scriabinop23 wrote: This is a bold and very meaningful call - although, not quite a change in stance. He's liked banks for the last 2 months or so, if I remember properly.
Actually he has been bullish for much longer than the last two months although you wouldn't know that by listening to CNBC who proclaimed he had just become bullish. Bove went from saying the credit crisis would last five years to upgrading C to a buy two months later. How could he have such a drastic change in opinion? He couldn't which is why I question his motives.
Below are some of Bove's past calls:
11/6/07 In response to comments from Meredith Whitney on the dire situation C was facing Dick Bove said "Buy C today."
11/12/07 Punk Ziegel analyst Richard X. Bove upgraded Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Monday, saying the investment bank has superior software and systems shielding the company from risk.
11/15/07 Punk Ziegel upgraded LEH and raised their target to $70 from $59 after meeting with management to reflect the company's solid management and competitive benefits.
11/28/07 Bove said "Even if C has an additional $30 billion ($12 billion of that had already been announced) of writedowns coming, C looks attractive at this point.
12/14/07 In reference to C Bove said "The dividend is not going to be cut. It is not even remotely possible that the dividend will be cut."
1/2/08 Despite worries over Citigroup Inc.'s (C) dividend and capital position, the stock is a buy because no other financial firm has the company's global reach, Punk, Ziegel & Co. analyst Richard Bove wrote in a research note.
2/4/08 Punk Ziegel analyst Dick Bove upgraded shares of Lehman Bros. (LEH) to buy, citing meaningful interest-rate cuts, a surge in mortgage refinancings and rising equity markets. Bove also raised his rating on Goldman Sachs (GS),
Bear Stearns (BSC), and Merrill Lynch (MER) to market perform.
3/7/08 Bove said on the Fast Money show "Right now C is the best buying opportunity in a lifetime." Ironically there was no mention that he had been recommending it since early November.