Remember when the proponents of the $ 700 billion TARP bailout said that the government would make money from purchasing troubled assets ?
Well, things aren’t really working out that way:
Two months in, and already $16 billion in the hole. That’s how much the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which was approved by Congress in early October, has already lost on its investments, according to a TIME analysis.
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The Treasury Department has said it will invest up to $335 billion of the $700 billion bailout fund in banks and other financial institutions. It is using the money to buy preferred shares in banks, a move it began in late October. So far, it has invested $165 billion in 88 institutions, according to Treasury’s website. That does not include the $40 billion the government has promised to shore up ailing insurer AIG or an additional $20 billion in funding for Citigroup, which was approved in late November when the financial giant appeared to be near failure.
Many of those investments have lost money. The preferred shares the government purchased don’t trade, but many of the Treasury-assisted banks already have existing preferred shares that do. And preferred-share experts say the stock that was issued to the government would likely carry similar prices to the company’s existing offerings. What’s more, the government has the right to trade its shares whenever it wants. If it were to do that now, it would surely be out taxpayer money.
For instance, the government completed its initial investment of $25 billion in Citigroup in late October. Back then, a preferred share similar in type to those purchased by the government was trading at $15.60. Since then, the shares have fallen 12%, to a recent $13.67. To figure out the total return of Treasury’s portfolio, TIME compared the returns of an index that tracks financial preferred shares with the dates on which Treasury made its investments. All told, in about six weeks the Treasury Department has lost an estimated $16 billion, or about 10% of the money invested so far — a paper loss, but a loss just the same.
So much for making money on the deal, huh ?
H/T: Open Markets
