Investment of the year

I can’t find the original for this but the information has been repeated here and here, which is where my old friend Penny Wise, an economist who knows her stuff, found it. So here goes:

Consider that one year ago Royal Bank of Scotland paid US$100 billion for ABN Amro. That seemingly impossible amount would now buy:
Citibank $22.5 billion (74% down)
Morgan Stanley $10.5 billion (-72%)
Goldman Sachs $21 billion (-67%)
Merril Lynch $12.3 billion (-77%)
Deutsche Bank $13 billion (-71%)
Barclays $12.7 billion (-71%)
And still leave $8 billion change – with which you would be able to pick up General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and the Honda F1 team.
Not too shabby!