Click on title above to read how the Big Bank$ters are stalling on implementing the loan modification process and why;
http://loanmodificationexplosion.com/2010/01/winning-the-trial-losing-your-house/
Sunday, January 10, 2010
"Winning" the trial, losing your home
Click on title above to read how the Big Bank$ters are stalling on implementing the loan modification process and why;
http://loanmodificationexplosion.com/2010/01/winning-the-trial-losing-your-house/
Banks at risk in Minnesota from housing crisis
StarTribune.com
Banks at risk in Minnesota from housing crisis
Experts fear more bank failures in 2010 with the commercial real estate meltdown finally hitting home for many Minnesota banks.
By CHRIS SERRES, Star Tribune
Last update: January 10, 2010 - 7:30 AM
Warren Smith, chief financial officer of 1st American State Bank of Minnesota in Hancock, Minn., sounded exasperated as he rattled off a long list of loans for commercial real estate projects that threaten to sink his bank.
There was "Gold Mountain," a planned community of million-dollar homes just north of Phoenix that never got off the ground because it lacked a reliable water source; three condominium projects in and near Miami now in default; and a troubled condo and retail development, called "Founders Circle," in Apple Valley.
For tiny 1st American, a bank with about $18 million in assets four hours west of the Twin Cities, losses on these and about 20 other syndicated commercial real estate loans -- loans that are sliced up among multiple lenders -- have wiped out nearly all its capital. "We're trying everything imaginable to get out of these deals without taking a loss," Smith said. "But increasingly, that's just not possible."
Nearly two years after the economic crisis began, losses on commercial real estate remain the biggest threat to the financial health of Minnesota's community banks. Projects that were launched during the final years of the real estate boom are now hobbled with huge amounts of unoccupied space. Developers and deal makers that took out loans to buy or build these properties are no longer able to service their debt payments.
From unfinished housing projects in the far northern suburbs to emptying office parks in Edina, developers are walking away from their debts -- forcing banks to take large write-downs. Last week, for instance, a commercial broker began marketing 186 acres of raw land in Ramsey, intended for 600 houses, that was taken over by a Wisconsin bank. And later this month, a 200,000-square-foot portion of the Twin Cities' first suburban office park -- Pentagon Park in Edina -- will be sold at a foreclosure auction after its owners defaulted this summer on an $18.5 million mortgage.
Experts predict that rising losses on commercial real estate projects could topple up to a dozen of Minnesota's community banks this year, on top of the six banks that failed last year. The Minnesota Department of Commerce, which regulates banks and credit unions in Minnesota, estimates that its "watch list" of banks that are at greater risk of failure has reached 90 institutions, up from 50 a year ago and a mere 26 in June 2007.
"The banking industry, in general, has been waiting for commercial real estate to be the next shoe to drop," said Dennie Emmans, executive director of the Bank Holding Company Association, a trade association of about 250 bank holding companies in the Upper Midwest. "Well, now the shoe is dropping, and it's dropping pretty hard."
The delinquency rate on commercial real estate loans made by Minnesota banks has nearly doubled over the past two years. As of the third quarter, 6.3 percent of these loans were more than 30 days past due, up from 3.1 percent two years ago, according to Foresight Analytics, a California research firm.
Unlike the plunge in housing prices, which rippled through the financial sector immediately, the crisis in commercial real estate has taken longer to unfold. One reason, say experts, is that banks have built-in mechanisms in their lending agreements with developers that give them more flexibility in case of default. Many banks require borrowers to dip into reserve accounts when they fall behind on payments.
But if high vacancies persist for more than a year, as they have in the Twin Cities, the cash ultimately runs out. Landlords are often unable to afford both the debt payment and the cost of taxes, insurance and upkeep on vacant properties. Banks then have to order new appraisals, and add more to their reserves if the property has declined in value.
As a result of this long process, it can take a year or longer for a bad loan to actually appear as a loss on a bank's balance sheet, said Robert Viering, a bank consultant from Monticello. "Bankers, for the most part, are an optimistic bunch, and they're going to wait until they're absolutely certain that loan won't perform until they write it down," he said.
The woes in the commercial real estate sector are showing no signs of abating, and all sectors -- office, retail and industrial -- are struggling. Yet, bankers say they have been hit particularly hard by rising vacancy rates in strip centers. The retail vacancy rate for the metro area hit 10.1 percent last year -- the highest level since NorthMarq, a commercial real estate company based in Bloomington, began tracking the data more than a decade ago.
