by Calculated Risk on 11/25/2011 09:04:00 PM

Note: this is an unofficial list of Problem Banks compiled only from public sources.

Here is the unofficial problem bank list for Nov 25, 2011. (table is sortable by assets, state, etc.)

Changes and comments from surferdude808:

Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers!

The FDIC did not deliver a "Black Friday" to any bank today as they let their closing teams enjoy a long weekend off. Still, there were a number of changes to the Unofficial Problem Bank List as the OCC and FDIC released their enforcement actions for the past month this week. As a result, there were seven additions and four removals, which leave the list with 980 institutions with assets of $400.5 billion. A year ago, there were 919 institutions with assets of $410 billion.

During this month, the list fell by a net five institutions with changes including eight additions, four failures, two unassisted mergers, and seven cures. Positively, it is the fifth consecutive monthly decline; however, the list has only declined by a net 21 institutions with failure causing 40 removals over this span.

The removals this week were all cures and include Commercial National Bank of Texarkana, Texarkana, TX ($191 million); The National Bank of Waupun, Waupun, WI ($126 million); Texas National Bank, Mercedes, TX ($92 million); and First National Bank of the Lakes, Navarre, MN ($61 million).

Among the seven additions are First Community Bank, Santa Rosa, CA ($698 million); CoastalStates Bank, Hilton Head Island, SC ($372 million); Commerce Bank, Geneva, MN ($207 million); and Regal Bank & Trust, Owings Mills, MD ($182 million Ticker: RGBM).

The OCC and FDIC replaced a number of existing outstanding actions during the past month. The other change of note is a Prompt Corrective Action Order issued by the OCC against Western National Bank, Phoenix, AZ ($163 million).

CR Note: Thanks to surferdude808! Earlier this week, the WSJ reported that Bank of America was warned by regulators of a possible formal action if the bank doesn't make progress. That would be a huge addition to the Unofficial Problem Bank list!

by Calculated Risk on 11/25/2011 03:10:00 PM

According to Bloomberg, Brent Crude is down to $106.40 per barrel, while WTI is up to $96.77. The spread has been narrowing for over a month, especially following the recent announcement of a partial reversal of the Seaway pipeline to transport crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Gulf Coast.

If the global economy really slows, oil and gasoline prices will probably fall - and probably offset some of the impact from lower exports. There hasn't been a sharp decline in world oil prices yet.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graphs shows the prices for Brent and WTI over the last few years. Usually the prices track pretty closely, but the "glut" of oil at Cushing pushed down WTI prices relative to Brent. Now the gap is closing (the pipeline is scheduled to be reversed in Q2 2012).

On a longer term basis, here is a little good news for Bloomberg: Renewable power trumps fossil fuels for first time

Renewable energy is surpassing fossil fuels for the first time in new power-plant investments, shaking off setbacks from the financial crisis and an impasse at the United Nations global warming talks.

Electricity from the wind, sun, waves and biomass drew $187 billion last year compared with $157 billion for natural gas, oil and coal, according to calculations by Bloomberg New Energy Finance using the latest data. Accelerating installations of solar- and wind-power plants led to lower equipment prices, making clean energy more competitive with coal.

And here is a graph of gasoline prices. Gasoline prices have been slowly moving down since peaking in early May as the shown on the graph below. Note: The graph below shows oil prices for WTI; gasoline prices in most of the U.S. are impacted more by Brent prices.

Orange County Historical Gas Price Charts Provided by GasBuddy.com

by Calculated Risk on 11/25/2011 01:23:00 PM

Just a headline on Belgium ... I guess S&P noticed the Belgian bond yields are moving up sharply.

Also something we discussed this morning, from Bloomberg: Italian, Spanish Yield Curves Start Looking Greek: Euro Credit

Spain and Italy face paying more to borrow for two years than for a decade, echoing shifts that presaged bailouts in Greece and Portugal and suggesting skepticism about their new governments avoiding contagion.

The Italian 2 year yield is at 7.66%. And the ten year yield is at 7.26%.

But the Spanish curve is not inverted yet. The Spanish 2 year yield is at 6.09%, and the ten year yield is at 6.7%.

by Calculated Risk on 11/25/2011 09:13:00 AM

From the WSJ: Italian Yields Jump After Poor Auction

Italian two-year and five-year government-bond yields soared to euro-era highs Friday as investors began giving up on the euro zone's ability to break the political gridlock that is blocking a more decisive response to the currency bloc's debt crisis ... The Italian treasury sold €8 billion ($10.67 billion) of six-month treasury bills and €2 billion of 24-month zero-coupon bonds. The six-month paper carried an average yield of 6.5%, sharply up from the 3.5% rate paid at its October auction.

The Italian 2 year yield is up to 7.84%. Ouch. The 5 year yield is at 7.8%.

Note: I've added the table of links to European bond yields below the first post.

Update: From Reuters: Moody's cuts Hungary to "junk," government sees attack

Moody's lowered Hungary's sovereign rating by one notch to Ba1, just below investment grade, with a negative outlook, hours after rival Standard & Poor's held fire on a flagged downgrade after Budapest said it would seek international aid. ... It also came after [Prime Minister Viktor] Orban relaunched aid talks this week with the International Monetary Fund, a dramatic reversal after he cut cooperation with the Fund short last year after sweeping a 2010 election on a vow to regain "economic sovereignty."

by Calculated Risk on 11/24/2011 06:47:00 PM

NOTE: I've added a link below the first post for the table of links to European Bond Yields.

More on Europe ...

From the WSJ: ECB Considers Longer Bank Loans

The European Central Bank ... may extend loans to banks at maturities of two or three years, according to people familiar with the matter. The longest maturity at present is 13 months.

This would be for banks - with haircuts on collateral - and not countries.

From the Telegraph: Germany unmoved by French pleas for more ECB action

Ms Merkel instead used a three-way summit with France and Italy in Strasbourg to insist that new treaty powers to intervene and punish sinner states remained the key focus of Europe's rescue efforts. She said: "The countries who don't keep to the stability pact have to be punished – those who contravene it need to be penalised. We need to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Even suggestions that the ECB could extend longer loans to countries over a period of up to three years appeared to be ruled out. Ms Merkel said: "The ECB is independent, the modification of the treaty does not concern the ECB, which is dealing with monetary policy and financial stability. We are worried about a fiscal policy. It's a very different chapter. It has nothing to do with the European bank."