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Is the economy starting to stabilize? Some statistics say yes, some are questionable. I figure one quick way to take a quick pulse reading is to look at bank closures so far in 2011. To date, we’re sitting at 18 banks that have been closed. Last year at this time we had only 16 banks [...]
The bad news is that we’re now sitting at 149 banks that have been closed in 2010. That exceeds the 140 banks that were closed last year with five weeks still go to. The good news is twofold. One, no banks closed this week, though this is Thanksgiving week. Two, analysts really believe that the [...]
The housing industry has been in an uproar for a few years now, and things are starting to come to a head. First we hear about robo-signing of foreclosures. Next all 50 states and the federal government ask banks to stop foreclosures until this practice can be evaluated; some banks do it, then decide they’re [...]
Who’d have thunk it. For most of the first decade of the 2000′s, people were spending money like there was no tomorrow. Even as the economy started to show signs of trouble, people kept buying. And why not; credit was easily attainable and credit card issuers couldn’t give cards away fast enough. Then in early [...]
Actually, it’s just a bit longer than a month. By August 15th, consumers are supposed to make a decision with their bank accounts as to whether they want overdraft protection or not. It’s something I originally wrote about in February, but since we’re close to the date I felt it was a good time to [...]
This is the 300th post of Top Finance Blog. It comes just beyond 18 months of ownership after taking it over from someone else who decided after a month that he didn’t have the time for it. I’ve been giving some consideration as to just where I believe this blog should go. I’ve written many [...]
On April 30th, 7 banks were closed, including 3 in Puerto Rico, bringing this year’s total for bank closures to 64. That’s a figure that we didn’t hit last year until August. Based on the speed we’ve been at so far, we could conceivably hit 190 banks or more closed by the end of the [...]
