CBA in comparison of peers current and historically:CBAClose:...

CBA in comparison of peers current and historically:

CBA
Close: 3561
Historical PE: 9.81X
Above Low: -3.70%
Below High: 72.84%
Historical Yield: 7.47%

ANZ:
Close: 1568
Historical PE: 7.35X
Above Low: 4.05%
Below High: 85.27%
Historical Yield: 8.67%

NAB

Close: 2015
Historical PE: 7.67X
Above Low: 8.33%
Below High: 122.53%
Historical Yield: 7.44%

WBC

Close: 1930
Historical PE: 9.37X
Above Low: 5.12%
Below High: 59.07%
Historical Yield: 7.36%

It is interesting to note that over the past 10 years all of the Banks have traded at around PE 13.4X none breaking significantly away from each other confirming the fact that this is an oligopoly position with no particular Bank having an advantage over the other.

In recent times the acquisition of St George to WBC and even more so BankWest with CBA will provide significant size differentials going forward with possible greater purchasing and capital raising power.

That being said the recent NAB raising to protect its Balance sheet confirms that there are further Bad and Doubtful Debts to be raised (to replace Provisioning) as we move forward.

Being an Oligopoly the Banks have the power to ignore regulation and market forces and recoup any losses directly from its customers, so long term the Banks are as safe to houses as you can want in a stock. If our Baks cripple the whole of the Australian economy is crippled... so it will not matter which share you are a holder of.

That being said the Banks will decrease profits going forward not becuase of what others have raised in this thread but purely due to decease in volumes. Margins will remain (in fact increase) no matter what the RBA Base Rate. Capital rasing against LIBOR also points to stronger margins in the near future.

The Banks themsleves though have to remove the timing of debt to the Assets. Raising interbank funding at 30/60/90/180/360 is no longer acceptable for 25-30 year funding arrangements.

In summary... I expect to continue to see weakness in all stocks inclusive of Banking stocks but am aware of buying valuable Dividend yields in a low interest rate environment which in itself will cause stability in price.