FDIC Boosts Key Staff By 140 Ahead Of Expected Bank Failures
FDIC Adds Staff For Bank Failures
Fed Aid Totals $260 Billion To U.S. Banks
Ominous Signs For The Economy
Paulson Resists Congressional Effort To Stem Mortgage Crisis
Paulson Wants Regulation Of Investment Banks
Deutsche Bank Warns More Asset Write-Downs Are Possible
Deutsche Bank Issues Profit Warning
Chinese Banks Hit Badly With American Subprime Mortgage Losses – Time To Sell Chinese Bank Stocks?
***Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Wednesday continued to resist Congressional efforts to stem the negative consequences to homeowners of the housing market collapse. Opposition from the White House could make it difficult for Congress to pass any legislation to help homeowners battling the mortgage crisis. “We will continue to pursue policies that strike the right balance: that do not slow the housing correction, yet also help avoid preventable foreclosures and unnecessary capital market turmoil,” he said in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. However, the big difference here is that the Fed DUG this deep hole in 2003-2005 cutting interest rates to 1% and then not enforcing lending standards. The Fed through its actions and inactions created the shadow banking system that is now in cardiac arrest. Greenspan winked at the securitzation of mortgages and did nothing to control the excesses. Real banks have regulations, the psuedo investment banks STILL have tons of mortgage liabilities OFF thier books in the form of credit swaps and CDOS. The Fed created this Frankenstein by trying to correct the first bubble it created in 1998-2000 when it slashed interest rates the first time and made a stock market bubble. The Fed does not seem to realize that wealth is not created by debt. The Federal Reserve is the main villian in this nightmare. Now they are the hero? Why not abolish the Federal Reserve Bank and go back to a National Banking System based on a gold standard? The “pro’s” say this does not provided the neeed “flexibility” for today’s financial reality. Such “flexibility” is going to cause the system to melt down. The next big, big shock will come when the Federal Reserve Bank begins to go insolvent. They are taking toxic and worthless CDOs as collateral and giving cash out through their new Term Auction Facility. They are also a bank and subject the realities of the market. If the paper they are holding is worthless, the notes (here US Dollars) they issue are also worthless. The Fed is gambling high stakes with the world’s reserve currency. With regard to China, for example, they own over a trillion dollars of our debt, and growing every day. Do you think that’s good for this country? Our banks and real estate are being bought by Middle Eastern oil billionaires, and rich investors from China and India. Do you think that’s good for our country? Our manufacturing capability has evaporated and that now resides overseas. Do you thing that’s good for our country? I could go on and on. In extraordinary actions aimed at preventing a meltdown of the U.S. financial system, the Federal Reserve recently backed JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) takeover of Bear Stearns and agreed to provide a multibillion-dollar lifeline for the deal. In addition, the Fed, in the broadest use of its lending authority since the 1930s, said it would let squeezed Wall Street investment houses come to it directly for emergency loans. That has long been a privilege just for commercial banks. Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, wants regulations on investment banks similar to those that apply to regular banks. That includes mandatory requirements for cash reserves to cushion losses. The Fed or another government entity should be designated as a “financial services regulator” with the power to limit risky practices, said Frank, D-Mass. There have been two failures in 2008 — both of which were small Missouri-based banks. By far the largest recent failure was the September 2007 shutdown of Georgia-based NetBank Inc., an online bank with $2.5 billion in assets. NetBank’s insured deposits — representing more than 100,000 customers — were assumed by ING Bank, part of Dutch financial giant ING Groep NV.***
[01]
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2008-03-26-paulson-investment-banks_N.htm?csp=34
[02]
http://www.thetimes.co.za/Business/BusinessTimes/Article.aspx?id=734058
[03]
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/paulson-resists-congressional-effort-stem/story.aspx?guid=%7B4AE51827%2D5F12%2D474F%2DB86F%2D2282BFDD91F3%7D&siteid=rss
[04]
http://www.housingwire.com/2008/03/26/fdic-boosts-key-staff-by-140-ahead-of-expected-bank-failures/
[05]
http://www.charlotte.com/123/story/552791.html
[06]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080326/bs_afp/germanybankingfinancecompanydeutschebank_080326092635
[07]
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/19297.asp
[08]
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_8696507?source=rss
[09]
http://www.boom2bust.com/2008/03/25/ominous-signs-for-the-economy/
[10]
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/25/news/economy/bc.na.fin.us.bankfailur.ap/
