Bove switches calls on top banks

Richard Bove, of Ladenburg Thalmann, is one of those go-to guys for financial reporters. He gets a lot of ink, for good reason, most would say. He's making news again: He just changed his call on Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch to sell. Sell! He's apparently leaving Morgan Stanley off the sell list for now. The problem, as noted by Fortune, is that that the price of oil now threatens to push rates higher. That hurts the banks with highly leveraged balance sheets. He also believes that banks have suffered some bad news from hedges. This is a bit of a change for Bove. In March, he pronounced the credit crunch over. Earlier this month, he made news again for his bullish outlook. But circumstances have changed.  

For more:
- here's the Fortune item

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