Okay, so let me get this straight. Not only were certain banks forced by the powers that be to take TARP money, now that they want to pay it back, they have to ‘prove’ to those same powers that be that they can raise money in the public market. So at first the taxpayers got screwed and now the shareholders of these certain banks get diluted and lose 4% overnight as these banks had multi billion dollar stock offerings.

When will all of this nonsense stop? After all why should these banks have to prove that they can raise money? I thought that the results of the ’stress test’ was proof in the pudding as to the financial situation of individual banks?

If this isn’t further proof of the dangers of government intervention, I don’t know what is. Anyone notice a pattern? Government gets involved in an industry, taxpayers have to foot the bill as billions of dollars are thrown into a black hole, and then the government sets another rule that ends up diluting or in the case of the auto’s, completely wiping out any value that shareholders had.

As usual it’s the little guy that gets screwed!

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It looks like the trend for Israeli investors to park their money in short-term bank deposits, has slowed. According to an article in Globes: “The Bank of Israel reported that assets held in banking accounts fell by 4.7% and deposits and in particular short term deposits, which plunged by NIS 11 billion. In contrast there was a 6% increase in investments by Israelis in TASE-listed stocks (NIS 230 billion in January 2009 compared with NIS 227 billion in December 2008) and on overseas stock exchanges (NIS 210 billion in January 2009 compared with NIS 198 billion in December 2008). There was also an increase of NIS 13 billion (5.7%) over this period in the index-linked tradable bonds held by Israelis.”

Part of this also has to do with the outperformance of the local Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange with a positive performance this year.

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Will the International Securities regulators pull their planned conference in tel Aviv, Israel, to protest Israeli efforts to combat terrorism? According to a report in Globes: “Sources inform ”Globes” that the Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) threatened to cancel its 34th Annual Conference scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv in June, in protest against Operation Cast Lead. Following efforts by the Israel Securities Authority, the conference will take place. The Securities Authority is hosting the IOSCO, reflecting its respect among its international peers. At a previous IOSCO conference, former Securities Authority chairman Moshe Terry strove hard to persuade IOSCO officials to hold the conference in Israel.”

Humm… It sounds to be like the organization is trying to deflect criticism of their role in the financial mess, by entering the realm of politics, and blaming Israel, for defending herself. How about protecting investors from the Madoff’s and Sanford’s of the world and leave Israel alone?

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There is no question that the hottest start-up industry in Israel is the medical device space. We continue to see M&A in that space and today Globes is reporting that US giant Medtronic is close to buying Ventor for $300 million. This is another feaher in the cap of the Israeli entrepenurial spirit, that even in bad economic times can keep pumping out these companies that get acquired.

This trend may have legs, as many multinationals have chosen to outsource their R&D in order to keep costs down, and will spend money to acquire new technology.

According to Globes: ” Medtronic has previously invested over $10 million in the start-up. Ventor has raised a total of around $20 million, so investors will see a return of over 12 times their investment. For the Israeli investors who invested in the company at an early stage, the return can be even greater. Ventore has developed an aortic valve prosthesis. The prosthesis can be implanted into a beating heart using a catheter, under local anesthesia. The valve has a unique geometric shape that improves hemodynamic performance.”

No question that this is cutting edge technology, and more is on the way.

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