Many banks, fearing a surge in defaults, have taken a proactive approach, and have been scrubbing their loan portfolios of delinquent loans before the losses become more severe.
Dan Klein, chairman of KleinBank in Chaska, said his bank conducted a "top-to-bottom" review of its loan portfolio, reviewing every loan over a certain dollar amount. In some cases where a borrower may have been "underwater" -- that is, the property was worth less than the loan amount -- the bank set aside additional money to cover potential losses. The result was that KleinBank ended the year with a small loss, but the bank will be better insulated against future losses, Klein said.
As for Smith, the CFO at 1st American in Hancock, the struggle to recover money from failed commercial real estate projects has become a full-time job. Smith said he spends "100 percent" of his time trying to sort out loans that have gone bad, leaving him no time for developing new business.
"I've got so much going on that it's hard to keep track," he said. "It's just a matter of coming to work and hoping that I can get through it."
Chris Serres • 612-673-4308
Click on title above for original article
Banks at risk in Minnesota from housing crisis
Experts fear more bank failures in 2010 with the commercial real estate meltdown finally hitting home for many Minnesota banks.
By CHRIS SERRES, Star Tribune
Last update: January 10, 2010 - 7:30 AM
Warren Smith, chief financial officer of 1st American State Bank of Minnesota in Hancock, Minn., sounded exasperated as he rattled off a long list of loans for commercial real estate projects that threaten to sink his bank.
There was "Gold Mountain," a planned community of million-dollar homes just north of Phoenix that never got off the ground because it lacked a reliable water source; three condominium projects in and near Miami now in default; and a troubled condo and retail development, called "Founders Circle," in Apple Valley.
For tiny 1st American, a bank with about $18 million in assets four hours west of the Twin Cities, losses on these and about 20 other syndicated commercial real estate loans -- loans that are sliced up among multiple lenders -- have wiped out nearly all its capital. "We're trying everything imaginable to get out of these deals without taking a loss," Smith said. "But increasingly, that's just not possible."
Nearly two years after the economic crisis began, losses on commercial real estate remain the biggest threat to the financial health of Minnesota's community banks. Projects that were launched during the final years of the real estate boom are now hobbled with huge amounts of unoccupied space. Developers and deal makers that took out loans to buy or build these properties are no longer able to service their debt payments.
From unfinished housing projects in the far northern suburbs to emptying office parks in Edina, developers are walking away from their debts -- forcing banks to take large write-downs. Last week, for instance, a commercial broker began marketing 186 acres of raw land in Ramsey, intended for 600 houses, that was taken over by a Wisconsin bank. And later this month, a 200,000-square-foot portion of the Twin Cities' first suburban office park -- Pentagon Park in Edina -- will be sold at a foreclosure auction after its owners defaulted this summer on an $18.5 million mortgage.
Experts predict that rising losses on commercial real estate projects could topple up to a dozen of Minnesota's community banks this year, on top of the six banks that failed last year. The Minnesota Department of Commerce, which regulates banks and credit unions in Minnesota, estimates that its "watch list" of banks that are at greater risk of failure has reached 90 institutions, up from 50 a year ago and a mere 26 in June 2007.
"The banking industry, in general, has been waiting for commercial real estate to be the next shoe to drop," said Dennie Emmans, executive director of the Bank Holding Company Association, a trade association of about 250 bank holding companies in the Upper Midwest. "Well, now the shoe is dropping, and it's dropping pretty hard."
The delinquency rate on commercial real estate loans made by Minnesota banks has nearly doubled over the past two years. As of the third quarter, 6.3 percent of these loans were more than 30 days past due, up from 3.1 percent two years ago, according to Foresight Analytics, a California research firm.
Unlike the plunge in housing prices, which rippled through the financial sector immediately, the crisis in commercial real estate has taken longer to unfold. One reason, say experts, is that banks have built-in mechanisms in their lending agreements with developers that give them more flexibility in case of default. Many banks require borrowers to dip into reserve accounts when they fall behind on payments.
But if high vacancies persist for more than a year, as they have in the Twin Cities, the cash ultimately runs out. Landlords are often unable to afford both the debt payment and the cost of taxes, insurance and upkeep on vacant properties. Banks then have to order new appraisals, and add more to their reserves if the property has declined in value.
As a result of this long process, it can take a year or longer for a bad loan to actually appear as a loss on a bank's balance sheet, said Robert Viering, a bank consultant from Monticello. "Bankers, for the most part, are an optimistic bunch, and they're going to wait until they're absolutely certain that loan won't perform until they write it down," he said.
