Thursday, August 07, 2008

Is It Friday Evening Yet?

I'm sorry, but to be honest, for some reason I can hardly contain my interest/curiosity as to what banks are going to be put to sleep this weekend.

We have the over/under set at 1.5 per week for the foreseeable future. I'm going with the under yet again this week, but it's just a gut feel.

The reality is that ABS prices have continued to deteriorate and the consumer has done nothing but get weaker and weaker. That said, I think the FDIC wants to make this meltdown happen as slowly as possible initially such that depositors do not gain a fear-based momentum. This is incredibly complex and given the fragility of the typical depository institution's business model, I think fear is the rational behavior.

Anyway, schadenfreude reigns as I await my weekly bank failure news.

Strap your boots on.

3 comments:

Wendell Brock said...

Mr. Buffett,

I just posted an article you may enjoy on my blog about this very subject. So far this year there have been 21 credit unions close or have been put to sleep (as of the writing of my article as one was announced this morning) as you mention and only 8 banks. Not much mention in the press about the credit unions. Anyway I don't have your email address to send you the link. You may contact me at wwbrock@denovostrategy.com. Thank you for your blog!
Wendell Brock

Wendell Brock said...

Mr. Buffett,

I just posted an article you may enjoy on my blog about this very subject. So far this year there have been 21 credit unions close or have been put to sleep (as of the writing of my article as one was announced this morning) as you mention and only 8 banks. Not much mention in the press about the credit unions. Anyway I don't have your email address to send you the link. You may contact me at wwbrock@denovostrategy.com. Thank you for your blog!
Wendell Brock

TILB said...

Wendell,
Thanks for the feedback and for addressing me with the formal (but appropriate) "Mr. Buffett". I had not seen the news on credit union failures and, after reading your site, began blogging on it last night.

I open the WSJ this a.m. and what do I see? Mr. Wendell Brock has scooped the mainstream media! The issue of potential credit union failures makes headlines. See my most recent blog posting for more.

-TTB