U.S. Shuts Big Bank As Crisis Intensifies

Wall Street Journal ^ | July 11, 2008 | Damian Paletta and David Enrich

[politicket]

IndyMac Bank, a prolific mortgage specialist that helped fuel the housing boom, was seized Friday by federal regulators in one of the largest bank failures in U.S. history.

The Pasadena, Calif., thrift was one of the largest savings and loans in the country with about $32 billion in assets. It now joins an infamous list of collapsed banks, topped by Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co., which failed in 1984 with $40 billion of assets.

IndyMac specialized in Alt-A loans, a type of mortgage that can often be offered to borrowers who don't fully document their incomes or assets. ...

[dragnet2]

We are not to roll over and surrender with a whimper, we are to stand as men and take our country back

How do you plan on doing that? McCain? Thanks to the Fedgov, your becoming outnumbered at voting booth. Armed insurrection?

[politicket]

No, UBS used to be called Union Bank of Switzerland. Just a few hundred miles off course.

Keep reading the rest of the thread...I issued my mea culpa later down... :-)

[dragnet2]

I wish you luck.

[silentreignofheroes]

Here they come,

[Notary Sojac]

“[House] price increases largely reflect strong economic fundamentals, including robust growth in jobs and incomes, low mortgage rates, steady rates of household formation, and factors that limit the expansion of housing supply in some areas.” — Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Oct. 20, 2005

“[The housing downturn] looks to be a very orderly and moderate kind of cooling.” — Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, May 18, 2006

“All the signs I look at [show] the housing market is at or near the bottom.” — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, April 20, 2007

“I don’t see [subprime mortgage market troubles] imposing a serious problem. I think it’s going to be largely contained.” — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, April 20, 2007

“Given the fundamental factors in place that should support the demand for housing, we believe the effect of the troubles in the subprime sector on the broader housing market will likely be limited.” — Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, May 17, 2007

[rbmillerjr]

“my family went to cash last December”

I did it too, my discretionary investment money went mostly short and my 401k all went to cash right around 14,000 on the Dow. When I did it, everybody called me a fool. Broker friends advised me to “buy and hold” lol.

I picked a few quality stocks and a high flyer to trade a little up and down, but my shorts have been doing the best and my cash in the 401 lets me sleep at night.

[PAR35]

That is good advice for banks, but it doesn't apply to 401K accounts where most individuals have stashed their retirement income.

Qualified retirement accounts are insured up to $250K. If you have more than that in cash, you need more than one bank - or better yet, set up a treasury ladder.

[FlyVet]

Thanks, I’m bookmarking that. I’ve had a book on my shelf from Reader’s Digest called “Back to Basics” for over 20 years. It’s probably time to get it out and read it again....a maybe consider moving to the country. :)

[BnBlFlag]

“The banks weren't forced to lend to anybody”.
Oh, but they were. Have you ever heard of the “Community Reinvestment act”? If you only lend to excellent credit risks, you would end up with a strong loan portfolio but that would largely exclude minorities who typically have poor credit. That is unacceptable to the Congress and the bureaucrats. Banks were basically forced to lend to these poor risks to show that they were not “discriminating”. Upon threat of a “visit” by the Justice Dept.

[Lonely Are The Brave]

May God bless women like you...

I’d let women like you run this country any day...

[politicket]

Too many girly-men here, the real men are still in Iraq and Afghanistan it appears...

Preach it brother! We men need to put away our computer games and televised sporting events and start leading our families in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

[happygrl]

The situation is far more dangerous to Americans than the most of them realize.

I'm afraid that printing the money to bail out all these capitalists will cause a collapse of the dollar, and no one will want to buy our bonds. Is that possible, or am I just an ignorant housewife ?

[HereInTheHeartland]

“I wish you luck.”

Luck with what?
I don’t work for Wall Street.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

The libs told the banks that if you they didn’t loan money to sub-prime borrowers, the majority of whom were minorities, then they were “racist”. So the forced them to loan the money to people who couldn’t pay it back. And that’s where we are...

Yes, absolutely. Every self-made crises we currently have -- energy, immigration, terrorism -- can be traced directly back to failed liberal policies. Liberals are far too ignorant and naive to be left in charge of anything important.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Wasn’t there a story just a few weeks ago about a woman who spoke no English and didn’t have a job receiving a $1 MILLION loan?

[An Old Man]

"Too many girly-men here, the real men are still in Iraq and Afghanistan it appears..."

There are still a few good men left to participate when the time comes.

Semper Fi
An Old Man

[dragnet2]

Yes, absolutely. Every self-made crises we currently have -- energy, immigration, terrorism -- can be traced directly back to failed liberal policies

So who's the candidate with the conservative wining policies Tom?

[Perdogg]

UBS is a Swiss bank.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

what about mutual funds?

Yeesh, I feel like such a dummy not understanding a lot of this...and I thought I was savy.

[happygrl]

I see you answered my question in this post.

I think we are about to enter some territory that the post-war generation is not familiar with.