The woes in the commercial real estate sector are showing no signs of abating, and all sectors -- office, retail and industrial -- are struggling. Yet, bankers say they have been hit particularly hard by rising vacancy rates in strip centers. The retail vacancy rate for the metro area hit 10.1 percent last year -- the highest level since NorthMarq, a commercial real estate company based in Bloomington, began tracking the data more than a decade ago.
Many banks, fearing a surge in defaults, have taken a proactive approach, and have been scrubbing their loan portfolios of delinquent loans before the losses become more severe.
Dan Klein, chairman of KleinBank in Chaska, said his bank conducted a "top-to-bottom" review of its loan portfolio, reviewing every loan over a certain dollar amount. In some cases where a borrower may have been "underwater" -- that is, the property was worth less than the loan amount -- the bank set aside additional money to cover potential losses. The result was that KleinBank ended the year with a small loss, but the bank will be better insulated against future losses, Klein said.
As for Smith, the CFO at 1st American in Hancock, the struggle to recover money from failed commercial real estate projects has become a full-time job. Smith said he spends "100 percent" of his time trying to sort out loans that have gone bad, leaving him no time for developing new business.
"I've got so much going on that it's hard to keep track," he said. "It's just a matter of coming to work and hoping that I can get through it."
Chris Serres • 612-673-4308
Click on title above for original article
Thursday, January 7, 2010
U.S. T Notes Take a Dive in Sovereign Markets / WORST Preformer of All
Click on title and see report, and ya had better fasten yer seat belts. I think we are in for a very long, hard and bumpy ride - and sooner than we think. Best to stock up on canned goods and batteries and other survival stuff while you still can. I read somewhere that our USDA is going give our grocery overstock to 3rd world countries as (another) favor to BigAg. The idea is to create more of a demand for their products so the prices will go up. You can read more about that here;
http://exposingfdanusda.blogspot.com/2009/12/fw-win-lose-proposition-for-farmers-and.html
Click on title above to go to original "T Note Nose Dive" article;
http://www.openyoureyesnews.com/2010/01/08/u-s-treasuries-post-worst-performance-among-sovereign-markets/
http://exposingfdanusda.blogspot.com/2009/12/fw-win-lose-proposition-for-farmers-and.html
Click on title above to go to original "T Note Nose Dive" article;
http://www.openyoureyesnews.com/2010/01/08/u-s-treasuries-post-worst-performance-among-sovereign-markets/
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
GOP Makes Deal w/Banksters to Thwart Regulatory Reform
In a little-noticed but potentially explosive remark last Friday, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) accused Republican leadership of signing a political pact withthe banking industry: in exchange for help defeating a measure that would makeit easier for homeowners to restructure failing mortgages, GOP leadership in the Senate would help banks defeat any additional efforts at regulatory reform.The allegation of a quid pro quo was based on an email that Durbin received last spring after his amendment to allow judges to modify mortgages for homeowners who enter bankruptcy was defeated on the Senate floor. During a discussion to promote publicly-financed elections on Friday, the Illinois Democrat relayed that, shortly after the defeat of his "cram-down" amendment, a "banker friend"forwarded him the note from Tanya Wheeless, president & CEO of Arizona BankersAssociation."I have contacted the market presidents for each of the three banks (Chase,Wells and Bank of America) and explained that in my humble opinion it's a big mistake to cut a deal with Durbin and alienate our (in Arizona) Senator,"Wheeless's email reads. "I also told them that I thought this would drive awedge in our industry. [Senator Jon] Kyl has pointedly told them not to make a deal with Durbin and then come looking to Republicans when they need help on something like regulatory restructuring or systemic risk regulation.""I know the (sic) every state association will have to do what's best for its members, but I have told my largest three members that if they cut this deal,AzBA will fight them on it. They may be willing to alienate Republican leadership, but I'm not quite there yet."The email, (pasted into the original article and accessable in the link below), was passed to the Huffington Post by Durbin's office.The implication seems fairly clear: banks were being warned that if they negotiated with Durbin on cram-down, they were risking GOP support on regulatory reform. That the banking industry would take such a stance isn't entirely surprising, when one considers the narrow financial interests that influence theindustry. But the willingness of the GOP leadership to, apparently, use regulatory reform as a cudgel to pressure banks is illuminating of the horse-trading process that occurs behind the legislative curtains.At the very least, it shows just how stacked the deck is against passing consumer-oriented reforms. In the end, cram-down was defeated not once but twice on the Senate floor.Durbin said on Friday that, back then "I talked about the fact that when it comes to the banking lobby, they own the place. It might have been an overstatement. But not by much. One of the people I ran into afterwards said[the statement] was like a bolt of lightening in a swimming pool. It just woke everybody up that something is going on, on Capitol Hill."The email, he added, "is a total smoking gun as far as I'm concerned. It tells the whole story and it is in writing as to what is happening behind the scenes... So when people say I don't know if we should have public financing because that is my tax dollars, I can tell them that their resources, whether tax dollars or personal wealth, are being impacted every day by decisions being made by the special interest groups."
