$20 Party!, page-37

I appreciate your views, but we are not in the U.S...not to discount the affect of the US market.

The bounce in SP we had hasn’t been driven by good news as such, but the bad news being not quite as dire as it seemed in early March.
The supporting factors include recovering auction rates, some positive updates from the retailers and the incredible balls up that saw the cost of the Jobkeeper scheme overestimated by $60 billion.
The latter of course is positive because the government now has a handy kitty to support specific industries, notably the housing sector which the Master Builders Association says is facing a “valley of death.”......Then there’s the reality that we won’t see the real picture of credit defaults until the Jobkeeper scheme and the elevated Jobseeker payments expire at the end of the September (there may well be further incentives).

What’s less contentious is that the banks account for 15 per cent of the market cap and their health or otherwise will be a key barometer as to how the broader economy is faring or perceived to be faring...Putting the recovery in context, bank valuations weren’t that healthy even before the viralytic rout, with the National Australia Bank (NAB) trading nowhere its record $41 a share before the GFC hit........Assuming the lack of a bad debt apocalypse, *the big banks certainly look cheap*......
...On Macquarie Equities data, the Big Four are trading at 0.8 to 1.7 times the value of their book – the ANZ Bank (ANZ) being the cheapest and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) being the most expensive. Excluding the outlier of the CBA, a price to book of 0.9 times is more representative of the other three pillars..if your not trading and have invested for the long term then i stand by my 25 dollar SP within 36 months.
the big four are already downsizing in branches and staff and have ramped up focus in online banking..theres nothing we can think of that these mobs arent doing to secure and increase margins and status...i would wish all good luck but we really dont need it..so good health instead...