by Calculated Risk on 2/21/2010 09:00:00 AM

Peter Goodman at the NY Times profiles a few of the long term unemployed: Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs

Even as the American economy shows tentative signs of a rebound, the human toll of the recession continues to mount, with millions of Americans remaining out of work, out of savings and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits.

Economists fear that the nascent recovery will leave more people behind than in past recessions, failing to create jobs in sufficient numbers to absorb the record-setting ranks of the long-term unemployed.

Call them the new poor: people long accustomed to the comforts of middle-class life who are now relying on public assistance for the first time in their lives — potentially for years to come.

Yet the social safety net is already showing severe strains. Roughly 2.7 million jobless people will lose their unemployment check before the end of April unless Congress approves the Obama administration’s proposal to extend the payments, according to the Labor Department.

According to a recent National Employment Law Project (NELP) report, 1.2 million people will lose their unemployment benefits in March, and 5 million will be ineligible for federal unemployment benefits by June.

by Calculated Risk on 2/20/2010 09:31:00 PM

This is an unofficial list of Problem Banks compiled only from public sources. Changes and comments from surferdude808:

The Unofficial Problem Bank List increased by a net of 12 institutions this week with 15 additions and 3 removals. However, aggregate assets fell by about $500 million to $329 billion.

Removals include two of the four institutions that failed on Friday -- La Jolla Bank, FSB ($3.8 billion) and Marco Community Bank ($138 million). It appears that the other failures -- George Washington Savings Bank, and The La Coste National Bank were not subject to any formal enforcement action.

The other removal was Hiawatha National Bank ($45 million) as the OCC terminated a Formal Agreement in April 2009 but waited until this month to disclose the termination.

Among the 15 additions are National Bank of Commerce, Superior, WI ($573 million); The Farmers National Bank of Prophetstown, Prophetstown, IL ($410 million); and The Farmers National Bank of Buhl, Buhl, ID ($386 million), which is the first appearance of an Idaho-based institution on the list.

As anticipated in the February 5th commentary, Palm Desert National Bank came back on the list this week as the OCC issued a Consent Order after terminating a Formal Agreement.

The list is compiled from regulator press releases or from public news sources (see Enforcement Action Type link for source). The FDIC data is released monthly with a delay, and the Fed and OTC data is more timely. The OCC data is a little lagged. Credit: surferdude808.

See description below table for Class and Cert (and a link to FDIC ID system).

For a full screen version of the table click here.

The table is wide - use scroll bars to see all information!

NOTE: Columns are sortable - click on column header (Assets, State, Bank Name, Date, etc.)



Class: from FDIC

The FDIC assigns classification codes indicating an institution's charter type (commercial bank, savings bank, or savings association), its chartering agent (state or federal government), its Federal Reserve membership status (member or nonmember), and its primary federal regulator (state-chartered institutions are subject to both federal and state supervision). These codes are:

N National chartered commercial bank supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

SM State charter Fed member commercial bank supervised by the Federal Reserve

NM State charter Fed nonmember commercial bank supervised by the FDIC

SA State or federal charter savings association supervised by the Office of Thrift Supervision

SB State charter savings bank supervised by the FDIC

Cert: This is the certificate number assigned by the FDIC used to identify institutions and for the issuance of insurance certificates. Click on the number and the Institution Directory (ID) system "will provide the last demographic and financial data filed by the selected institution".

by Calculated Risk on 2/20/2010 06:48:00 PM

Something a little different ...

From Cy Ryan at the Las Vegas Sun: Report: Casinos lost money for second time in history

The state Gaming Control Board today released its “Gaming Abstract” for fiscal year 2009, which ended June 30, showing a net loss of $6.7 billion among the 260 major casinos in Nevada.

Clubs along the Las Vegas Strip, which makes up 53 percent of the gambling revenue in Nevada, registered a $4.1 billion loss.
...
The only other time Nevada gaming companies reported a loss was in 2003, of $33.5 million, said Frank Streshley, chief of tax and licensing for the board.

Total revenues were down from $25.0 billion in fiscal 2008 to $22.0 billion in fiscal 2009. Gambling was off 12.7%, room revenue off 16.6% (hotels are getting crushed everywhere), but beverage sales were flat!

Rooms occupied (number of nights) declined from 42.8 million in 2008 (occupancy rate of 86.8%) to 41.6 million in 2009 or 82.2% occupancy rate. The average daily rate (ADR) declined from $119.46 in 2008 to $102.46 in 2009.

In addition to the $3 billion decrease in revenue, the casinos saw a $4.8 billion increase in Other G&A expenses - probably from write downs of bad investments. Also casino payroll employment was off 12.3% or almost 25,000 employees.

The two pillars of the Las Vegas economy have been gaming and construction. Construction is dead - and will be for some time because of all the excess capacity. And gaming is struggling too.

by Calculated Risk on 2/20/2010 02:26:00 PM

Earlier today, according to Reuters, Der Spiegel magazine reported an aid package for Greece was being worked out: Up to 25 billion euros in aid mulled for Greece: report (ht Rajesh)

Now from Bloomberg: Germany Doesn’t Have Plan to Aid Greece, Finance Ministry Says

Germany’s Finance Ministry said it has no specific plans for helping Greece combat its deficit crisis, denying a magazine report ... It’s “incorrect” that Germany is considering a “concrete” plan for countries sharing the euro to pump billions in financial aid to Greece, ministry spokesman Martin Kreienbaum said in an e-mailed statement. “The Finance Ministry has taken no decisions in this regard,” the statement said.
...
Greece is “not requesting money from any European Union taxpayer,” government spokesman George Petalotis said in an e- mailed statement today

Apparently nothing has changed. Greece has a debt offering coming up next week, from the Financial Times: Greece set for critical test with bond issue

Greece is close to attempting ... to raise €3bn-€5bn ($4bn-$6.7bn) as early as next week.
...
Greece’s debt crisis remains acute [with] €20bn of bonds to be rolled over in April and May.
excerpted with permission

The EU gave Greece a March 16th deadline to show progress on their budget deficit and I don't expect anthing to be announced until after that deadline.

by Calculated Risk on 2/20/2010 11:01:00 AM

There have been 188 bank failures in this cycle (starting in 2007):

FDIC Bank Failures by Year
2007	3
2008	25
2009	140
2010	20
Total	188

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

The first graph shows bank failures by week in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The FDIC started fast in 2010, but slowed down when the snow storm hit D.C.

My prediction is the FDIC will close more banks in 2010 than in 2009 (more than 140), but fewer banks than in 1989 - peak of the S&L crisis (534 banks).

The second graph shows bank failures by year since the FDIC was started.

The 140 bank failures last year was the highest total since 1992 (181 bank failures).

For those interested in bank failures by number of institutions and assets, the December Congressional Oversight Panel’s Troubled Asset Relief Program report through Nov 30th for 2009 (see page 45).

by Calculated Risk on 2/20/2010 07:46:00 AM

Jeff Collins, at the O.C. Register, has a Q&A with Wayne Yamano, vice president at John Burns Real Estate Consulting: Loan mods won’t halt foreclosures, study shows

Register: Your study says that five million of the 7.7 million delinquent homes will go through foreclosure or a “foreclosure-related procedure.” How is this likely to occur?

Wayne: Most shadow inventory will get out onto the market as an REO or short sale. In any event, it results in the homeowner losing their home, and that home being added to the supply of homes available for sale.

Register: Do the remaining 2.7 million borrowers get their loan payments caught up?

Wayne: Of the 7.7 million delinquent homeowners, we actually think that only about 1.6 million will be able avoid losing their homes, and that the remaining 6.1 million will lose their homes. We say that there is 5 million units of shadow inventory because we estimate that about 1.1 million delinquent homeowners already have their homes listed for sale, and we would not classify those homes as “shadow.”

