Some 'Value' Bank Stocks Show Little Value

Value guys, I hear you. I get where you are coming from. I understand that you aren't looking out two months but two years. I get the time frame.

I just never knew any investors who are that patient, and I never knew that everyone gets to make it into the Promised Land. After all, Joe Lewis was a patient value investor in Bear Stearns (BSC - commentary - Cramer's Take).

I know that today I am fighting the value investors' case. I also know from the days of 1990 that you can't wait for a turn.

But would anyone mind if I waited for one sign of a turn? And would anyone mind if I looked for things of real value? Think about it. Does MBIA (MBI - commentary - Cramer's Take) have a business model if it can't write new insurance or if it has Warren Buffett as a competitor? That's a possible run-off situation to me. Why should I bank with Sovereign (SOV - commentary - Cramer's Take) when it is losing share and money?

What's the point of investing in AIG (AIG - commentary - Cramer's Take) or Washington Mutual (WM - commentary - Cramer's Take) as long as Marty Sullivan or Kerry Killinger is at the helm? Sure, you can bet that both will be fired, but time is critical, and they have to go before the damage is so lasting, a la Chuck Prince, that the hole is just too darned big to dig out of.

Now, just so I am not totally off the reservation, anyone who believes in value, I would think, would go after a Wells Fargo (WFC - commentary - Cramer's Take), which stumbled in bought loans that are running off. Or maybe Bank of America (BAC - commentary - Cramer's Take) if it can get its arms around Countrywide (CFC - commentary - Cramer's Take). But the others have such poor management and such difficult turns that I can't see it. How does National City (NCC - commentary - Cramer's Take) get out from under?

I know that Nat City could be Citigroup (C - commentary - Cramer's Take) in 1990. But it could also be Bank of New England or Glen Fed, which didn't work out for the initial investors.

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