This morning Trans Union, the big credit bureau, released its quarterly report on mortgage delinquencies, and it was not pretty. Nationwide, 6.25% of all residential mortgages were at least 60 days past due in the third quarter, up from 5.81% in the second quarter and 3.96% a year ago. This was the 11th straight quarter that delinquencies increased. Mortgage delinquencies are the first step in a house eventually going into foreclosure, so look for those to start heading up again. Foreclosures have been held down by trial modifications under the HEMP program, but very few of those have gotten to the stage of being final modifications. And even when mortgages are modified, there is a strong tendency for those people to again find themselves in financial trouble. Clearly people not paying on their mortgages is not good news for the big banks like Bank of America (BAC) ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 17, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Zions Bancorp (ZION), SunTrust Banks (STI) and PNC Financial (PNC).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Bank Failures Rise to 123

The failed banks were -- Century Bank, FSB of Sarasota, Florida with $728 million in assets and $631 million in deposits, Orion Bank of Naples, Florida with about $2.7 billion in assets and $2.1 billion in deposits and Pacific Coast National Bank of

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Regulators shut down 2 banks in Florida and 1 in California; U.S. bank failures reach 123 this year.   U.S. regulators on Friday shuttered two more banks in Florida and one in California. Though there are some early signs of economic recovery, bank failures continue unabated. This takes the total number of bank failures to 123, compared to 25 in 2008 and 3 in 2007.  The weak economy continues to weigh heavily on banks with a stream of loan defaults. As the industry has to tolerate bad loans that were made during the credit explosion, the trouble in the banking system goes even deeper, increasing the possibility of more bank failures. However, the regulators are trying to avoid panic by seizing banks slowly. Also, the slow seizing could be a strategy as it is hard to get buyers for so many failed banks.  The failed banks were ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 10, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: JP Morgan Chase (JPM), U.S. Bancorp (USB), Zions Bancorp (ZION), SunTrust Banks (STI) and PNC Financial (PNC).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Bank Failure Tally Reaches 120

The FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Ameris Bank, Moultrie, Georgia, to assume all of the deposits of United Security Bank; Liberty Bank and Trust Company, New Orleans, Louisiana, to assume all of the deposits of Home Federal Savings Bank;

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Regulators shut down 5 more banks in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and California; tally hits 120 so far this year  U.S. regulators on Friday shuttered five more institutions in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and California , as the recession continues to take its toll on banks. This takes the total number to 120, compared to 25 in 2008 and 3 in 2007.  As the industry has to tolerate bad loans that were made during the credit explosion, the trouble in the banking system goes even deeper, increasing the possibility of more failures. However, the regulators are trying to avoid panic by seizing banks slowly. Also, the slow pace of seizing could be a strategy as it is hard to get buyers for so many failed banks.  The failed banks were -- Georgia-based United Security Bank of Sparta with total assets of $157 million and total deposits ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 3, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: CIT Group Inc. (CIT), Dean Foods (DF), Frontier Communications (FTR), Verizon Communications (VZ) and Time Warner Cable (TWC).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Monday’s AnalystBlog:

CIT Group Files Chapter 11

CIT Group Inc. (CIT) has filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sunday. The company struggled for months to avoid collapse since the recession elicited billions of dollars in loan losses, and the financial crisis made it incapable of funding itself from

...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 3, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: U.S. Bancorp (USB), JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Zions Bancorp (ZION) and SunTrust Banks (STI).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Monday’s AnalystBlog:

Bank Failures Zoom to 115

The nine banks had 153 offices, out of which California National Bank had 68 branches. California National Bank was the biggest of FBOP's banks, the nation's 101st largest with assets of $7.1 billion.

Failure of these institutions represents another impact on the Federal

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Friday October 30, 2009

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Too big to fail, is still heavy in the derivative market, and primed for a gigantic collapse.

Congress needs a chimney sweep to clean the soot from the smoke they’ve been blowing. Our do nothing congress; well we can’t really say do nothing, they did bail out the banks, and they have raised more money for themselves this session from Insurance, health care and bank lobbyists than in any other one year period, and the year isn’t even over. Now they are spreading the word, the gospel of Obama, it’s time to

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 30, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Moody’s (MCO), Microsoft (MSFT), Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE) and ExxonMobil Corporation (XOM).

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Here are highlights from Thursday’s AnalystBlog:

GDP Notes – In Depth

With massive amounts of space sitting idle in offices and empty strip malls littering the landscape, look for new investment in commercial real estate to continue to decline in coming quarters. Moody’s (MCO) has estimated that the value of commercial real estate has plunged by

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Senior strategist Dirk van Dijk, CFA has issued notes on this morning's GDP numbers. These notes will be published in two separate blogs -- Growth Rates and Contributions to Growth. The recession is over! In the third quarter, GDP grew by 3.5%, comfortably ahead of expectations for 3.0% growth. This is a huge improvement over the 0.7% decline in the second quarter and the 6.4% plunge in the first quarter. The internals of the report were strong as well, although it appears that much of the growth came from things like the "Cash for Clunkers" (C4C) program and the extraordinary levels of support that are currently being given to the housing sector. I will first go over the percentage growth rates for the main components of GDP, and then how much each part contributed (or subtracted from the 3.5% growth rate). This is probably the ...