Click here to go to original article and for readable copy of Durbins email;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/08/durbin-banks-and-gop-made_n_383872.html
Click here to go to original article and for readable copy of Durbins email;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/08/durbin-banks-and-gop-made_n_383872.html
Sunday, November 8, 2009
More Small Town Banks Bought Out by The Big Ones
More Big Banks Sucking Up / Absorbing the Small
November 6, 2009
AMCORE Bank's Monroe and Argyle Branches Sold to First National Bank and Trust
GlobeNewswire
ROCKFORD, Ill., Nov 6, 2009 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) - AMCORE Bank, N.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMCORE Financial, Inc. (AMFI), today announced that it has completed the sale of its branches in the Wisconsin communities of Monroe and Argyle to First National Bank and Trust Company of Beloit, WI. The sale included approximately $70 million in loans, $135 million in deposits and sweep accounts, and up to $45 million in related trust accounts. The 401(k) plan business was not part of the sale and remains with AMCORE. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
In making the announcement, AMCORE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William McManaman said: "The sale of these branches is another step in AMCORE's strategic efforts to raise capital as we continue to focus on serving our core markets. We are pleased that First National Bank and Trust Company has a strong community banking philosophy and we believe it will continue to serve customers with the high quality service that AMCORE proudly provided."
Steven M. Eldred, President and Chief Executive Officer of First National Bank and Trust, expressed his optimism for the potential new opportunities made possible by the acquisition. "For more than 127 years we've provided great service and sound financial advice to the Stateline. Our goal is simple; to help our customers succeed financially. In doing this we build a brighter future for our employees, customers and the communities we serve. We are proud to bring our brand of community banking to Monroe and Argyle."
ABOUT First National
First National Bank and Trust Company, headquartered in Beloit, WI, operates 11 banking locations in Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. The bank has total assets of $631 million and offers full service banking to its customers, including consumer mortgage services, trust, brokerage and retirement services. Additional information about First National Bank and Trust Company is available on the company's website at www.bankatfirstnational.com.
ABOUT AMCORE
AMCORE Financial, Inc. is headquartered in Northern Illinois and has banking assets of $4.4 billion with 69 locations in Illinois and Wisconsin, (excluding Argyle and Monroe). AMCORE provides a full range of consumer and commercial banking services, a variety of mortgage lending products and wealth management services including trust, brokerage, private banking, financial planning, investment management, insurance and comprehensive retirement plan services.
AMCORE common stock is listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol "AMFI." Further information about AMCORE Financial, Inc. can be found at the Company's website at www.AMCORE.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains, and our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and written or oral statements made by the Company's officers and directors to the press, potential investors, securities analysts and others will contain, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934, and the Company intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby with respect to, among other things, the financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business of AMCORE. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based upon beliefs and assumptions of AMCORE's management and on information currently available to such management. The use of the words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "should", "may", "will" or similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and AMCORE undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.
Contemplated, projected, forecasted or estimated results in such forward-looking statements involve certain inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors - many of which are beyond the ability of the Company to control or predict - could cause actual results to differ materially from those in its forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, the following possibilities: (I) heightened competition, including specifically the intensification of price competition, the entry of new competitors and the formation of new products by new or existing competitors; (II) adverse state, local and federal legislation and regulation or adverse findings or rulings made by local, state or federal regulators or agencies regarding AMCORE and its operations; (III) failure to obtain new customers and retain existing customers and related deposit relationships; (IV) inability to carry out marketing and/or expansion plans; (V) ability to attract and retain key executives or personnel; (VI) changes in interest rates including the effect of prepayments; (VII) general economic and business conditions which are less favorable than expected; (VIII) equity and fixed income market fluctuations; (IX) unanticipated changes in industry trends; (X) unanticipated changes in credit quality and risk factors; (XI) success in gaining regulatory approvals when required; (XII) changes in Federal Reserve Board monetary policies; (XIII) unexpected outcomes on existing or new litigation in which AMCORE, its subsidiaries, officers, directors or employees are named defendants; (XIV) technological changes; (XV) changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; (XVI) changes in assumptions or conditions affecting the application of "critical accounting estimates"; (XVII) inability of third-party vendors to perform critical services for the Company or its customers; (XVIII) disruption of operations caused by the conversion and installation of data processing systems; (XIX) adverse economic or business conditions affecting specific loan portfolio types in which the Company has a concentration, such as construction and land development loans; (XX) zoning restrictions or other limitations at the local level, which could prevent limited branch offices from transitioning to full-service facilities; (XXI) possible changes in the creditworthiness of customers and value of collateral and the possible impairment of collectibility of loans; (XXII) changes in lending terms to the Company and the Bank by the Federal Reserve, Federal Home Loan Bank, or any other regulatory agency or third party; (XXIII) the recently enacted Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and the various programs the U.S. Treasury and the banking regulators are implementing to address capital and liquidity issues in the banking system, all of which may have significant effects on the Company and the financial services industry, the exact nature and extent of which cannot be determined at this time; and (XXIV) failure by the company to comply with the provisions of any regulatory order or agreement to which the Company is subject could result in additional and material enforcement actions by the applicable regulatory agencies.
