Federal Reserve Punishes Savers

FDIC and Federal Reserve Articles

Federal Reserve Punishes Savers

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011 | Comments Off

With QE1 and QE2, the Federal Reserve has tried to stimulate jobs and put a floor beneath stock prices. Inflation is rearing its head, and corporations are showing profits and starting to hire a bit again, but after QE2 … then what? Most Americans are trying to save money now and pay down debts. Jobs […]

Two California Banks Shut Down by FDIC

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 | Comments Off

Two more California banks have failed and subsequently are now under new management.

San Luis Trust Bank, based in San Luis Obispo, opened last week as a new branch of First California Bank. San Luis Trust had $333 million in total assets, and First California has $1,7 billion, according to the FDIC. The bank was also mainly focused on investing in real estate. Luckily, the bank has just one office to convert into First California colors.

California’s Western Commercial Bank Shut Down

Friday, November 5th, 2010 | Comments Off

Regulators closed two more US banks on Friday, including Western Commercial Bank in Woodland Hills, California, with $101.1 million in deposits. The two bank failures will cost the federal deposit-insurance fund a combined $223.6 million. K Bank, based in Randallstown, Md., with $538.3 million in assets, was also closed. The bank shutdowns bring the 2010 […]

Fed to Buy $600 Billion in Bonds to Stimulate Economy

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010 | Comments Off

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced its plans to try to invigorate the US economy by buying $600 billion of Treasury bonds. Federal Reserve officials said it would buy approximately $75 billion a month in long-term government bonds on through to mid-2011 in order to further drive down interest rates on debt. By buying so […]

How to Make Money Off of Rising Inflation

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010 | Comments Off

Next week the Federal Reserve announces what it will do for QE2. Most investors are expecting bond buying and more monetary easing that will lower interest rates and make the dollar decline further to help spur our exports. Low interest rates have not spurred the economy so far, and a declining dollar has the possibility […]

Read My Lips: Inflation, Not Deflation is the Fear

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010 | Comments Off

Yesterday the Treasury sold $10 billion of 5-year inflation-protected securities, or TIPS, at auction. Something extraordinary happened which has never happened before. They were sold with a yield of negative 0.55 percent. Yes, a negative yield. Investors were willing to pay the Treasury 105 cents in order to buy $1 of inflation protection. This means the public […]

Default Troubles for State Governments?

Thursday, October 21st, 2010 | Comments Off

You probably know that many local and state governments are in a big financial mess right now. California is not the only state experiencing financial problems. While California cut its budget this year, can it do it again next year and the year thereafter if things stay bad? That’s just the dilemma for California. Now […]

6 More Georgia, Ohio, New Jersey and Wisconsin Banks Fail

Monday, September 20th, 2010 | Comments Off

There have been 125 bank closures this year, and six more this past Friday. The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) took over 3 Georgia banks on Friday: First Commerce Community Bank of Douglasville, with $248.2 million in assets; Bank of Ellijay, in Ellijay, with $168.8 million in assets; and Peoples Bank, based in Winder, with […]

Consumers Cut Up Their Credit Cards

Friday, August 6th, 2010 | Comments Off

Today the St. Louis Fed just released figures on total consumer revolving credit. This is basically consumer credit data but a month late. Total consumer credit fell just .7% but figures show that revolving consumer credit shrunk 6.5% on an annualized basis. The decline went from $831 billion to $826 billion. The last time we […]

Forecast of the Near Future: Interest Rates Even Lower

Friday, July 30th, 2010 | Comments Off

Today yields on Treasury instruments fell even lower, with the 2-year T-note hitting a record low of paying just 0.55%. Can interest rates go lower? The government today announced that GDP grew at only 2.4% in the second quarter, which was much less than expected. What does this suggest for the immediate future? First, the […]

FDIC and Federal Reserve Articles