The government agency established to be the watchdog over the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) has been keeping busy. The financial crisis of 2008 resulted in the disbursement of over $400 billion of TARP funds which requires government oversight. In order to prevent waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer funded TARP disbursements, Congress created the […]
Fort Lee Federal Savings Bank, New Jersey, Closed By Regulators
April 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The first bank closing of the year in New Jersey occurred today with the failure of Fort Lee Federal Savings Bank, Fort Lee, New Jersey. The total number of bank failures in New Jersey has been very small since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008. New Jersey has accounted for only 5 of […]
Bank of America Executives Win, Shareholders Lose – It’s Not Supposed To Work This Way
April 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Most shareholders understand that an investment in a public company entails risk – that’s what capitalism is all about. Well managed companies with great products generally wind up enriching shareholders over time and no one begrudges the fact that executives of a successful enterprise are well paid. What a lot of shareholders don’t understand, however, […]
Exponential Increase In Lending Regulations Impede Bank Lending, Provide Lifetime Employment To Government Regulators
April 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Has the exponential increase in lending regulations since 2008 contributed to the worst economic decline since the Depression of the 1930’s? Government “solutions” to problems have a long history of failure. In addition, the unanticipated consequences of government “solutions” often result in a plethora of new problems worse than the original ones the government was […]
Fidelity Bank of Michigan Closed By Regulators, Sold To The Huntington National Bank
March 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Fidelity Bank of Dearborn, Michigan, was closed today by the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation which appointed the FDIC as receiver. Fidelity Bank, owned by holding company parent Dearborn Bancorp, Inc. was established in 1994 and had a total of 15 branches. According to the failed Bank’s website, Fidelity Bank is the only […]
What Big Bank Stock Has The Largest Price Gain In 2012?
March 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
After getting pounded during 2011, bank stocks have soared this year, especially after the Federal Reserve completed its “stress tests” and said that almost every big bank could survive “extremely adverse” economic conditions. During 2011 bank stock shareholders experienced the biggest price declines since the financial panic of 2008. As worries mounted over both the […]
Home Savings of America Collapses, FDIC Unable To Sell Bank – How Much Will Depositors Lose?
February 24, 2012 By 21 Comments
Home Savings of America, which was established during the depths of the Great Depression, was closed by regulators today. The Bank was established on September 1, 1934 and operated as a federally chartered stock savings and loan association, headquartered in Little Falls, Minnesota. According to Home Savings of America’s website, the Bank’s niche was serving […]
Tennessee Commerce Bank Fails – First Billion Dollar Bank Failure Of 2012
January 27, 2012 By 1 Comment
Tennessee Commerce Bank, Franklin, TN, with $1.2 billion dollars in assets, was closed today by state regulators. The failure of Tennessee Commerce is the largest banking failure of the new year and comes in a state that is a stranger to bank failures. Prior to today, the last banking failure in Tennessee was on November […]
Housing Prices Have Crashed So Much You Can Buy One With A Credit Card
December 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Home prices continue to plunge in value. According to the latest statistics from S&P/Case-Shiller, prices declined by over 1% in October. The crash in housing prices has now brought prices back to levels last seen in 2003. Each local housing market is unique with some states such as Florida and Nevada experiencing much greater price […]
Banking Update – Daily Banking News
December 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Welcome to Banking Update, a roundup of articles and news from around the internet. News Highlights of the Day: The European banking and sovereign debt crisis continues to confound the ability of policy makers to contain the crisis and the risk of financial contagion to the U.S. banking system remains a serious concern. Did Fed […]