November 18, 2009
By Gary Grimes
Please understand that this article is about more than safeguarding your money; it’s about saving you headache and heartache. It’s about giving you peace of mind.

Before I explain, please allow me to ask a few questions:

Have you given much thought about the money in your banking accounts lately? Do you know if it’s safe?
Have you thought about what might happen if your bank fails?
Did you know you could be left in the lurch for days, weeks, even months before you get your money back from the FDIC?
What happens if the FDIC can’t cover your funds?
How do you find a safe bank to protect your deposits right now?

I hope you’ve given these questions some serious thought.

I have to be honest: These questions were about the farthest things from my mind until about a year ago, when …

StanCorp Financial Group Inc.’s (SFG) third quarter earnings of $1.21 per share were just a penny ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.20 per share. The company had earned $1.46 per share in the year-ago quarter. High unemployment rate and rising joblessness continue to impact the company’s earnings. Quarterly results reflect higher-than-expected claims activity and reduced premiums in the group insurance business. However, the company benefited from the expense reduction initiatives. Insurance Services segment reported income before income taxes of $84.3 million compared to $103.4 million in the year-ago quarter. The decrease was driven by unfavorable claims experience and a drop in premiums in the group insurance business, partially offset by comparatively favorable claims experience in the individual disability insurance business. Results for this segment were also hurt by a 50 basis point reduction in the discount rate to 4.75% for the newly established disability ...

Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. reported a net loss of $7,000, or $0.01 per share, in its third quarter ending 9/30/2009. The company earned $1 million, or $0.16 per share, in the same quarter last year.

Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. attributed the loss to a $1.3 million increase in the provision for loan losses, and a $0.4 million other-than-temporary impairment charge on part of its securities holdings. The bank also saw a slight increase in insurance premiums payable to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc had total assets of $808 million and deposits of $567 million at the end of the third quarter. Both these metrics showed strong growth on a year over year and sequential basis.

“We have conservatively managed the Company over the past several years which has put us in a position to take advantage of opportunities presenting themselves in the

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Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., the New York unit of Germany's Deutsche Bank AG (DB), has a $42 million unsecured claim against mortgage lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. Taylor Bean filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on August 24 as it was forced to shut its mortgage lending operations on August 5. The filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court listed the claim as disputed and ranked it as the largest unsecured claim against Taylor Bean. Taylor Bean said the claim was related to Ocala Funding, an entity set up by Taylor Bean to borrow money for short periods to fund home loans. The filing also listed a $9 million claim from James G. Hicks of Lawrenceville related to money owed for the acquisition of a mortgage company made by Taylor Bean. The company said approximately 100 Taylor Bean bank accounts were frozen by Colonial ...

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Friday August 7, 2009

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Ark Restaurants Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKR) today reported financial results for the third quarter and nine month periods ended June 27, 2009. Total revenues from continuing operations for the three month period ended June 27, 2009 were $31.1 million versus $36 million in the same period last year. Total revenues from continuing operations for the nine month period ended June 27, 2009 were $81.7 million versus $90.8 million in the same period last year.

Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today announced a summer promotional $59 one-way fare for US Helicopter service between its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and Manhattan.

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Friday July 24, 2009

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Bankrate, Inc. (Nasdaq: RATE) announced today that it plans to hold a conference call on July 30, 2009 at 11:00 A.M. Eastern time to discuss the company’s second quarter 2009 financial results. The call will be led by Bankrate’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas R. Evans. Also participating in the call will be Edward J. DiMaria, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. A press release on the results for the quarter will be issued before the market opens on July 30th.

Iowa First Bancshares Corp. (OTCBB: IOFB) today reported net income of $650,000 for the quarter ended June

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While most of the attention yesterday was focused on Ben Bernanke's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee (not much new came out in that one, Ben says the recovery will be anemic, inflation will not be a problem and the Fed has a plan to drain the liquidity before it causes problems), the same committee held another hearing in the afternoon focused on the reform of the financial regulatory structure. Among the witnesses were Alice Rivlin, the former #2 at the Fed in the 1990's, Mark Zandi of Moody's Economics and Simon Johnson, the former chief economist at the IMF. Among the key points that came out of it were that there were 2 basic approaches to preventing the need for future bailouts. One focused on better regulation particularly of those who are too big to fail, and the other is to make sure that institutions don't ...

Loews Corp. (L), a Zacks #5 Rank ("Strong Sell") stock, announced a first-quarter loss of $1.49 per share today, compared to the reduced consensus estimate for a 75-cent profit.

Total revenues slipped 16% to $3.02 billion, primarily due to an 8% decline in insurance premiums coupled with higher investment losses suffered by subsidiary CNA Financial Corp. (CNA).

The decline in Loews' revenue was partially offset by an 11% year-over-year growth in contract drilling revenues reported by another subsidiary, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO).

The full-year consensus estimate has moved lower by 64 cents over the past 60 days to $4.19 per share.

L is up about 5% today on volume of approximately 1.8 million, compared to average volume of about 3.6 million.

"L" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

Highlights include Citigroup Inc. (C) or Bank of America Corp. (BAC).Will the PPIP Bankrupt the FDIC?This morning's New York Times has a very interesting article on the role the FDIC will play in the Public-Private Investment Plan, Tresury Secretary Geithner's new and improved version of the original TARP "Cash for Trash" plan. For a discussion of the over all outline of the plan and how it will work/not work go here and here.The Times article focuses on one element of the plan, which is the FDIC's guaranteeing of the non-recourse loans to the public private partnerships. The first question that springs to mind is: Why the FDIC? The simple answer is that it is an end-run around Congress. This is, however, not what the FDIC was set up to do. It was set up to ...

Inflation threats are right around the corner. Eric Fry of the Rude Awakening examines 6 ETFs and how to prepare for the “near-certain arrival of inflation.” He says now is the time to be wary of price increases and these ETFs act as an “insurance policy” to hedge against them.

This from Eric:

The flaming embers of inflation have already landed atop the thatched roof of American finance. And yet, investors can still buy inflation insurance on the cheap. In the next 1,373 words, we’ll examine a few of these “insurance policies”to assess their virtues and drawbacks.

Since a powerful new inflationary trend is very likely to occur, the prudent investor should probably take steps to guard against it. “But wait a second!” some readers be saying. “What if a powerful deflationary trend occurs first?”

Good question. It might. But we’d begin preparing for inflation anyway. Why not prepare

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