by Calculated Risk on 4/10/2009 05:17:00 PM

Update:

Dark clouds on Easter
Hope falls short for Cape Fear Bank
Not a Good Friday?
from Soylent Green is People

From the FDIC: First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, Acquires All of the Deposits of Cape Fear Bank, Wilmington, North Carolina

Cape Fear Bank, Wilmington, North Carolina, was closed today by the North Carolina Office of Commissioner of Banks, which then appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston (First Federal), Charleston, South Carolina, to assume all of the deposits of Cape Fear Bank.
...
As of March 31, 2009, Cape Fear Bank had total assets of approximately $492 million and total deposits of $403 million. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, First Federal agreed to purchase approximately $468 million in assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.

The FDIC and First Federal entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $395 million of Cape Fear Bank's assets. First Federal will share with the FDIC in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. ...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $131 million. First Federal's acquisition of all deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund compared to alternatives. Cape Fear Bank is the twenty-second bank to fail in the nation this year. The last bank to fail in North Carolina was Crown National Bank, Charlotte, on May 20, 1993.

It is Friday.

by Calculated Risk on 4/10/2009 04:37:00 PM

The FDIC received 210 comments on the Legacy Loans Program. You can read them all here. (ht David)

Not all comments are, uh, supportive!

by Calculated Risk on 4/10/2009 02:46:00 PM

From Rex Nutting at MarketWatch: Budget deficit triples to $957 billion for year

The U.S. federal budget deficit rose to a record $956.8 billion in the first six months of the fiscal year ... the Treasury Department reported Friday.
...
In March, the deficit widened to $192.3 billion from $48.2 billion in March 2008. Outlays rose 41% to $321.2 billion from $227 billion, while receipts dropped 28% to $129 billion from $178.8 billion.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the year-over-year change in total Federal tax receipts.

For March 2009, receipts were off 27.9% compared to March 2008.

For individual income taxes, receipts were off 27.3%.

For corporate income taxes, receipts were off 89.6% (from $32.6 billion in March 2008 to $3.4 billion in March 2009).

For Social Security payroll taxes - Employment and General Retirement (off-budget) - receipts were flat.

The year-over-year decline in receipts is similar to the previous recession, but that decline was a combination of a weak economy and tax changes. This decline is all about the economy - especially the sharp decline in corporate tax receipts.

by Calculated Risk on 4/10/2009 01:32:00 PM

From MarketWatch: Obama sees 'glimmers of hope' in the economy

"We're starting to see progress," Obama said ... However he added that the economy has a long way to go. "The economy is still under severe stress." Job losses are still creating lots of uncertainty and hardship, he said.

The WSJ has his remarks.

Q Sir, are you saying the recession is abating?

THE PRESIDENT: I’m saying we’re seeing progress.

Q You’re saying what?

THE PRESIDENT: I’ve said that we’re seeing progress.

by Calculated Risk on 4/10/2009 10:08:00 AM

Bando: Someone who lives in an abandoned home.

From the NY Times: More Squatters Are Calling Foreclosures Home

When the woman who calls herself Queen Omega moved into a three-bedroom house here last December, she introduced herself to the neighbors, signed contracts for electricity and water and ordered an Internet connection.

What she did not tell anyone was that she had no legal right to be in the home.
...
Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said about a dozen advocacy groups around the country were actively moving homeless people into vacant homes ...

So now we have organized bandos! And it sounds like the competition is fierce:

“At 10 o’clock in the morning, I went over to the house just to make sure everything was O.K., and squatters took over our squat. Then we went to another place nearby, and squatters were in that place also.”