Does Meredith Whitney have a new target?

The powerful analyst at Oppenheimer, who is hardly shy about voicing her criticisms of such bank as Citigroup and Lehman Brothers, may have a new target. In Fortune interview, she says, "The Paulson plan doesn't make a lot of sense to me..." She says the real issue isn't junky assets, it's confidence. Of course, one could argue that that is what the bailout plan is intended to do, create confidence. She expects that we'll see some "loosened" accounting and capital standards, as a way to help banks out. The SEC has indeed released some guidance that some interpreted as a slight weakening of fair value accounting. In her view, that's not ideal, but better than a blank-check kind of rescue plan. She seems to favor a plan that would focus on the big companies able to add liquidity quickly rather than propping up weak banks. Incidentally, Whitney ranks No. 35 on Fortune's list of most powerful women.

For more:
- here's the interview

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