TARP Banks Hammered After 90% Bonus Tax Passes

Fears that a huge tax increase at the firms subject to the 90% bonus tax might shatter the performance of those banks were reflected in the performance of their stocks at the end of the week.

The folks at Bespoke Investment Group produced the list next door contrasting the performance over the last two days of the 20 largest non-bailout global financial firms against those that took enough bailout bucks to fall under the 90% tax penalty. The unaffected firms are primarily foreign banks, with Bank of New York Mellon being the only exception.

Here’s how Bespoke describes the results:

As shown, the non-bailout firms are down an average of 1.38%, while the 90% bonus tax firms are down an average of 14.02%.  While the companies that would fall under this bonus tax rule are heading lower, their competitors are probably licking their chops for the top talent to come their way.  And the government still hopes to get the taxpayers their money back. 

Good luck with that.