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2-Star Stocks Poised to Plunge: Royal Bank of Scotland?



Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, government-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) has received a distressing two-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at RBS' business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

RBS facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Edinburgh, U.K. (1727)

Market Cap

$36.2 billion

Industry

Diversified banks

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$62.46 billion

Management

CEO Stephen Hester

CFO Bruce Van Saun

1-Month Return

(16.1%)

Competitors

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB)

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE: LYG)

Citigroup (NYSE: C)

CAPS Members Bullish on RBS Also Bullish on

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)

General Electric (NYSE: GE)

CAPS Members Bearish on RBS Also Bearish on

Capital One (NYSE: COF)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 16% of the 460 members who have rated RBS believe the stock
will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include Risquette and All-Star adartmouth, who is ranked in the top 15% of our community.

Just two weeks ago,
Risquette informed Fools on some regulatory issues working against the
stock: "The bank has a great deal of repairing on its hands and the
recent EU push to limit the amount of branches coupled with the UK
moving toward to having a more 'competitive' environment for banks will
make things tough for some time."

In a pitch from three days later, adartmouth elaborates on the mother of all bailouts:

The world's biggest bailout is costing money this
co. doesn't have. [T]he equity is toast as it is in a debt / death
spiral due to bailout financing costs. [M]aybe an ENORMOUS rights issue
will save the stock from bankruptcy, but the equity will be diluted.
... [T]his is the Lehman that was allowed to carry on racking up
losses, combined with the northern rock and a bit of CIT. [T]hrow in
some CRE catastrophes, and a bit of GE style unsustainable government
financing, and you have a potential zero here.

What do you think about RBS, or any other stock for that matter?
Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is
waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!

© 2009 UCLICK L.L.C.

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