150 Banks Could Close in the Next Year

150 Banks could close in the next year.

the troubles are growing so rapidly at some small and midsize banks that as many as 150 out of the 7,500 banks nationwide could fail over the next 12 to 18 months, analysts say. Other lenders are likely to shut branches or seek mergers.

time may be running out for some small and midsize lenders. They vary in size and location, but their common woe is the collapsed real estate market and souring mortgage loans. Most of these banks are far smaller than the industry giants that have drawn so much scrutiny from regulators and investors.

The agency does not disclose which banks it thinks are troubled. But analysts are circulating their own lists, and short sellers — investors who bet against stocks — are piling on. In recent weeks, the share prices of some regional banks, like the BankUnited Financial Corporation, in Florida, and the Downey Financial Corporation, in California, have stumbled hard amid concern about their financial health. A BankUnited spokeswoman said the lender had largely avoided risky subprime loans

Following is what I think is the big part of this story.

And the government may have fewer failures than in the past because private investment funds might buy some troubled lenders. Regulators are considering rule changes that would allow private equity firms to buy larger shares of banks, and several prominent investors, like Wilbur Ross, have raised funds to leap in.

Private equity firms bailing out our banks? Are these firms based in the US? Doubtful. Much of our infrastructure in the last decade has been sold off to private equity firms. Many of these firms are located in the Bahamas, Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emerates, ect.... Our country is being bought out by other nations.

What's the answer? Do we use our more and more limited tax dollars to bail out these lenders? Or do we allow foreign intrests to purchase our banks? Or none of the above?

People may have not taken this too seriously back in July 2008 so pj's thread has just been gathering dust, sorry pjsconcret.

There were several bank closings after this thread started, and 20 just so far this year. I heard an economist on Fox Business today say that the banks SHOULD ALL close and restructure; Then of course there is the "rumor" that we will be living on vouchers by August or September, but time will tell.

money.cnn.com...

'Factors' have changed substantially...
the TARP funds & bank bailouts are a factor in the new equasion...
(since September 18th, 2008, or thereabouts)


now it might come about that these estimated 150 banks that are foreseen to fail
are the smaller banks not receiving timely bailout/TARP funds,
the Fed/Treas has their eyeballs on the top 20-21 'Primary Dealer' banks,
who get immediate bailout attention... while the outsider banks, thrifts, etc are left to hang-in-the-wind.... even after TARP fund requests
(which are, i guess, put on the bottom-of-the-pile of the In-Box)


the Fed/Treas (now an almost seperate branch of gov't) has a plan for
'consolidation' of the number of banking operators in the nation... hence a lot of M&A in the finance sector, in my world view.


if the fed/treas has only 20 banks to control & regulate, instead of having
a swarm of gnat sized banks to oversee---it would be lots better for that central planning cartel

thanks,

[edit on 25-3-2009 by St Udio]