Banking Links - February 21, 2010
Plunging Commercial Real Estate Values Not Reflected On Banks Balance Sheets- WP
Does Foreclosure Assistance For The Long Term Unemployed Make Sense? - Bloomberg
Discount Rate Hike Meaningless To Savers As Rates Stay Low - Bloomberg
Insurers Of Municipal Debt May Face Huge Claims - Bloomberg
Pros Ponder Merit Of  Citigroup Stock - Barrons
Yield [...]

Banking Links - February 16, 2010

Will US Housing Market Collapse As Government Winds Down Aid? - NYT
Paulson Attacks Obama’s Financial Regulation Plans -Says Big Banks Essential To Financial Recovery -Times OnLine
Europe At The Crossroads -  Greece Rescue Would Open The Floodgates - FT
Forgiving Mortgage Debt Makes Payments Easier But At Whose Expense? - NYT
Greek [...]

Banking Links
Expect Homeowner Mortgage Bailouts To Continue On Massive Scale - Mortgage Balances Exceed Home Values For 1 of 5 Homeowners - Bloomberg
Looming Credit Downgrades For Citi and BofA - FT
Easy Money Fuels Canada’s Housing Boom - WSJ
What Caused the Housing Bubble - Lax Monetary Policy or Poor Regulation? - Credit Slips
No End in Sight [...]

Private Investors Make Very Leveraged Bet On Asset Value Recovery
The FDIC currently holds approximately $30 billion in failed bank assets from banks that have failed in the past 18 months.  The assets held by the FDIC were of such dubious quality that the FDIC was unable to entice acquiring banks to purchase them, despite the [...]

To Rein In Pay Rein In Wallstreet
Why are financial industry paychecks so big?
Those who want to do something about bringing that pay down ought to focus on why there has been so much money in the financial sector in recent years. It should be no surprise that people in that business wanted to be paid [...]

Does the recent strong rally in the shares of bank stocks imply that the banking crisis is over, or are we looking at a mirage?  Here are 7 reasons why the banking crisis may only be in the early stages of an ongoing crisis which could ultimately result in a lack of public confidence in [...]

Foreclosure Rescue & Loan Mod Scams Prey On Desperate Homeowners
The FDIC has issued a warning to homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments and may be facing foreclosure to avoid foreclosure rescue and loan mod scams.   Unscrupulous individuals and companies are promising  desperate homeowner that they can stop foreclosures or get mortgage payments [...]

FDIC Forbearance Program Proposed
In an attempt to prevent further foreclosures and mitigate the amount of losses on failed bank assets, the FDIC proposes that acquirers of failed banks initiate a forbearance plan for unemployed homeowners.
As part of its loss-share agreement with acquirers of failed FDIC-insured institutions, the FDIC is encouraging its loss-share partner institutions to [...]

FDIC 2009 Economic Landscape
The FDIC Economic Landscape Report details how the out of control lending mania created the perfect housing storm.  The largest housing bust in US history centers in four states which had the largest housing price increases and are now suffering the consequences of a boom gone bust.
The Sand States: Anatomy of a [...]

Small Banks Line Up For TARP Money - No End In Sight
The banking crisis may or may not be over for the nation’s largest banking institutions, but many smaller banks, desperate for capital are lining up for TARP funds.  As the recession continues and asset values backing loans continue to erode, smaller banks are finding [...]