banks

The drama at Bank of America continues with Ken Lewis testifying before Congress today.  Most of the events surround claims by Lewis that he was coerced into doing the Merrill deal by Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke.   I…

Yesterday, I argued that allowing banks to repay TARP funds meant a continuation of overcapacity in financial services, which was a direct contributor to the credit crisis through its dampening impact on unlevered returns.  Some of the…

If you thought the bailout of too big to fail institutions was a massive gift from taxpayers to captains of Wall Street, the news that TARP funds are being repaid should confirm your beliefs.  Just today the U.S. Treasury has agreed to…

Bank of Lincolnwood in Illinois is FDIC casualty number 37 this year. It is not very big.  Below is the FDIC press release: Bank of Lincolnwood, Lincolnwood, Illinois, was closed today by the Illinois Department of Financial and…

Here is the SEC press release regarding the fraud and insider trader alleged to have been perpetrated at Countrywide Financial, now a part of Bank of America (emphasis added):

It’s about time.  The SEC has finally charged a high level executive in the banking industry in connection with activities that led to the largest bubble in U.S. history.  The accused, as expected, is Angelo Mozilo, otherwise known as “The…

Jim Cramer is not just calling a stock market bottom, but now he’s calling a housing bottom too.  In fact, he says go buy a house.  “Buy a house and buy Bank of America too?”  Cramer says: “This is patently obvious.” Take a…

Charlie Rose's site says of this video clip: A conversation about Bear Sterns and the economic crisis with Kate Kelly, author of "Street Fighters: The Last 72 Hours of Bear Stearns, the Toughest Firm on Wall Street" and William D. Cohan,…

I have had a number of posts on mark-to-market accounting in the recent past.  Most recently, the posts have suggested that accounting is going to be favourable to banks and their quest to present a well-capitalized face to the world (see…

On the face of it, Nationwide’s earnings report looks extremely good: 15% Tier 1 Capital, Pre-tax profit of nearly £400 million.  Given this financial institution’s leverage to the residential housing market, their results stand in…