Bank Closing Information – August 28, 2009

These links contain useful information for the customers and vendors of these closed banks.

- Affinity Bank, Ventura, CA
- Mainstreet Bank, Forest Lake, MN
- Bradford Bank, Baltimore, MD

http://www.fdic.gov/

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Over 900 more US banks to fall according to this accepted authority.

Georgia banks’ troubles not over
By Russell Grantham 
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A year after the collapse of Alpharetta-based Integrity Bank launched Georgia toward its dubious distinction as the nation’s bank-failure capital, what is the state of the state’s banking industry? And what lies ahead in terms of recovery and possible reforms?

The crisis is not over

The pace of bank failures has been picking up both in Georgia and across the nation, where 98 banks have failed in the past year. Twenty-three of those banks were in Georgia (that number includes six units operated by Macon-based Security Bank). More than a third of the U.S. bank failures over the past year have occurred in the last two months.

Last week, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which insures deposits, said its list of problem banks grew from 305 in March to 416 in June, the highest total since 1994.

At the moment, it is estimated that about a third of Georgia-chartered banks are operating under some sort of state or federal enforcement actions. Meanwhile about 50 state banks with high so-called Texas ratios are on a closely watched unofficial list of problem banks.

More…

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Of course, all that was done is the winners on the OTC derivatives got paid out via paying into the Terminally Critical, Walking Wounded and Permanently Impaired.

I wish I really did not understand this stuff as it makes me ill.

"We Spent $13 Trillion And These Banks Are STILL IN THE CRAPPER!"
Henry Blodget Aug. 27, 2009, 2:36 PM

More from the one and only Howard Davidowitz… This time on the banks and the "crisis in commercial real estate", which Howard describes as a "catastrophe."

Aaron Task, TechTicker: Since the government gave banks relief on mark-to-market accounting and the "stress tests" helped engineer a big round of capital-raising last spring, the financial sector has been on a tear.

Now a major debate is occurring over whether the sector remains attractively valued or is living on borrowed time.

On the optimistic side of the ledger, famed hedge fund manager John Paulson is upping his stake in Citigroup, The NY Post reports. Last month, an SEC filing revealed Paulson’s fund taking big stakes in Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Capital One Financial and other financials.

On the other hand, regulators loosened restrictions on private equity firms’ ability to buy failed banks, a nod to the drain on the FDIC’s insurance fund given the failures of the past year – and more expected to come. (On Thursday, the FDIC said the number of banks on its problem watchlist rose to 416 in the second quarter from 305 in Q1, while its insurance fund fell 20% to $10.4 billion. "The decrease in the fund was chiefly caused by an $11.6 billion increase in the money the FDIC set aside for anticipated bank failures," Reuters reports.)

More…

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Why not? All the crooks do it.

Bankrupt suppliers seek exec bonuses
Courts asked to OK paying millions as jobs, benefits are cut
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington — A growing number of bankrupt auto suppliers are seeking court approval to pay tens of millions of dollars in bonuses to key executives, as they shed employees and cut costs.

Some of the bonuses have come under sharp criticism from General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., as well as the trustees named by the Justice Department to monitor bankruptcy cases.

"Considering the condition of the automotive industry and the adverse effect on auto suppliers, it is unclear why payments are even needed to retain employees who may have limited options to find employment elsewhere," said Diana G. Adams, the U.S. trustee in objecting to a plan by Lear Corp.

Southfield-based Lear, which is in the process of cutting costs by $350 million, won approval Tuesday to pay $20.6 million in bonuses to 29 execs.

Congress rewrote the bankruptcy code in 2005 in an attempt to prevent executives from rewarding themselves during bankruptcy, while rank-and-file workers make significant sacrifices.

Yet Van Buren Township-based Visteon Corp. wants permission to pay up to $80.1 million in bonuses.

More…

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary

Please, my extended family, take reasonable precautions and hope it is a total waste of time.

Swine flu spreading at ‘unbelievable’ rate: WHO
Sat Aug 29, 9:23 AM

PARIS (AFP) – Swine flu spreads four times faster than other viruses and 40 percent of the fatalities are young adults in good health, the world’s top health official warned in an interview appearing Saturday.

"This virus travels at an unbelievable, almost unheard of speed," World Health Organisation Director General Margaret Chan told France’s Le Monde daily in an interview.

"In six weeks it travels the same distance that other viruses take six months to cover," Chan said.

"Sixty percent of the deaths cover those who have underlying health problems," Chan said. "This means that 40 percent of the fatalities concern young adults — in good health — who die of a viral fever in five to seven days

More…