DUBLIN, July 14 (Reuters) – Ireland must help preserve its two biggest banks, Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland and look at whether the others need to be reconfigured, central bank Governor John Hurley said on Tuesday.

‘Clearly, we need the two main banks to be strong and to continue but we have to look at the rest of the sector and see what is the configuration of banking that this economy needs going forward,’ Hurley told a news conference.

Earlier on Tuesday, Hurley said the establishment of Ireland’s bad bank project would raise the prospect of consolidation in the financial sector.

via Ireland may reconfigure all but 2 top banks-c.bank – Forbes.com.

Let me start by saying that I still love AIB as a stock.  Owns 20%+ of MTB, etc…

Scott and I had a chat regarding AIB as it was making a push through $5.00 a share. Listen below.

The stock has run up a huge amount today.  I am not sure what the news is.  This is an ADR, so there generally isn’t a lot out there.

What I do know is that 25% in a day for any real company is a bit too much, too quickly.  Especially if that follows a 100% gain in the past 4-5 weeks.

I just bought some put options on AIB with a strike price of $5 and an expiration in June (6/20).  The options closed yesterday at $1.50 per contract.  I like the run in AIB, but I would also expect a lot of profit taking with a 25% gain.  UNLESS there is big news in the offing.  You never know.  Isn’t that always the case?  You’ll see the trade in my “trading log”.

AIB Allied Irish Bank