were in uk......its about time we broke our links with usa.....they tried to bankrupt uk anyway after ww11 with a financial dunkirk on loans

in short, they r bullying, corrupt thugs

Have you met the Chinese? Some of the cruellest people on earth both to animals and humans. God help us if they ever become No.1..

The USA, especially under Bush may not be perfect but it's the best we've got..

My insider at MAN tells me they are taking RBS down to 176p - sadly for me as I bought at 5, 2,80 and 2.34 :o(

brianboru, I'm not clear what you mean, are MAN taking RBS down actively, or talking them down as a opinion. I would hope it's the later.

Sovereign wealth funds were kind enough to bail out our banks and are now sitting on huge losses, unfortunately they probably won't want to catch another falling knife and bail them out some more. The Shanghai stock exchange has dropped 60% since October, they have 20% wage inflation, slowing demand from West, spent billions on Olympics have been devastated by flooding and earthquakes. The oil shock is devastating to China as it is built on cheap transport.Mercantilist policy of holding down yuan to boost exports has hit buffers. Expect pendulum to swing back from China to America according to Daily telegraph

Good post Falcothou, and haven't seen the telegraph article but will try and read it online. I have thought for some month's that China will keep growing at all costs upto the Olmpics, then after I would expect to see the bubble burst big time. America for all it's problems is still the main driving force of world economics, they have led us into recession and they will lead us out again. After all the USA and Europe account for a very large percentage of chinese exports, imports most be shrinking now, so China will feel the slowdown soon.

Also who is crueller the Chinese working in inhumane conditions for a pittance struggling to afford escalating food or those in the West who couldn't be bothered doing the dirty work themselves complaining the chickens have finally come home to roost, the slaves deserve a day in the sun

Several large lenders have reduced their fixed rates over the last week or two, including HBOS, Abbey and Nationwide. Now some are offering fixes with no fees up to 90% LTV.
Banco Santander have launched a bid to buy A&L.
Is it over? No. But the bottom has been reached despite the problems of our friends across the pond.
If the Spanish are looking to buy into our mortgage lending market, perhaps its time we had a look as well.
I am going bargain hunting. Not confident enough to pile loads in willy nilly, but if I see value, I will take a chunk.

theres been rumours here since even last year that hbos will be taken over by the spanish dagos too.....in fact i know a hbos worker who has tipped it in my area.

The mortgage and credit card part of GE is falling to the spaniards as well.

A good reason why the UK will not suffer as badly as the USA in the financial sector;

Fannie May and Freddie Mac have secured loans out to the tune of 65 times their regulatory capital. In the UK a bank must have at least 4% regulatory capital, therefore their loans are only 25 times this size. The capital adequacy rules may have prevented a full meltdown.

Lehman shares plunge 40% following analyst downgrades, just a day after reporting $3.9B loss.


NEW YORK - Shares of Lehman Brothers suffered another painful drop Thursday as doubts swirled about the company's future and several analysts downgraded their ratings on the stock.

Lehman shares, which have fallen 89% so far this year, plunged another 37% in mid-afternoon trading.

As speculation grows about the possibility that the government may have to step in to help Lehman as it did with Bear Stearns back in March, the Treasury Department told CNN that it "is monitoring markets and remains in contact with market participants."

Goldman Sachs' analyst William Tanona downgraded Lehman to "neutral" from "buy", citing Wednesday's bigger-than-expected $3.9 billion loss and concerns about the company's restructuring plan.

Also, in an effort to save $450 million, Lehman said it planned to reduce its annual dividend to 5 cents per share from 68 cents.

Lehman are looking for a white knight, I read last night that Barclays or HSBC could be in the frame, fortunately for there share holders this seems unlikely with talks underway with Bank of America.

With the Fed acting a possible guarantee, like the deal with Bear Sterns then it must only be an American bank that is in the frame.

NEW YORK 12/9/2008 - As Wall Street continues to speculate about the fate of Lehman Brothers, shares of the besieged firm continued to see their value evaporate Friday.

Just a day after the company's stock plummeted 42%, Lehman shares fell 14% in early trading.

This week has marked one of the most difficult periods in the Lehman Brothers' storied 158-year history.

Amid rabid speculation about the firm's health and possible asset sales, the company delivered its results more than a week in advance on Wednesday, owning up to a nearly $4 billion quarterly loss - its biggest ever since the company went public in 1994.