Banks now profitable?

[dennis in se pa]

Do you believe when they report this? They always seem to lie. More smaller banks would somehow seem to me to be more accountable. I think they are full of *****.

[AndyK!]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

I think they are full of *****.

Banks are big part of the reason we are in this financial mess. Take everything with a "grain of salt".

[HardDrive]

Ah yes, mark-to-market profits.

Wave the FASB wand....*zing*.....instant profits.

[TheMentat]

Banks are making money because they borrow at historically low interest rates, and lend at much higher rates.

[competentone]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

Do you believe when they report this? They always seem to lie. More smaller banks would somehow seem to me to be more accountable. I think they are full of *****.

If you are referring to Wells Fargo "pre-releasing" (last week) the news that they were unexpectedly profitable for the 1st quarter of 2009, then "yes," that "news" is a lie.

Wells/Wachovia achieved "profitability" because the U.S. government (and Federal Reserve) gave billions of dollars to them. Additionally, they are using accounting tricks to not show the losses they are really suffering.

We are witnessing fraud (orchestrated by both the banks and government) on a level that makes Madoff's fraud look like a childish prank.

This will all end with the dollar collapsing -- and probably China (and other nations of the world) threatening war with us for the trillions of dollars we are stealing from them with our paper money schemes.

Not to forget the potential civil unrest when millions of American citizens see their hard-earned savings evaporate to worthlessness in the hyper-inflation being created by the Federal Reserve.

It appears that the Federal Reserve is preparing to "celebrate" its 100-year anniversary (in 2013) by orchestrating the complete collapse of the dollar, plunging hundreds of millions of people around the world, who have relied on the dollar to act as a "store of value" for their savings, into abject poverty.

Stay tuned to the people who really understand what is going on:
Keep this bookmarked, refer back to it regularly to learn the truth behind the lies:
http://financialtruth0.blogspot.com/

[jyl]

Here is a general explanation, any specific bank may be in a different position:

The banking business of paying low interest rates for deposits while receiving higher interest rates for loans is, and remains, profitable. Deposits are getting 2% and loans are paying 7-9%, depending on type and institution of course. So, on a going forward basis, based on loans being made today, a typical commercial bank should be profitable in that core banking business.

However, most banks are groaning under the past bad loans that they made, and bad assets that they purchased, in the last few years. Each quarter, as the loans go into default and the market value of the assets decline, those must be written off as losses. For most banks, these losses are overwhelming the profits in the go-forward core banking business.

As for the other things that banks do, the situation is mixed. The fixed-income (bond) underwriting and sales/trading business is doing okay, even pretty darn well. The equities (stocks) underwriting and sales/trading is not doing well. And so on.