Six years after the near melt down of the United States banking industry in 2008, more than half of all Americans still lack confidence in both the banking system and the government. Interestingly the United States with some of the biggest banking institutions in the world and the implicit backing of the United States Treasury […]
FDIC Reports Earnings Decline For Banks In Third Quarter
November 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The Quarterly Banking Profile released by the FDIC showed that profits for the banking industry declined for the first time since the second quarter of 2009. FDIC insured commercial banks and savings institutions reported net income of $36.0 billion for the third quarter of 2013 which was a $1.5 billion (3.9%) decline from the previous […]
Two U.S. Banks Included In “The World’s 20 Strongest Banks”
May 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment
A short number of years ago the “too big to fail banks” had to be bailed out with trillions of dollars in financial aid from both the taxpayers and the Federal Reserve. At one point there were serious discussions about nationalizing the entire U.S. banking industry. As a sign of how rapidly America’s largest banks […]
The Rally In Big Bank Stocks May Be Over
January 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
For over the past year, the stocks of big banks have rallied significantly. Lower loan losses, a stabilization of the real estate market and a settlement with the government over shortcomings in foreclosure proceedings have all contributed to a growing conviction by investors that the worst is over for the banking industry. Here’s a look […]
Banks Are A Financial Disaster For Both Shareholders And Depositors
July 27, 2012 By 3 Comments
In days gone by, shareholders of large banks viewed their investments as a source of income via dividends and potential capital gains via share appreciation. In days gone by, depositors viewed banks as the safest place to harbor their hard earned dollars while earning a respectable amount of interest income. That was then, this is […]
Non Stop Banking Scandals Are Dangerously Eroding Public Trust In The Financial System
July 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I am old enough to remember when most people considered banks to be rock solid bastions of financial strength and integrity. That was then, this is now, and a long running, non stop series of banking scandals seems to be dangerously eroding public confidence in the entire financial system. In recent weeks we have seen […]
Large Banks Simply Can’t Be Trusted – The Cultural Mindset Of Barclays and JP Morgan Management
July 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Continuing scandals in the banking industry are making it difficult to avoid the conclusion that the entire crony capitalism structure of banking has become endemically corrupt. Even as the too big to fail banks vehemently lobby against new regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act, recent scandals at Barclays Plc and JP Morgan make it clear that […]
Ridiculous Divergence Between Bank CEO Pay And Shareholder Returns
June 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The wide divergence between bank CEO compensation and shareholder returns is an embarrassment to the capitalist notion of linkage between performance and pay. Shareholders of banking stocks have seen the value of their investments pulverized over the past four years as the banking industry struggles to recover from the lending excesses of previous years. Shareholders […]
Banks Amass $211 Trillion In Derivatives, JP Morgan Loses $2 Billion And Volcher Rule Debates Continue
May 11, 2012 By 1 Comment
The goal of the Volcker Rule, which became law under the Dodd-Frank Act was to restrict speculative trading activity in risky derivatives by the Too Big To Fail Banks. The ban on proprietary bank trading was proposed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker who believed that one of the primary causes of the 2008 […]
Increase In Third Quarter Banking Profits Largely Due To Phony Accounting Gimmicks
November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile for the third quarter of 2011 shows banking industry profits increasing by 48% from the third quarter of 2010. Aggregate net income of the banking industry for the third quarter of 2011 totaled $35.3 billion compared to $23.8 billion in the third quarter of 2010. Although traditional news organization headlines proclaimed “Strong Profit Growth […]