This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com
SOURCE: AMCORE Financial, Inc.
CONTACT: AMCORE Financial, Inc.
Media Inquiries:
Katherine Taylor
815-961-7164
First National Bank and Trust
Media Inquiries:
Laura Pomerene
608-363-8048
http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewContent.act?clipid=395839215&mode=cnc&tag=3.8218%3Ficx_id%3DNewsfeed103811471
November 6, 2009
AMCORE Bank's Monroe and Argyle Branches Sold to First National Bank and Trust
GlobeNewswire
ROCKFORD, Ill., Nov 6, 2009 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) - AMCORE Bank, N.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMCORE Financial, Inc. (AMFI), today announced that it has completed the sale of its branches in the Wisconsin communities of Monroe and Argyle to First National Bank and Trust Company of Beloit, WI. The sale included approximately $70 million in loans, $135 million in deposits and sweep accounts, and up to $45 million in related trust accounts. The 401(k) plan business was not part of the sale and remains with AMCORE. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
In making the announcement, AMCORE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William McManaman said: "The sale of these branches is another step in AMCORE's strategic efforts to raise capital as we continue to focus on serving our core markets. We are pleased that First National Bank and Trust Company has a strong community banking philosophy and we believe it will continue to serve customers with the high quality service that AMCORE proudly provided."
Steven M. Eldred, President and Chief Executive Officer of First National Bank and Trust, expressed his optimism for the potential new opportunities made possible by the acquisition. "For more than 127 years we've provided great service and sound financial advice to the Stateline. Our goal is simple; to help our customers succeed financially. In doing this we build a brighter future for our employees, customers and the communities we serve. We are proud to bring our brand of community banking to Monroe and Argyle."
ABOUT First National
First National Bank and Trust Company, headquartered in Beloit, WI, operates 11 banking locations in Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. The bank has total assets of $631 million and offers full service banking to its customers, including consumer mortgage services, trust, brokerage and retirement services. Additional information about First National Bank and Trust Company is available on the company's website at www.bankatfirstnational.com.
ABOUT AMCORE
AMCORE Financial, Inc. is headquartered in Northern Illinois and has banking assets of $4.4 billion with 69 locations in Illinois and Wisconsin, (excluding Argyle and Monroe). AMCORE provides a full range of consumer and commercial banking services, a variety of mortgage lending products and wealth management services including trust, brokerage, private banking, financial planning, investment management, insurance and comprehensive retirement plan services.
AMCORE common stock is listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol "AMFI." Further information about AMCORE Financial, Inc. can be found at the Company's website at www.AMCORE.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains, and our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and written or oral statements made by the Company's officers and directors to the press, potential investors, securities analysts and others will contain, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934, and the Company intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby with respect to, among other things, the financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business of AMCORE. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based upon beliefs and assumptions of AMCORE's management and on information currently available to such management. The use of the words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "should", "may", "will" or similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and AMCORE undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.
