Bank Failures

I do think that we will have to eventually face the reality that our banking system is functionally insolvent, running on fumes. I've been going on for years about Credit Default Swaps (CDS's) and other derivatives, and the way it can and does push real economies around. Today though, a secondary effect of these market's lack of transparency may be a real problem for all the major players in the world financial system. Sure, financial sector players are up today. The Dow Jones is performing decently. Even the Greek mess looks like it might be pushed past the March 20th deadline to renegotiate their debt. Happy days are here again??? Yet, there's still plenty of trouble on the horizon. In fact, a very important piece of news came out last week that went relatively unnoticed. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/moodys-places-more-than-100-banks-on-review-2012-02-15 Moody's Investment Service put out a notice saying that they were putting more than 100 top-tier banks around the w... Read more

Great article this morning by James H. Kunstler: http://kunstler.com/blog/2011/06/suspended-agitation.html

Banks have failed in the past and we always manage to pull ourselves out of the mud. A dip in the economy is a symptom of a curable condition.

Not really an issue if you ask me. Banks come and go all the time. The value in money and possessions is the value we "perceive" it has and nothing more.

I see this more as a symptom of an economy that is at or close to crisis point, rather than a cause in itself.