capital

The Washington Post is reporting that the federal government has quietly decided to exempt Citigroup from a large future tax bill in allowing it to exit the TARP program.  This is a backdoor bailout worth billions and is an outrage…

Wells Fargo has announced it is to repay $25 billion in funds it received from government under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. This makes Wells the last of the big banks to repay its TARP funds.  In announcing the decision, the…

Citigroup has confirmed it will repay $20 billion of the bailout money it has received from government, becoming the latest big bank to exit the TARP (troubled asset relief program). To prevent capital ratios from dipping, the company will…

From the site News from 1930: National City Bank notes epidemic of bank failures, and that “processes of deflation operate in a vicious circle” but is nevertheless optimistic: “obviously this sort of thing has to come to an end some…

A lot has been made of the most recent FDIC quarterly report, especially the large increase in problem banks to 550 – at least in the blogospehere; some media outlets seem to be burying this news.  Underneath this news are the specific…

My post title is an ode to Yves Smith, who likes to feign surprise when the blindingly obvious finally comes into plain view for all to see. The latest sign that underneath the surface weakness remains at large financial institutions comes…

Credit Suisse has a note out urging caution on Citigroup shares due to regulatory hurdles.  Their logic bears noting as it can be useful for other U.S.-based banks. On Monday the CS analysts met with Citi management, who were somewhat…

I had a feeling there was an energy component to the Berkshire Hathaway decision to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe. And now comes the evidence via coal, a major freight on BNSF’s tracks. But, there is a lot more to this acquisition than…

Nils Pratley’s piece at the Guardian on RBS and Lloyds is very good.  Two quotes sum up the situation quite well. First,regarding Lloyds, Pratley says: Royal Bank of Scotland's shares down almost 20% in two days; Lloyds's shares…

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has been making some very significant moves of late.  Selling of Moody’s shares is one.  But, the latest is sure to cause a stir amongst Buffett watchers because he is definitely making some…