Home » Author Archive
FDIC’s Actions Could Further Damage Banking Industry
I wanted to take a look at the recent communication between the FDIC and the banking community, where the FDIC asserted that “Recent experience demonstrates that newly insured institutions pose an elevated risk to the Deposit... More of this article »
Banks Aren’t Lending, Consumers Aren’t Spending – What Recovery?
The assertion by analysts and economists that data from the quarter from July-September signals the end to the recession is so distorted and ridiculous, that you have to question either their integrity, sanity or ability to make that... More of this article »
Ron Paul’s “End the Fed” Movement Gaining Steam
The growing interest in the book soon to be released by Ron Paul named “End the Fed” is unprecedented in monetary history, and reveals the extraordinary times we live in where a chance to change the monetary policy in... More of this article »
Ron Paul’s Bill Will Pass Says House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank
Now that the public is slowly starting to understand the source of many of the booms and busts in history – the Federal Reserve – pressure has been mounting on House Financial Services chairman Barney Frank to bring the... More of this article »
Dwindling FDIC Funds Putting Pressure On Surviving Banks
The announcement yesterday by the FDIC that the Deposit Insurance Fund dropped to $10.4 billion is a little suspicious based on the 1.94 balance reduction/estimated losses ratio for the previous five quarters, which suddenly improved... More of this article »
Federal Reserve Continues its Mantra that “Disclosure” Will Hurt Banks
The more the Federal Reserve continues to fight the public disclosure of what banks and financial institutions were the recipients of billions in taxpayers’ dollars to artificially prop them up, the more it looks like the Fed... More of this article »
416 Banks Now Considered “Problematic” by FDIC
In the FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile released this morning, it said that the number of what are considered “problem” banks has grown from 305 as of March 31 to 416 as of June 30; a huge increase by any measurement... More of this article »
RBC Capital Markets: Up to 1,000 Banks Could Shutter from 2008-2012
RBC Capital Markets has asserted in the past that up to 1,000 banks could fail during the 2008-2012 credit cycle, and they continue to hold to those numbers. Most banks expected to fail should be under $3 billion in size, although... More of this article »
Federal Judge Orders Federal Reserve to Turn Over Agency Records to Bloomberg News
In an extraordinary ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Preska ordered the Federal Reserve to turn over records of the details concerning the lending of taxpayers’ money to financial institutions and banks. The lawsuit... More of this article »
Vantus Bank Will Be First Bank Failure in Iowa Since 2000
Vantas Bank in Iowa could become the first banking casualty in the state as a result of this recession, and the first since 2000. The bank was founded in 1923. Bad loans are the primary culprit with Vantas Bank, and those loans are... More of this article »
Federal Regulators and Private-equity Investment in Banks
The push back and forth between the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and private-equity businesses reveals a lot about the underlying problems associated with the use of taxpayer funds to bailout banks in the first place. Those who... More of this article »
What Would Be Involved in an Audit of the Federal Reserve? – Part Four
Why changing the laws to allow full auditing the Federal Reserve is so vital to the interests of all Americans. As I mentioned in the last article, don’t be fooled when supporters of not having the Federal Reserve audited assert... More of this article »
Warren Buffett: Monetary Medicine Leaving Disastrous Side Effects
While it’s sad to see Warren Buffett in his old age become a shill for the Obama administration, basically abandoning his past practice of focusing on the free markets. He does at least admit to the extraordinary problems emerging... More of this article »
What Would Be Involved in an Audit of the Federal Reserve? – Part Three
What would an audit of the Federal Reserve look like then? Ron Paul helps us here, as recently he cited the response of the General Accounting Office when there was some interest in auditing the Fed in the 1970s: “We do not see... More of this article »
Obama Administration Raises Deficit Forecast to $9 Trillion
The budget deficit for the federal budget has just been revised by the White House by close to $2 trillion over the next 10 years, now estimated to come in at around $9 trillion rather than the $7.1 trillion originally projected. (I... More of this article »
What Would Be Involved in an Audit of the Federal Reserve? – Part Two
Last post we talked about Congress being granted the power by the Constitution to “coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.” So Congress obviously has the... More of this article »
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA Now Owns Guaranty Bank
Yesterday I reported that Guaranty Bank was close to be taken over by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA from Spain, and now that became a reality today, becoming the first foreign bank to take over a failed American Bank through regulators... More of this article »
What Would Be Involved in an Audit of the Federal Reserve? – Part One
There has been a self-conscious effort to confuse the proposed audit of the Federal Reserve, initiated by Ron Paul, in order to fight off what would be unveiled and revealed by that very audit. So before we get into what an audit of... More of this article »
FDIC’s Proposed Private Equity Restrictions Hindering Bank Sales
As usual, when the government steps in to the private market they screw things up, and in the case of regulations proposed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., they would essentially stop all interest of private equity firms in... More of this article »
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA May Have Won Bid for Guaranty Bank
Bids for the assets of Texas-based Guaranty Bank have been received during August by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the probable but unconfirmed news that the huge Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA has won that... More of this article »
Editorial: Why it’s in the Public Interest for the Fed to be Audited
Ron Paul has been fighting an uphill battle to enlist the aid of his fellow lawmakers to remove the secrecy and hidden actions of the Federal Reserve, which is moving far too autonomously for the public good; confirmed by the outrageous... More of this article »
Banking Leaders Confirm Industry Still in Bad Shape
In a recent study from advisory firm KPMG KPMG.UL, banking executives said the industry will recover slower than even the economy; a true statement that was good to hear, as some politicians and news outlets attempt to make it look... More of this article »
Investment Bank ‘Lazard’ Hires Tom Tuft from Goldman Sachs
Preparing for what head of Lazard Ltd. Bruce Wasserstein called a “re-equitization of the American capital structure” over the next five to six years, the company hired Tom Tuft away from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to prepare... More of this article »