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CapitalSouth Bank Marks 80th Bank Failure of 2009
State regulators shut down the CapitalSouth Bank and handed over its reigns to the FDIC on Friday, August 21st, marking the 80th bank failure in 2009. Iberiabank Corp of Lafayette Lousiana will take over 10 branches of CapitalSouth... More of this article »Prosper, Lending Club and Other Loan Clubs: An Introduction to Peer to Peer Lending
If there’s any new financial product that has been the darling of personal finance blogs across the web in the last couple of years, it’s peer to peer lending services. They have received a lot of interest from people who are extremely... 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 »
What to Look For Other than Interest Rates When Shopping For an Online Savings Account
When you’re looking for a place to store your hard earned money, you don’t want to trust it with just any financial institution. How do you make sure that the place you’re going to put your money is the best place to go? Most... More of this article »
TARP Bailout Money: How was the $700 Billion Spent?
Last fall, the country was in a major financial crisis, in response, the Department of the Treasury with authorization from Congress gave over $700 billion to banks and financial institutions under the troubled asset relief program... 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 »
How to Maximize Your CD Rates with a Certificate of Deposit Ladder
If you have a lot of money in a savings account, you are at the whim of whatever the current interest rate environment is. If the economy falters as it has in the last year, the rates you will be able to receive on your money will... More of this article »
Lending Club Follows Mainstream Banks, Raises Interest Rates on Personal Loans
Peer to Peer Lending Services, such as Prosper.com and LendingClub.com, have been providing consumers a way to lend money to other consumers while side-stepping major financial companies for a couple of years now. These two companies... 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 »
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 »
JP Morgan Provides California $1.5 Billion Loan To Repay IOUs
The California State Treasurers office announced late Tuesday that JP Morgan Chase is supplying a $1.5 billion loan that will allow it to end its IOU program come September 4, when the state’s new cash-flow borrowing plan kicks in. The... More of this article »
How Recent Interest Rate Decisions from the Fed Will Impact Your Savings Account
Last week, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met and determined that the federal funds rate will remain as close to zero (0 – 0.25%) as it has ever been. The press release that the Federal Reserve release stated, “The Committee... More of this article »
NCUA Warns Of Fraudulent Credit Union Advertisements
The National Credit Union Administration learned earlier this month of a fraudulent lending scheme by parties that claim to be credit unions. The scheme is done by placing false advertisements that offer to help potential customers... More of this article »
SmartyPig Decreases Interest Rate to 2.01% APY
SmartyPig announced on Friday that they will be making the largest cut in the interest rates that they offer in the last year. On SmartyPig’s blog, the company’s co-founder Michael Ferrari, announced the news: Beginning Monday,... More of this article »
FDIC Seizes Colonial Bank, Four Others
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced Friday that it was appointed receiver of five more banks that were shutdown by State Commissions this week. The biggest name of which is Colonial Bank, which has been in the news... More of this article »
Federal Reserve To End Treasury Buying In October
Following the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the Federal Reserve said it plans to slow its purchases of U.S. Treasuries and end the buying program in October, one month later than originally planned. The Federal Reserve’s... More of this article »
Colonial Bancgroup Unable to File 2nd Quarter Results Citing Accounting Irregularities
A meeting between Alabama banking regulators and Colonial Bank scheduled for Wednesday, August 12, was canceled, which was set to talk about the possible takeover of the company by the FDIC. The reason it was canceled was because a... More of this article »
Can Guaranteed Bonuses in the Banking Industry Really be Stopped?
The public outcry over huge guaranteed bonuses independent of performance has pressured the Obama administration to attempt to do something about the practice, but the challenges are great if there will ever be any changes made there. Before... More of this article »
Large US Banks Record Huge Profits for Second Quarter
Many US banks continue remain under pressure as the recession rolls on, but some of the larger banks reported strong second quarter earnings, although many banks still are fighting to survive, as the numerous bank closings this year... More of this article »
Banks Cutting Home Equity Credit Lines; 5 Tips To Deal With It
The fallout from the slumping real estate market has taken a new twist as thousands of U.S. homeowners have seen their home equity line of credit either cut or frozen by their bank without warning. The kicker is it’s all completely... More of this article »
Judge Forces SEC, Bank of America to Disclose Details of Agreement
Citing the serious nature of the charges and allegations made by the SEC about bonuses promised to employees of Merrill Lynch last year, Judge Jed S. Rakoff refused to sign off on the $33 million settlement reached by the SEC and Bank... More of this article »
Fannie Mae Posts $15.2 Billion Loss, Seeks $10.7 Billion In Gov’t Aid
Fannie Mae announced plans Thursday to access another $10.7 billion in government aid. The move follows a second quarter earnings report that showed the mortgage giant lost $15.2 billion during the period. Last year, the government... More of this article »