Contemplated, projected, forecasted or estimated results in such forward-looking statements involve certain inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors - many of which are beyond the ability of the Company to control or predict - could cause actual results to differ materially from those in its forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, the following possibilities: (I) heightened competition, including specifically the intensification of price competition, the entry of new competitors and the formation of new products by new or existing competitors; (II) adverse state, local and federal legislation and regulation or adverse findings or rulings made by local, state or federal regulators or agencies regarding AMCORE and its operations; (III) failure to obtain new customers and retain existing customers and related deposit relationships; (IV) inability to carry out marketing and/or expansion plans; (V) ability to attract and retain key executives or personnel; (VI) changes in interest rates including the effect of prepayments; (VII) general economic and business conditions which are less favorable than expected; (VIII) equity and fixed income market fluctuations; (IX) unanticipated changes in industry trends; (X) unanticipated changes in credit quality and risk factors; (XI) success in gaining regulatory approvals when required; (XII) changes in Federal Reserve Board monetary policies; (XIII) unexpected outcomes on existing or new litigation in which AMCORE, its subsidiaries, officers, directors or employees are named defendants; (XIV) technological changes; (XV) changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; (XVI) changes in assumptions or conditions affecting the application of "critical accounting estimates"; (XVII) inability of third-party vendors to perform critical services for the Company or its customers; (XVIII) disruption of operations caused by the conversion and installation of data processing systems; (XIX) adverse economic or business conditions affecting specific loan portfolio types in which the Company has a concentration, such as construction and land development loans; (XX) zoning restrictions or other limitations at the local level, which could prevent limited branch offices from transitioning to full-service facilities; (XXI) possible changes in the creditworthiness of customers and value of collateral and the possible impairment of collectibility of loans; (XXII) changes in lending terms to the Company and the Bank by the Federal Reserve, Federal Home Loan Bank, or any other regulatory agency or third party; (XXIII) the recently enacted Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and the various programs the U.S. Treasury and the banking regulators are implementing to address capital and liquidity issues in the banking system, all of which may have significant effects on the Company and the financial services industry, the exact nature and extent of which cannot be determined at this time; and (XXIV) failure by the company to comply with the provisions of any regulatory order or agreement to which the Company is subject could result in additional and material enforcement actions by the applicable regulatory agencies.
This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com
SOURCE: AMCORE Financial, Inc.
CONTACT: AMCORE Financial, Inc.
Media Inquiries:
Katherine Taylor
815-961-7164
First National Bank and Trust
Media Inquiries:
Laura Pomerene
608-363-8048
http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewContent.act?clipid=395839215&mode=cnc&tag=3.8218%3Ficx_id%3DNewsfeed103811471
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Vaccines for the rich! Wall Street gets H1N1 vaccine bailout while school children told to wait
Friday, November 06, 2009 by: Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
(NaturalNews) It seems the financial bailout isn't the only bailout happening on Wall Street these days. News has now leaked that investment firms Goldman Sachs and Citigroup both received preferential H1N1 swine flu vaccines even while local clinics that treat school children had no supply. The uproar is reminding the public just how much special treatment Wall Street banks get -- both financially and medically -- while everyday people are hung out to dry.
Not only that, but taxpayers got to foot the bill for those H1N1 vaccines handed to Wall Street insiders. It's yet one more way in which the general public is being screwed over (yet again) by the swine flu vaccine agenda.
There's one politically incorrect question in all this that's just begging to be asked, and let's assume for the moment that H1N1 vaccines actually work to save lives even though they don't: If a dangerous viral pandemic sweeps through the nation, killing people left and right, are Wall Street investment bankers really the people we want to save first?
Seriously. Doesn't it seem that school children should get the medicine first and Wall Street insiders should get it last?
The CDC claims that the vaccines sent to these Wall Street companies should have only been given to "high-risk people" who worked there. Sure they were, because we all know that Wall Street companies adhere to the highest standards of ethics, morality and civic responsibility. These people are shining examples of glorious human beings who always do the right thing, even if it requires giving up something for the benefit of someone else, right? And if they were on a sinking Titanic, they'd give up the life boats to the poor women and children, right?
But the real story here isn't that H1N1 vaccines are now being preferentially given to the rich instead of the school children. The real story is that people are panicking to get their hands on a complete joke of a vaccine -- a chemical cocktail that has never been subjected to even a single scientific test proving it actually works. People are lining up, in other words, to attain supply of something that's totally useless.
The crumbling social fabric of America
At the same time, this fabricated emergency reveals to us the complete lack of ethics in the distribution of these vaccines to the Wall Street rich, even while everyday poor people stand in line waiting for their turn.
It's yet another powerful commentary on the crumbling social fabric of America -- a nation that puts its morally bankrupt money slingers as a higher priority than everyone else. It's the Wall Streeters who get the trillion-dollar bailouts that the rest of us must someday pay out of our pockets. It's the Wall Streeters who get preferential treatment by Washington. And it's the Wall Streeters who are now getting the medicine that should be going to our children.
