Sense on Cents

A car needs gas to run. An engine needs steam. A factory needs power. The fact is without a steady source of energy nothing can operate. Welcome to the Uncle Sam economy circa 2009.

You may be thinking, wait a second LD . . . the Federal Reserve is flushing the system with liquidity. Money is easy and it is propping the markets. While availability of credit may be tight, the demand for credit is also weak. So what am I talking about?

Thanks to RM for providing the FDIC Third Quarter 2009 Banking Profile (a link to the full document is provided at the end of this commentary). For those who care to rip apart the inner workings of our banking system, this report is the owner’s manual. The report highlights the following:

> Industry Posts Net Profit of $2.8 Billion
> Increased Revenues, Lower Securities Losses Offset Higher Loan-Loss Provisions
> Net Interest Margins Improve at Most Institutions
> Troubled Loans Continue to Rise, But Rate of Growth Slows
> Loan balances Decline by 2.8% in the Quarter

Based on this overview, it would appear that the banking industry is slowly recovering. In aggregate, perhaps that may be the case. But what doesn’t this report tell us? (more…)