Banks on Sick List Top 400

Banks on Sick List Top 400
August 28, 2009, Wall Street Journal

The banking industry continues to deteriorate, with federal regulators adding 111 lenders to their list of endangered banks in the latest quarter, even as the economy shows signs of stabilizing. Data released Thursday painted a gloomy picture of the state of banking. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it had 416 banks on its "problem list" at the end of June, equivalent to about 5% of the nation's banks, up from 305 at the end of March and 117 at the end of June 2008. Problem banks had a combined $299.8 billion of assets at the end of June, compared with $78.3 billion a year ago.

New York Observer Starts a Paper on Real Estate
August 23, 2009, New York Times

Twenty months into a deep recession, the real estate market is battered and the print news media are doing even worse. What kind of time is this for a money-losing publisher to start a print publication about real estate? A perfect one, according to Jared Kushner, owner of The New York Observer, who is about to introduce The Commercial Observer, a weekly newspaper on the commercial real estate market in New York City. The first issue will be published Sept. 15.

LendingTree: Google to Compete on Loan Referrals
August 28, 2009, Associated Press

LendingTree, which allows prospective borrowers to get quick offers from multiple lenders, claims Google is about to get into the same business. A LendingTree lawsuit against a separate technology provider claims that it has learned Google plans to launch such a service later this month or in early September. The lawsuit claims that LendingTree has received screen shots — pictures of a computer screen — showing a trial version of Google's service that indicate Google will give customers loan offers and contact information for lenders. Also, see these two related stories: Is Google a Loan Shark? and Google Eyes Mortgage Lending Service

'Old Time Religion' for the Economy
August 27, 2009, Baltimore Sun (Opinion)

Will the economic recovery be enduring - V shaped? Or will it collapse after a short time - W shaped? For the middle class, it may be none of the above - an X.