Of course, the medicine itself is a joke, too, but that's beside the point: These people THINK the vaccines are valuable, so their decisions on where to send them first reveal their true intentions.
There's a huge moral lesson in all this, by the way: Even those who get the H1N1 vaccine receive no benefit from it. People whose immune systems adaptively respond to the vaccine by building antibodies are the very people who could have done the same thing automatically in response to influenza exposure. Meanwhile, those with suppressed immune systems that are vulnerable to H1N1 have no ability to adaptively produce H1N1 antibodies anyway. In other words, even if you believe the H1N1 vaccine actually works, it only works on the people who don't need it!
This is the ultimate comedy. People are desperately fighting over a chemical injection that will help no one. And the only reason they're so desperate about it is because the hysteria has been entirely fabricated precisely to create irrational demand (http://www.naturalnews.com/027404_h...).
Maybe we should send all the vaccines to Wall Street anyway. Let everybody else stand outside, waiting in lines and soaking up a little sunshine so that their bodies create the only thing that will really save them from influenza in the first place: Vitamin D.
Or better yet, We the People should charge Wall Street for these vaccines we paid for. And the price? One trillion dollars.
Sources for this story include:
WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125...
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy... Buzz up!8 votes
http://www.naturalnews.com/027415_Wall_Street_vaccines_H1N1.html
(NaturalNews) It seems the financial bailout isn't the only bailout happening on Wall Street these days. News has now leaked that investment firms Goldman Sachs and Citigroup both received preferential H1N1 swine flu vaccines even while local clinics that treat school children had no supply. The uproar is reminding the public just how much special treatment Wall Street banks get -- both financially and medically -- while everyday people are hung out to dry.
Not only that, but taxpayers got to foot the bill for those H1N1 vaccines handed to Wall Street insiders. It's yet one more way in which the general public is being screwed over (yet again) by the swine flu vaccine agenda.
There's one politically incorrect question in all this that's just begging to be asked, and let's assume for the moment that H1N1 vaccines actually work to save lives even though they don't: If a dangerous viral pandemic sweeps through the nation, killing people left and right, are Wall Street investment bankers really the people we want to save first?
Seriously. Doesn't it seem that school children should get the medicine first and Wall Street insiders should get it last?
The CDC claims that the vaccines sent to these Wall Street companies should have only been given to "high-risk people" who worked there. Sure they were, because we all know that Wall Street companies adhere to the highest standards of ethics, morality and civic responsibility. These people are shining examples of glorious human beings who always do the right thing, even if it requires giving up something for the benefit of someone else, right? And if they were on a sinking Titanic, they'd give up the life boats to the poor women and children, right?
But the real story here isn't that H1N1 vaccines are now being preferentially given to the rich instead of the school children. The real story is that people are panicking to get their hands on a complete joke of a vaccine -- a chemical cocktail that has never been subjected to even a single scientific test proving it actually works. People are lining up, in other words, to attain supply of something that's totally useless.
The crumbling social fabric of America
At the same time, this fabricated emergency reveals to us the complete lack of ethics in the distribution of these vaccines to the Wall Street rich, even while everyday poor people stand in line waiting for their turn.
It's yet another powerful commentary on the crumbling social fabric of America -- a nation that puts its morally bankrupt money slingers as a higher priority than everyone else. It's the Wall Streeters who get the trillion-dollar bailouts that the rest of us must someday pay out of our pockets. It's the Wall Streeters who get preferential treatment by Washington. And it's the Wall Streeters who are now getting the medicine that should be going to our children.
Of course, the medicine itself is a joke, too, but that's beside the point: These people THINK the vaccines are valuable, so their decisions on where to send them first reveal their true intentions.
There's a huge moral lesson in all this, by the way: Even those who get the H1N1 vaccine receive no benefit from it. People whose immune systems adaptively respond to the vaccine by building antibodies are the very people who could have done the same thing automatically in response to influenza exposure. Meanwhile, those with suppressed immune systems that are vulnerable to H1N1 have no ability to adaptively produce H1N1 antibodies anyway. In other words, even if you believe the H1N1 vaccine actually works, it only works on the people who don't need it!
This is the ultimate comedy. People are desperately fighting over a chemical injection that will help no one. And the only reason they're so desperate about it is because the hysteria has been entirely fabricated precisely to create irrational demand (http://www.naturalnews.com/027404_h...).
Maybe we should send all the vaccines to Wall Street anyway. Let everybody else stand outside, waiting in lines and soaking up a little sunshine so that their bodies create the only thing that will really save them from influenza in the first place: Vitamin D.
