Bank shares

Had an interesting discussion with the missus the other night about buying/selling bank shares - and that discussion has become more interesting with today's events.

The missus was asking how low could Bank of Ireland shares go and if they are worth a punt. At the moment, they are around 22 cent but they have been lower. It's my own opinion that they are too risky to buy as the state may well step in further and that could render them pretty useless.

I suggested that Permanent TSB might be worth short selling as the shit will hit the fan when people start defaulting on their mortgages - I should have bloody took my own advice (!) as low and behold, they drop 45% yesterday in anticipation of Thursday's 'stress tests' results on the banks.


We didn't buy or sell in the end as I reckon it's best to wait until after the reports are published but I read tonight that Permanent TSB, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank shares have all been suspended on the Irish stock exchange. Obviously, they want to stop people trading on inside info (or rumours) but it will be interesting to see where it all goes when the shares go back on the market.

Bank of Ireland monthly chart: