by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2010 09:28:00 PM

City Bank failure.
Not that one, nor that one...yet.
Not that one either.
by Soylent Green is People
From the FDIC: Whidbey Island Bank, Coupeville, Washington, Assumes All Of The Deposits Of City Bank, Lynnwood, Washington

As of December 31, 2009, City Bank had approximately $1.13 billion in total assets and $1.02 billion in total deposits.
...
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $323.4 million.... City Bank is the 50th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the fifth in Washington. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Rainier Pacific Bank, Tacoma, February 26, 2010.

by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2010 08:50:00 PM

A dog eat dog world
Now banks eat banks nationwide.
Ms. Bair = Ms. PacMan?
by Soylent Green is People
From the FDIC: Union Bank, National Association, San Francisco, California, Assumes All Of The Deposits Of Tamalpais Bank, San Rafael, California

As of December 31, 2009, Tamalpais Bank had approximately $628.9 million in total assets and $487.6 million in total deposits.
...
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $81.1 million. ... Tamalpais Bank is the 49th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the third in California. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Innovative Bank, Oakland, earlier today.

This bank made some really bad CRE loans, see from David Johnson: When smart money said "no more," not-so-smart Marin bank loaned the Lembis $41 million.

by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2010 08:12:00 PM

Innovative Bank
Nothing's new under the sun
Same mistakes, same end.
by Soylent Green is People
From the FDIC: Center Bank, Los Angeles, California, Assumes All Of The Deposits Of Innovative Bank, Oakland, California

As of December 31, 2009, Innovative Bank had approximately $268.9 million in total assets and $225.2 million in total deposits.
...
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $37.8 million. ... Innovative Bank is the 48th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the 3rd in California. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was La Jolla Bank, FSB, La Jolla, February 19, 2010.

by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2010 06:07:00 PM

Banks new built Rockies.
Soaring peaks of verdant green
All debt, I.O.U's.
by Soylent Green is People
From the FDIC: TD Bank, National Association, Wilmington, Delaware, Acquires All the Deposits of Three Florida Institutions

TD Bank, National Association (N.A.), Wilmington, Delaware, acquired the banking operations, including all the deposits, of three Florida-based institutions. ... AmericanFirst Bank, Clermont; First Federal Bank of North Florida, Palatka; and Riverside National Bank of Florida, Fort Pierce
...
As of December 31, 2009, AmericanFirst Bank had total assets of $90.5 million and total deposits of $81.9 million; First Federal Bank of North Florida had total assets of $393.3 million and total deposits of $324.2 million; and Riverside National Bank of Florida had total assets of $3.42 billion and total deposits of $2.76 billion.
...
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) for AmericanFirst Bank will be $10.5 million; for First Federal Bank of North Florida, $6.0 million; and for Riverside National Bank of Florida, 491.8 million.
...
These were the 44th, 45th, and 46th banks to fail in the nation this year, and the seventh, eighth, and ninth banks to close in Florida. Prior to these failures, the last bank closed in the state was Key West Bank, Key West, on March 26, 2010.

From the FDIC: People's United Bank, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Assumes All of the Deposits of Butler Bank, Lowell, Massachusetts

As of December 31, 2009, Butler Bank had approximately $268.0 million in total assets and $233.2 million in total deposits.
...
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $22.9 million. .... Butler Bank is the 47th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Massachusetts. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Ludlow Savings Bank, Ludlow, October 21, 1994.

That makes 5 today.

by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2010 05:22:00 PM

East wind torques bamboo
Summer monsoons wreak havoc
Bankers devastate.
by Soylent Green is People
From the FDIC: FDIC Approves The Payout Of The Insured Deposits Of Lakeside Community Bank, Sterling Heights, Michigan

As of December 31, 2009, Lakeside Community Bank had approximately $53.0 million in total assets and $52.3 million in total deposits.
...
Lakeside Community Bank is the 43rd FDIC-insured institution to fail this year, and the first in Michigan. The last institution closed in the state was Citizens State Bank, New Baltimore, on December 18, 2009. The FDIC estimates the cost of the failure to its Deposit Insurance Fund to be approximately $11.2 million

A small one to start the day ...

by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2010 03:07:00 PM

From Amy Hoak at MarketWatch: End of road for home-buy credit

Two groups that once lobbied strongly for the credit -- the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders -- have no plans to make a push for its extension, according to spokesmen from both groups. And the word from NAR's government-affairs department is that another extension isn't in the cards.

The first round of the homebuyer tax credit was widely criticized by economists as inefficient and misdirected. The tax credit went mostly to people who would have bought anyway - and it just provided an incentive for people to move from renting to owning without reducing the overall stock of housing units.

The evidence suggests the extension was even more costly and inefficient than the original credit. So no further extension is good news for the economy ...

by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2010 11:31:00 AM

From the SEC: SEC Charges Goldman Sachs With Fraud in Structuring and Marketing of CDO Tied to Subprime Mortgages

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Goldman, Sachs & Co. and one of its vice presidents for defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts about a financial product tied to subprime mortgages as the U.S. housing market was beginning to falter.

The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Goldman Sachs failed to disclose to investors vital information about the CDO, in particular the role that a major hedge fund played in the portfolio selection process and the fact that the hedge fund had taken a short position against the CDO.

"The product was new and complex but the deception and conflicts are old and simple," said Robert Khuzami, Director of the Division of Enforcement. "Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party."
...
The SEC's complaint alleges that after participating in the portfolio selection, Paulson & Co. effectively shorted the RMBS portfolio it helped select by entering into credit default swaps (CDS) with Goldman Sachs to buy protection on specific layers of the ABACUS capital structure. Given that financial short interest, Paulson & Co. had an economic incentive to select RMBS that it expected to experience credit events in the near future. Goldman Sachs did not disclose Paulson & Co.'s short position or its role in the collateral selection process in the term sheet, flip book, offering memorandum, or other marketing materials provided to investors.

by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2010 10:05:00 AM

From the BLS: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary

Regional and state unemployment rates were little changed in March. Twenty-four states recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, 17 states and the District of Columbia registered rate decreases, and 9 states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-four states and the District of Columbia recorded jobless rate increases from a year earlier, 5 states had decreases, and 1 state had no change.
...
Michigan again recorded the highest unemployment rate among the states, 14.1 percent in March. The states with the next highest rates were Nevada, 13.4 percent; California and Rhode Island, 12.6 percent each; Florida, 12.3 percent; and South Carolina, 12.2 percent. North Dakota continued to register the lowest jobless rate, 4.0 percent in March, followed by South Dakota and Nebraska, 4.8 and 5.0 percent, respectively. The rates in California, Florida, and Nevada set new series highs, as did the rate in Georgia (10.6 percent).
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the high and low unemployment rates for each state (and D.C.) since 1976. The red bar is the current unemployment rate (sorted by the current unemployment rate).

Fifteen states and D.C. now have double digit unemployment rates. New Jersey and Indiana are close.

Four states and set new series record highs: California, Florida, Nevada and Georgia.

by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2010 08:30:00 AM

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

Total housing starts were at 626 thousand (SAAR) in March, up 1.6% from the revised February rate, and up 30% from the all time record low in April 2009 of 479 thousand (the lowest level since the Census Bureau began tracking housing starts in 1959).

Single-family starts were at 531 thousand (SAAR) in March, down 0.9% from the revised February rate, and 49% above the record low in January and February 2009 (357 thousand).

The second graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968. This shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and the slow and sluggish recovery in housing starts.

Here is the Census Bureau report on housing Permits, Starts and Completions.

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000. This is 1.6 percent (±15.2%)* above the revised February estimate of 616,000 and is 20.2 percent (±15.3%) above the March 2009 rate of 521,000.

Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 531,000; this is 0.9 percent (±12.1%)* below the revised February figure of 536,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 88,000.

Housing Completions:
Privately-owned housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 656,000. This is 3.1 percent (±16.7%)* below the revised February estimate of 677,000 and is 21.2 percent (±8.9%) below the March 2009 rate of 833,000.

Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 486,000; this is 5.9 percent (±14.6%)* above the revised February rate of 459,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 161,000.

by Calculated Risk on 4/15/2010 09:49:00 PM

Notes: this data is not seasonally adjusted. There is a very distinct seasonal pattern for imports, but not for exports. LA area ports handle about 40% of the nation's container port traffic.

Sometimes port traffic gives us an early hint of changes in the trade deficit. The following graph shows the loaded inbound and outbound traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in TEUs (TEUs: 20-foot equivalent units or 20-foot-long cargo container). Although containers tell us nothing about value, container traffic does give us an idea of the volume of goods being exported and imported.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

Loaded inbound traffic was up 2.6% compared to March 2009. (up 9.6% compared to last year using three month average). Inbound traffic was still down 9.2% vs. two years ago (Mar08).

Loaded outbound traffic was up 13.6% from March 2009. (+24.9% using three months average) Just as with imports, exports are still off from 2 years ago (off 8.0%).

Looking at the graph (red line), exports recovered in the first half of 2009, but then export traffic only increased gradually since last summer. Export traffic picked up again in March.

It is harder to tell about imports (blue line) because of the large seasonal swings. Usually there is a large dip in either February or March - depending on the timing of the Chinese New Year - and that didn't happen this year. The lack of a large seasonal dip might suggest a significant increase in imports too.