What We're Hearing

Financial services analysts are already handicapping what the pending regulatory reform bill will do to bank earnings. We don't know what exactly will be in the final legislation sent to the White House, but the "hit" on bank earnings is said to be in the range of 15% to 30%. It's all guesswork, though. Then again, if the bill kills proprietary trading (and derivatives trading) by some of the mega banks, will it force these institutions to get more involved in residential and commercial real estate lending? Of course, many of the big boys -- Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase -- are already in residential and commercial. Meanwhile, if banks are trying to figure out lending strategies for the future, they might want to consider Afghanistan. That's right, Afghanistan. According to a report in The New York Times, there's a treasure trove of untapped minerals in that troubled nation, including iron, copper, gold, cobalt, niobium and lithium. (It sounds like a potential boom town. Lithium is a key ingredient in electric car batteries.) The potential mineral value: $1 trillion. (So long poppy fields.) I would guess that in a few years we'll see names like Kabul Mortgage, and Afghani Home Loans popping up. Of course, Muslims aren't too keen on borrowing money and charging interest. Then again, there are ways around this...