The FDIC seized 5 more banks, raising the totaled number of failed U.S banks in 2010 to 78. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has said in the current banking crisis, failures will peak in 2010.

According to the FDIC bank failures from 2009 to 2013 is expected to cost $100 billion. Small(regional) banks are failing due to the loan losses from the credit boom. Many losses are result of the collapsed commercial real estate projects.

Brief Rundown;

Bank                                                                                     Assets                                   Deposits

Sun West Bank (Nevada)                                               $360.7 million                   $353.9 million
Granite Community Bank (California)                      $102.9 million                    $94.2 million
Bank of Florida – Tampa Bay (Florida)                    $245.2 million                     $224.0 million
Bank of Florida Southwest (Florida)                          $640.9 million                    $559.9 million
Bank of Florida Southeast (Florida)                            $595.3 million                   $531.7 million

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The Department of Labor reports unemployment (initial claims) statistics as follows.

“In the week ending May 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 460,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 474,000. The 4-week moving average was 456,500, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 454,250.”

These figures are still high and continued job losses may still be on the horizon.

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The FDIC seized 4 more banks, raising the totaled number of failed U.S banks in 2010 to 72. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has said in the current banking crisis, failures will peak in 2010.

According to the FDIC bank failures from 2009 to 2013 is expected to cost $100 billion. Small(regional) banks are failing due to the loan losses from the credit boom. Many losses are result of the collapsed commercial real estate projects.

Brief Rundown;

Bank                                                                                     Assets                                   Deposits

Southwest Community Bank (Missouri)                    $96.6 million                     $102.5 million
Midwest Bank and Trust Company (Illinois)           $3.17 billion                       $2.42 billion
New Liberty Bank (Michigan)                                      $109.1 million                    $101.8 million
Satilla Community Ban (Georgia)                                $135.7 million                    $134.0 million

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President Obama and his wife Michelle had a combined income of $5,505,409 and paid close to $1.8 million in federal taxes for 2009. That is double what they paid last year. The presidents income came in the way of book sales, Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope.

The Presidents Nobel Peace Prize award of $1.4 million was not reported because he donated all of it to 10 different charities. They also donated $329,100 to 40 different charities. 

The Presidents tax return

In 2008 the President’s income was $2,656,902 from book sales and paid $855,323 in federal income tax.

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New home sales in the U.S fell to a record low in January.

The Census Bureau report:

Sales of new single-family houses in January 2010 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 11.2 percent (±14.0%)* below the revised December rate of 348,000 and is 6.1 percent (±15.1%)* below the January 2009 estimate of 329,000.

Homebuilders are facing tough competition given that the market is flooded with foreclosed homes. To add to there problems unemployment remains high at 9.7% and companies are slow to hire.

New home sales break down by regions:

Northeast: declined 35%
West: declined 12%
South: declined 9.5%
Midwest: rose 2.1%

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The White House released their annual budget with economic assumptions.

Brief Rundown (Refer to Page 13 of report):

GDP Growth:

• 2010 –> 2.7%
• 2011 –> 3.8%
• 2012 –> 4.3%
• 2013 –> 4.2%

Unemployment:

• 2010 –> 10%
• 2011 –> 9.2%
• 2012 –> 8.2%
• 2013 –> 7.3%

The chart below is from www.calculatedriskblog.com. The blue line is historical monthly unemployment rate, and the red line is the White House projections.

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This chart represents the job losses in percentages from the beginning of the employment recession, instead of showing the number of jobs lost. It should be noted that in terms of percentages the current employment recession is the worst since WWII, and in terms of unemployment rate its the second worst, the worst being in the 1980′s

Source: Calculatedriskblog.com.

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The Department of Labor reports unemployment (initial claims) statistics as follows.

“In the week ending Dec. 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 480,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 473,000. The 4-week moving average was 467,500, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 472,750.”

The 4 week moving averaging of unemployment claims is at it’s lowest level since September 2008. However, that figure is still high and continued job losses may still be on the horizon.

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Take a look at the chart below; it is worth thinking about!

What’s fueling the rally as volume continues to decline? And what logical explanation can you derive?

Source Reference: Ritholtz.com

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Source: Federal Reserve. Graph: CalculatedRiskBlog.com

November’s industrial output rose 0.8% after being unchanged in October, the highest in 3 months. The graph presents the Capacity Utilization since 1967 to present. A few key things to note from this graph is; 1. Production is off of its record low set in June and 2. Production is still well below from a year ago. However, can that kink in the graph be the starting point of an uptrend to come? It is important to note that November’s economic data has been supporting evidence of a recovery, indicating a strong year to come!

Break Down;

Business Equipment -> +0.4%

Computers/Electronics -> +0.4%

Utility Production -> -1.8%

Mining Output (Includes Oil) -> 2.1%

Auto Parts/Production -> +1.8%

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