Anyone who remembers the Bear Stearns debacle remembers how disastrous the CEO comments were. The day Alan Schwartz went on CNBC to say the firm was fine was effectively the day Bear died. A great quote from Frontline: “this is like screaming ‘I did not beat my wife!'” Ken Lewis is making the same mistake. He is out today with statements saying that the bank’s capital position is strong. How many times did we hear that from John Thain before he fooled Ken Lewis into buying Merrill?
Ken Lewis should be selling assets, eliminating the dividend, firing workers, etc. He should not be running into the burning building telling people there is no fire….
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.