"Banks can now use "significant judgment" to value assets. "
Great, banks want to mark to (inflated) market prices but not not mark to market when prices decline. Guess all assets should go up. The financial community should be ashamed of bowing to pressure from banking officials. We should let investors decide what to make of the market prices and adjust for market conditions, not let the banks decide if the market is acting rational or not.
"It'll help big banks like Citi recoup billions in losses. But it does little to solve the underlying problem: piles of troubled assets no one wants."
Even though banks have greater "profits" and higher balance sheets, the market is harmed because investors have less confidence in banks marking their assets to myth. Assets are valued at price of what a buyer should pay, not what banks want the assets to be worth. For example, should an unemployed banker decide he is worth $500K, when he is currently taking in $0 in salary.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192562
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