.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Dear Mr. Berko:

Dear L.L.:

During the last decade, it has become evident that we can’t trust the executives who steer the courses of America’s biggest corporations to put the public good ahead of profits. Not profits earned in the normal course of conducting business, but profits made possible by a greed so heinous and vile that the devil herself would smile in awe. We can’t trust the thugs at Big Oil and Big Pharma, the hoodlums at our property and casualty or health insurance companies, or the villains at our banks and brokerage firms. Their cupidity crippled the consumer, and their greed disemboweled the economy. And because we can’t trust Corporate America, Congress is cobbling a new regulatory agency under the Department of the Treasury to ensure that every American is treated fairly. Isn’t it nice to have parents again? But no matter what Congress does to rein in corporate excesses, it will have less effect than the advent of another fly to a slaughterhouse.

Bank of America … yeeeechh! A consumer rating poll by MSN-Money recently placed Bank of America Corp. (BAC-$18.65) in its Hall of Shame. Though its revenues and earnings should improve, its culture of avarice, greed and disdain for the common good still festers like putrid yellow pus seeping from a rank, overripe boil. And you must know if you place all your eggs in a BAC basket and slip, you are very likely to get scrambled. Though I think BAC has fair-to-middling upside potential, a wiser gamble would be to purchase a portfolio of eight different low-priced bank issues that also have fallen far from grace.

I suggest a portfolio of the following. Each is in a recovery mode and could double its price in two to three years: Citigroup Inc. (C-$4.47) is as evil as Lucifer herself. This global financial services company has a good franchise. Synovus Financial Corp. (SNV-$3.43) has a solid franchise in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN-$5.90) has 600 offices in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia. Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (MI-$8.71) conducts its banking business in Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nevada. First Commonwealth Financial Corp. (FCF-$7.43) operates 114 branches in Pennsylvania. Pacific Capital Bancorp (PCBC-2.66) has 48 offices in California. KeyCorp (KEY-$8.31) has more than 1,000 branches across the northern United States. And Popular Inc. (BPOP -$3.17) has 300 branches in Puerto Rico.

One thousand shares of each bank will run $39,000, plus $72 in commission if purchased through Charlie Schwab. But if you want to straddle both sides of the fence, buy 500 shares of each of the above, plus 1,000 shares of BAC, and let’s see which does better.

Please address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, P.O. Box 8303, Largo, Fla. 33775 or e-mail him at mjberko@yahoo.com. © 2010 Creators.Com