Black Beauty: A Recovering Quadruped

Being irretrievably contrarian (usually doesn't actually cost money, only profits ;-) I still dislike the attraction China holds for many presently - apparently this is what has held back both HSBA and RBS.

However equally I find it difficult to see much attraction in the US (they are behind us on the curve, especially in consumer bad debts I think) or mainland Europe which generally has a different atttitude to debt.

Will Lloyds TSB's focus on serving local customers turn out well? The market hasn't decided but I could point the finger at loads of 'steady-as-she-goes' companies, focused on service & balance sheet retrieval who have yet to see any local recognition.