No crisis in the American banking sector

http://www.businesspulse.com/2011/10/...us-economy-update/

BNY Mellon reported pre-tax profits of $1.17 billion for the first nine months of 2011, leaving them with a net profit of $941.9 million.

JPMorgan Chase also saw steady performance through the first three quarters of 2011, posting an after-tax profit of $1.052 billion—a notable increase of $214 million compared to the same timeframe last year.

So, I was talking to a friend whose wife works with this guy at her office—this absolute big shot over at JPMorgan Chase... honestly, the guy is absolutely loaded. Look, I’m no banking expert—not by a long shot—but if I had his kind of setup, I’d probably be feeling pretty bitter about my own job right now. These guys rake in massive profits and all sorts of shady bonuses they want, and in return, they basically have the government—you know, those corrupt politicians they’ve been greasing for years—right where they want them. They even have a stranglehold on the leadership at the Federal Reserve, which is basically just one giant criminal enterprise at this point... and now, get this, the current coalition is actually trying to pass him off as their go-to "expert." It's unbelievable.

Some good news at last! 👍
If things were looking this bright in other sectors of the economy, we’d be living in a golden age. ☕

Charles Ramos7 said:Some good news at last! 👍
If things were looking this bright in other sectors of the economy, we’d be living in a golden age. ☕

Truly excellent news. It suggests there is plenty of room to maneuver if we want to see interest rates drop further...👍👍

Good news—it means our savings are safe and sound. 🙂

silvercrane38 said:Truly excellent news. It suggests there is plenty of room to maneuver if we want to see interest rates drop further...👍👍

Or maybe higher interest on savings accounts.😁

Charles Ramos7 said:Or maybe higher interest on savings accounts.😁

Banks could potentially follow a precedent set by the European Union—much like the Greek debt jubilee—and wipe out 50% of business loans and 50% of consumer debt.😁😁

Robin Reyes said:Good news—it means our savings are safe and sound. 🙂

I guess Erste is only at 8.77%. Maybe that's just how it goes. I was just looking at this chart on Yahoo Finance for EBS... maybe it's nothing, but I guess there's some movement worth watching. It’s pretty quiet right now, though. Just seems like one of those slow days where you're waiting for something to actually happen. Not sure if I'd bet on any big swings today, but I'll probably keep an eye on it anyway. Just keeping things casual.
I think I saw something about Societe Generale splitting their stake... maybe around 9.77%? I guess it’s just one of those things happening in the market. Not sure if it matters much for most people, but I noticed it. I was just looking over this chart on Yahoo Finance... it's for that one stock, GLE. I guess I'm just staring at the one-day movement for now. It’s interesting, maybe? Hard to say much without digging deeper, I suppose. Just seems like a quiet little trend today.
I guess Intesa and Bank of America only hold about 11.72%... maybe. Just seems like a pretty small slice, honestly. I was just looking over this chart on Yahoo Finance, specifically checking out some movement on the IES.HA ticker over the last five days. It’s interesting to see how things are trending, I guess. Maybe there's something more to it than meets the eye, but it's worth keeping an eye on if you're watching that sector. Just one of those things you stumble upon while scrolling through the markets.
If you look at the six-month chart, it’s pretty obvious that the financial system in the European Union is basically falling apart. I mean, it's right there if you care to see it. Anyway, I'll leave you all with this video from Nigel Farage—it's kind of intense. He says, "Wake up to the misery you're inflicting on millions!" It makes you think, I guess.

I didn't quite follow that last post.🤷
Could someone clarify?

Charles Ramos7 said:Or maybe higher interest on savings accounts.😁

Look, you aren't getting better rates on your savings, and they sure as hell aren't lowering mortgage rates either. This is just positioning for the future—basically squeezing every last drop out of us until we break.
The logic for banks is pretty obvious, I guess. Cut input costs as much as possible, especially interest, then maximize profits immediately. They want to grab everything they can now because, let's face it, it's all going downhill soon anyway.
They aren't even trying to fix the situation.

Why would they bother? They see that nobody in America actually stands up to them. They think we're fine as long as we don't complain... except for those occasional lawsuits that make these bankers shake in their boots.😁

It was just a joke, that's why 😁

Robin Reyes said:I didn't quite follow that last post.🤷
Could someone clarify?

I suspect that Melissa Mendoza75 was likely referring to the capital adequacy—essentially how much actual cash is sitting in the vault—of the parent companies that own our largest banks.
It is worth noting that the capital adequacy levels at our major institutions, specifically JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, are noticeably higher than those of their parent corporations, hovering just under 20%, which comfortably exceeds both Federal Reserve requirements and Basel III standards.

It isn't really expected that these parent companies will start draining that surplus; first off, that amount of capital is almost negligible on a global scale, and it probably wouldn't even be profitable, as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America would likely see a larger drop in total market value than what the parent companies would actually gain from that "extracted" cash.

OT
American banks are relatively stable and healthy (though they will eventually have to account for some bad loans currently sitting on their books), which is a good sign because you can't have a wealthy nation supported by weak banks; now, we just need to refine the legal frameworks and actually start enforcing those laws.

silvercrane38 As silvercrane38 points out:
This is genuinely encouraging news, which suggests we finally have enough breathing room to see interest rates start their descent without any major friction.👍👍

Charles Ramos7 As stated by:
Either we see an uptick in savings rates, or we don't. 😁

Is the fundamental purpose of a corporation merely to maximize profits for its owners, or does it serve some broader societal function?

Dennis Jackson16 said:Look, you aren't getting better rates on your savings, and they sure as hell aren't lowering mortgage rates either. This is just positioning for the future—basically squeezing every last drop out of us until we break.
The logic for banks is pretty obvious, I guess. Cut input costs as much as possible, especially interest, then maximize profits immediately. They want to grab everything they can now because, let's face it, it's all going downhill soon anyway.
They aren't even trying to fix the situation.

Why would they bother? They see that nobody in America actually stands up to them. They think we're fine as long as we don't complain... except for those occasional lawsuits that make these bankers shake in their boots.😁

And why on earth would banks try to save the day? They're just the result of someone else's capital, and that someone expects a return. Those people you're looking to for mercy are just working for themselves. They're protecting their own seats and making sure they don't get kicked out if they don't hit their numbers.

The government? The government is basically just taking out loans on a daily basis. Public employees get paid from tax dollars, which—aside from maybe the big telecom companies—mostly just end up filling the coffers of the big banks.
The asphalt you're driving on is on credit. The water you drink is processed on credit. Electricity, public transit... everything is built on debt.

I don't get who's supposed to be the hero here, grabbing the branch before it breaks. Robin Hood hasn't been reincarnated yet... at least not yet.

Between 2008 and 2011, American banks raked in nearly $12 billion in interest, while paying out only about $6 billion of their own. That leaves a net interest income of roughly $6 billion. To put that scale into perspective, that sum alone could have covered the entire annual federal pension payouts and the operating costs for the whole national healthcare system.
The situation with fees and service charges was even more lopsided during those four years. Banks collected a total of $2.5 billion in various commissions and fees, yet they only paid out about $750 million for similar costs. This resulted in a net fee income of approximately $1.75 billion from their clients. All of this occurred during a four-year stretch where the American economy shrank by about ten percent and the standard of living for the average citizen—the very people serving as the banks' primary clients—collapsed by at least twenty percent. Despite that, the end result was a $2.2 billion profit for American banks after all corporate taxes were settled.

http://www.nytimes.com/News/Banking_and_Fees