First Commercial Bank, Bloomington, MN, was closed today by the Minnesota Department of Commerce. The FDIC, which was named as receiver, sold the failed bank to Republic Bank & Trust Company, Louisville, KY. Founded in 1999, First Commercial Bank was a privately held company with total assets of $215.9 million as of June 30, 2012. […]
Regulators and Government Activism Are Prolonging The Housing Crisis
August 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Banks never seem to learn as they lurch from one lending crisis to the next. In the early 1970’s the largest banks in the country lent recklessly to Latin American countries under the theory that sovereign nations would not default. The ensuing Latin American debt crisis and sovereign defaults shattered that complacent theory and many […]
FDIC Issues 56 Enforcement Actions In July Against Banks and Individuals
August 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The FDIC announced today that it took enforcement actions against a total of 56 banks and individuals during July 2012. During the previous month, the FDIC issued 48 enforcement actions. The July enforcement actions included 13 civil money penalties, 3 prompt corrective action notices, 5 consent orders, 8 section 19 orders, 12 removal and prohibition […]
Connecticut Home Values Plunge As Banks Cut Jobs And Bonuses
August 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Banking industry woes are translating into major price declines for high end residential real estate in Connecticut. For those who believe that real estate prices has bottomed out, please consider Connecticut Homes Biggest Losers As Wall Street Cuts. Prices in the Fairfield County area, home of the banker bedroom communities of Greenwich and New Canaan, […]
Doubts Remain Over Banking Industry “Recovery” – FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile
August 29, 2012 By 1 Comment
The banking industry, which was on the verge of collapse in 2008, is showing tenuous signs of recovery. The FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile for the quarter ending June 30, 2012, showed an increase in both bank profits and lending volume as well as a small decline in the number of problem banks. Almost 63% of […]
Secret Government Plans For Economic Collapse Revealed – Five Years Later Still At The Abyss
August 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
With the banking industry still in fragile condition, it is not surprising that the government has been making secret plans to deal with an economic collapse. It is a chilling thought to realize that five years since the world economy faced total collapse, we are still perched on the financial abyss. In an exclusive report, […]
Group Think On Housing Recovery May Be Premature
August 14, 2012 By 1 Comment
Almost daily the mainstream news media is proclaiming that the housing crisis is over. A recent Wall Street Journal front page article boldly proclaimed “The Housing Bust Is Over.” No less an authority than Warren Buffett has suggested that housing has become a compelling investment opportunity. Tops and bottoms in any market are not usually […]
Low Interest Rates Have Impoverished Savers While Enriching Large Corporations
August 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Every bank depositor is painfully aware that the effective real return on savings, after taxes and inflation is now negative. The bad news is that this situation is unlikely to change. Recent comments from the Federal Reserve indicate that they intend to keep interest rates at historically low levels for an extended period of time. […]
Banks Were The Worst Place To Keep Your Savings This Year
August 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned us repeatedly that he would repress interest rates indefinitely in order to help the economy and the housing market. Interest rates on government treasury securities have reached all time lows and bank depositors are receiving close to a zero return on their savings. Meanwhile, both housing and the economy […]
Waukegan Savings Bank, Waukegan, IL, Closed By Regulators
August 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Waukegan Savings Bank, Waukegan, IL, a small commercial bank, was closed today by state regulators and the FDIC was named as receiver. The FDIC sold the failed bank to First Midwest Bank, Itasca, IL, in order to protect depositors. Waukegan Savings Bank was established in 1924 and had two branches. Both branches of the failed […]