Or better yet, We the People should charge Wall Street for these vaccines we paid for. And the price? One trillion dollars.
Sources for this story include:
WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125...
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy... Buzz up!8 votes
http://www.naturalnews.com/027415_Wall_Street_vaccines_H1N1.html
AIG Gets Another ($4.2) BILLION Dollar BailOut @ Txpyrs Expnse
American International Group Inc., the insurer rescued by the U.S., tapped the Treasury Department for another $4.2 billion to help restructure its money-losing mortgage guarantor and the plane unit it’s trying to sell.
AIG accessed about $2.1 billion from its Treasury facility on Aug. 13 and told the government today it would draw down another $2.1 billion, the New York-based company said in a regulatory filing. AIG got the $29.8 billion facility in April as part of its fourth bailout.
“It shows that they’re still having trouble getting cash to continue to run their operations” without government support, said Sandler O’Neill Partners LP analyst Paul Newsome. “That’s despite the fact you’ve had some really favorable things happen, like the credit markets getting better.”
AIG was bailed out in September 2008 to prevent losses at banks that bought derivatives from the insurer. The $182.3 billion rescue includes a $60 billion Federal Reserve credit line, up to $52.5 billion to buy mortgage-backed securities owned or backed by the insurer, and a Treasury investment of as much as $69.8 billion in two facilities. AIG has already drained one of the Treasury programs, valued at $40 billion.
AIG is using Treasury funds to buy shares of International Lease Finance Corp. held by one of its insurance units, the company said in the filing. The transfer may ease the eventual sale of Los Angeles-based ILFC or its assets, Newsome said.
But wait, I thought OMG AIG turned a profit?!
CNN Money:
AIG reported its second profitable quarter in a row early Friday, as stabilization in its insurance businesses, and the credit and mortgage markets helped boost results.
The troubled insurer said its net income rose to $455 million, or 68 cents per share, an improvement over the $24.5 billion loss from a year earlier. Results included a one-time net charge of $1.5 billion for capital losses and hedging.
Without the charge, AIG would have earned $1.9 billion in the quarter, or $2.85 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time events, forecasted earnings of $1.98 per share.
Sales for the New York-based company rose 189% to $26 billion, topping analysts' forecasts of $23 billion.
"Our results reflect continued stabilization in performance and market trends," said AIG Chief Executive Robert Benmosche in a statement. "AIG employees are working to preserve the strength of our insurance businesses in a challenging market."
In August, AIG reported that it had returned to profitability after six straight losing quarters, a stretch in which the company lost more than $100 billion.
AIG accessed about $2.1 billion from its Treasury facility on Aug. 13 and told the government today it would draw down another $2.1 billion, the New York-based company said in a regulatory filing. AIG got the $29.8 billion facility in April as part of its fourth bailout.
“It shows that they’re still having trouble getting cash to continue to run their operations” without government support, said Sandler O’Neill Partners LP analyst Paul Newsome. “That’s despite the fact you’ve had some really favorable things happen, like the credit markets getting better.”
AIG was bailed out in September 2008 to prevent losses at banks that bought derivatives from the insurer. The $182.3 billion rescue includes a $60 billion Federal Reserve credit line, up to $52.5 billion to buy mortgage-backed securities owned or backed by the insurer, and a Treasury investment of as much as $69.8 billion in two facilities. AIG has already drained one of the Treasury programs, valued at $40 billion.
AIG is using Treasury funds to buy shares of International Lease Finance Corp. held by one of its insurance units, the company said in the filing. The transfer may ease the eventual sale of Los Angeles-based ILFC or its assets, Newsome said.
But wait, I thought OMG AIG turned a profit?!
CNN Money:
AIG reported its second profitable quarter in a row early Friday, as stabilization in its insurance businesses, and the credit and mortgage markets helped boost results.
The troubled insurer said its net income rose to $455 million, or 68 cents per share, an improvement over the $24.5 billion loss from a year earlier. Results included a one-time net charge of $1.5 billion for capital losses and hedging.
Without the charge, AIG would have earned $1.9 billion in the quarter, or $2.85 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time events, forecasted earnings of $1.98 per share.
Sales for the New York-based company rose 189% to $26 billion, topping analysts' forecasts of $23 billion.
"Our results reflect continued stabilization in performance and market trends," said AIG Chief Executive Robert Benmosche in a statement. "AIG employees are working to preserve the strength of our insurance businesses in a challenging market."
In August, AIG reported that it had returned to profitability after six straight losing quarters, a stretch in which the company lost more than $100 billion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
