Wednesday, December 16, 2009 All the headlines scream how great the banks are for paying back TARP. Except they don't discuss HOW the banks are paying back the billions borrowed.
They are doing it with the printing press as the Federal Reserve does with the government. The banks are issueing new stock, diluting their current shareholders value, and selling the new stock to the next sucker in line. All shareholders are hurt by the dilution as it will make it harder for the stock to appreciate in the future. So to recap: No actual money earned to pay back borrowed money, just printing press. Does that sound like a good thing as the headlines say?