RE: Royal Bank PERBC's pre-crash earnings were $2.32 per share in 2004, $3.03 per share in 2005, $3.62 per share in 2006 $4.24 per share in 2007, crash year earnings of $4.30 per share in 2008, and estimate for this year is $4.40 per share (actual through 1st 3 quarters is $3.35 per share).
Based on those numbers, why would you say that their earnings are no where near pre-crash levels? Even if they had an absolute disaster in Q4 and made nothing, their year to date earnings are nearly what they made in 2006. A pullback to $50 would be nice for anyone looking to add...heck, a pullback even lower would be even better. But barring a brand new, earth-shaking crisis, any significant pullback on Canadian financials will be emotion-based, nothing more. Our banks are solid.