More outrageous bank factoids

The FT had a piece yesterday I almost missed with more maddening facts. After injecting $45 billion in capital into the idiotic Bank of America, the US government apparently owns just 6% of the bank. Yet the entire market cap of B of A is less than the $50 billion it offered to pay for Merrill Lynch last September. How on earth does this happen? Whatever your fears may be of temporary bank nationalization, shouldn't taxpayers at least get the banks they've bought and paid for? When we don't, we're simply lavishing windfalls on shareholders who are supposed to bear the brunt of awful managerial decisions in the market. Astonishing. You don't need to resort to demagoguery at this point to be calling for many bankers' heads....