Register: When will this wave of foreclosures hit, and how will this shadow inventory affect home prices?

Wayne: We don’t believe that the shadow inventory will be dumped onto the market all at once. Although we don’t believe modification efforts will truly save a lot of homeowners from losing their homes, we do believe that these programs are effective in delaying foreclosures and pushing out the additional supply to later years.

Burns Consulting doesn't think there will be flood of homes hitting the market - they expect these homes will be lost over a few years - so in their view there will not be "another leg down in pricing".

by Calculated Risk on 2/19/2010 10:49:00 PM

Note: Two different stories with a theme ...

First, from an article in the Arizona Daily Star: Chandler man arrested for gutting foreclosed home (ht Mellanie)

Police say 35-year-old Daniel I. Clark was booked on suspicion of defrauding a secured creditor and criminal damage. Police say a neighbor of Clark's stopped an officer on patrol and reported that Clark was "deconstructing" his house.

And here is the video of the bulldozer guy in Cincinnati featured on WKRP, uh, WLWT.com:

by Calculated Risk on 2/19/2010 08:05:00 PM

Not the Delaware
Washington Bank crossed over
But the Rubicon

The La Jolla Bank
A name sounding so happy
New mood: not jolly
by Soylent Green is People
From the FDIC: FirstMerit Bank, National Association, Akron, Ohio, Assumes All of the Deposits of George Washington Savings Bank, Orland Park, Illinois

George Washington Savings Bank, Orland Park, Illinois, was closed today by the Illinois Department of Financial Professional Regulation – Division of Banking, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. ...

As of December 31, 2009, George Washington Savings Bank had approximately $412.8 million in total assets and $397.0 million in total deposits. ...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $141.4 million. ... George Washington Savings Bank is the 19th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the second in Illinois. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Town Community Bank and Trust, Antioch, on January 15, 2010.

From the FDIC: OneWest Bank, FSB, Pasadena, California, Assumes All of the Deposits of La Jolla Bank, FSB, La Jolla, California

La Jolla Bank, FSB, La Jolla, California, was closed today by the Office of Thrift Supervision, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. ...

As of December 31, 2009, La Jolla Bank, FSB had approximately $3.6 billion in total assets and $2.8 billion in total deposits. ...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $882.3 million. ... La Jolla Bank, FSB is the 20th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the second in California. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was First Regional Bank, Los Angeles, on January 29, 2010.

La Jolla Bank is a pretty good size failure. That makes four today ... hey, OneWest ... get out your tinfoil hats!

by Calculated Risk on 2/19/2010 07:05:00 PM

La Coste in Texas
Alligator shirt emblem?
A penniless bank
by Soylent Green is People
From the FDIC: Community National Bank, Hondo, Texas, Assumes All of the Deposits of the La Coste National Bank, La Coste, Texas

The La Coste National Bank, La Coste, Texas, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. ...

As of December 31, 2009, The La Coste National Bank had approximately $53.9 million in total assets and $49.3 million in total deposits....

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $3.7 million. ... The La Coste National Bank is the 18th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Texas. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Madisonville State Bank, Madisonville, on October 30, 2009.

Another small bank ...

by Calculated Risk on 2/19/2010 05:42:00 PM

Bad debt drowns one more
Marco Community fails
Mutual absorbs.
by Soylent Green is People
From the FDIC: Mutual of Omaha Bank, Omaha, Nebraska, Assumes All of the Deposits of Marco Community Bank, Marco Island, Florida

Marco Community Bank, Marco Island, Florida, was closed today by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. ...

As of December 31, 2009, Marco Community Bank had approximately $119.6 million in total assets and $117.1 million in total deposits. ..

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $38.1 million. ... Marco Community Bank is the 17th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the third in Florida. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Florida Community Bank, Immokalee, on January 29, 2010.

It is Friday.