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[Neil]

So Lehman Brothers is no more, Merrill Lynch has been gobbled up by Bank of America, HBOS has been saved by Lloyds and AIG have been bailed out by the US Fed (who have now run out of cash and can't bail anyone else out). Who's next do you think?

A lot of people are thinking that this is the beginning of the end for investment banking and I'm starting to agree.

On a personal note I've lost a few hundred pounds on shares and I hate to think what's left of my pension. I suppose I could work for HBOS or Lehman though, that'd be worse!

Anyone else got any thoughts/opionions on this "once in a lifetime" event? Anyone work for HBOS / Halifax?

[Chris]

I think I'm going to shift all my bank accounts from Lloyds-Halifax or whatever it's called now. But that's just because I don't want to be a Lloyds customer, not due to any worries about what little money I have.

Generally I'm of the opinion that the banks have brought this on themselves to an extent and the media have given them the push over the edge. The whole thing started with sub-prime lending and the housing slowdown and was made much worse by media hype and the city fucks short selling to make quick money.

You could go further back and say deregulation in the 80s and 90s laid the groundwork. If banks, investment banks and building societies had been kept seperate none of this would have been able to happen or cause nearly as much damage as it appears it's going to.

Lastly I still think the hype is excessive. Talk of the worst recession in 70 years is unfounded and pure scare mongering. This week has been bad but on the whole the economy is still a lot better than it has been at other points in the last 20 or 30 years. Even the share prices haven't fallen to their lowest point for 30 years, they've fallen to their lowest point in 3 years, hardly the end of the economy as we know it. Banks and big corporations have fallen before, life goes on.

NOTHING CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG WITH GIGANTIC NEW BANK - The Daily Mash

EVERYONE MAKING EVERYTHING WORSE, ALL THE TIME - The Daily Mash

SHARES IN YOU PLUNGE 82 PER CENT - The Daily Mash

[neepheid]

Banks lending people 6 or more times their salary - well, that was clever.

I'm hunkered down in my rented bunker, waiting for the bombs to stop exploding. Or at least a sizeable gap in the gunfire before I even think about a desperate mission into the realms of property ownership.

[Graham Knight]

just to cheer you up - check this link - not long to wait for the "Upwave".

Kondratieff Long Wave Cycles Past and Present

[Tubthumper]

Just out of curiosity, what will happen to Lloyds customers? I've already heard a few stories about folk moving their money from Lloyds TSB, so just trying to see where I stand. Is it wise to still be banking with them?

[Pierre Von Mondragon]

Now is the time to (re)regulate fuck out of these fuckers, I didn't like the thought of Bank of Scotland merging with Halifax in the first place, and now they are sunk, I'm taking all my pay out of my account on the day it goes in, mainly as retribution for some unjust charges applied last month, but hey, if it fucks them up a bit more, they deserve it.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Tubthumper

Just out of curiosity, what will happen to Lloyds customers? I've already heard a few stories about folk moving their money from Lloyds TSB, so just trying to see where I stand. Is it wise to still be banking with them?

Yeah don't worry about it. Both banks products are quite similar anyway so you won't notice much change.

Even in the event of catastrophe the first £35k of any savings you have are protected.

Incidentally I saw a series of on the street comments on the BBC site yesterday which included one girl who said she'd heard that if a bank collapses your debts are wiped clean. This is utter bollox. If your mortgage lender goes bust, someone else will pick up your debt and you'll still have to pay it. Crap but true.

[Tubthumper]

Originally Posted by Chris

Yeah don't worry about it. Both banks products are quite similar anyway so you won't notice much change.

Even in the event of catastrophe the first £35k of any savings you have are protected.
.

35k? No fear there then, I'm still a student, haha.

[Lucky Rathen]

Originally Posted by neepheid

Banks lending people 6 or more times their salary - well, that was clever.

I'm hunkered down in my rented bunker, waiting for the bombs to stop exploding. Or at least a sizeable gap in the gunfire before I even think about a desperate mission into the realms of property ownership.

I'm in exactly the same boat. I enquired about a mortgage last year and though I got a decent offer the monthly repayments were wild, not to mention solicitor fees etc. and the woman seemed quite happy for me to take on far more than I could reasonably manage, even after taking into account all my other outgoings. Thankfully I kept a sensible head on and didn't take it on, despite all the scaremongering about how house prices are never going to come down again. I've heard of a lot of people who took out crippling mortgages just two years ago losing their homes already cos they couldn't keep up the payments.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Tubthumper

Just out of curiosity, what will happen to Lloyds customers? I've already heard a few stories about folk moving their money from Lloyds TSB, so just trying to see where I stand. Is it wise to still be banking with them?

You *should* be okay. I'm a Lloyds customer as well (and the bank account for this web site is with them also) and the reason they have got off lightly so far (comparatively speaking) is because they haven't been dishing our loans, credit card and mortgages to all and sundry like some of their peers (where are your 125% mortgages now Northern Rock?). Their core business is strong and the rumour is that they only agreed to save HBOS as long as good 'old Gordon Brown would agree to them not picking up HBOS's debts.

In saying that though, there is nothing stopping people continuing to panic and force their shares down after the merger. Creating yet another crisis. There are various laws and regulations that protect people's finances in the UK though. I think the general one is that the first £35,000 you have with any bank in the UK is protected regardless of what happens.