Beware the Banks, They're More Than Happy to Upgrade One Another "With Impunity"

A round up of over 20 bank analyst assessments this year, between May and October, shows a distinct pattern emerging… nearly every single Wall Street bank is in a hurry to hold or upgrade one another’s stock.

Of the top seven Wall Street banks, the majority of which have welcomed themselves to government assistance, there’s only one sell rating in the bunch. All the rest of the ratings are either buy or neutral, despite the clearly strained positions of the banks, especially regarding loan losses and in light of the weakening market.

The Wall Street banks (and analysts) included are:

* Bank of America (Moszkowski; Coombs)
* Deutsche Bank (Carrier; O’Connor)
* Goldman Sachs (Ramsden)
* JPMorgan (Juneja; Abouhossein)
* Morgan Stanley (Graseck; Steenis)
* Citigroup (Horowitz; Coombs)
* Wells Fargo (Burnell)
* And, Calyon (Mayo) to basically show an alternative, rather outsider, perspective.

The data comes from Zero Hedge, which has a stunning graphic that lays out the willingness of the Wall Street banks “to upgrade each others’ stocks with impunity.” The graphic of major banks seemingly operating in concert just adds more support to the idea that they are completely comfortable deceiving the investing public if it’s in their own best interest.

The Daily Reckoning