Jan. 22--In the financial industry, 2008 will be the year remembered for the fall of investment banking giant Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Washington Mutual Inc., and ultimately for the exposure and collapse of artificially high, mortgagebacked returns on Wall Street.

The turmoil that turned the financial markets topsy-turvy continues this year, with shares of major national banks nosediving recently as Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and State Street Corp. announced more losses this week.

Amid that national backdrop, several Connecticut-based banks will report their most recent earnings in the coming days.

Paul Schatz, president and founder of the investment advisory firm Heritage Capital LLC in Woodbridge, said Wednesday that local banks have fared the best through the meltdown.

"They learned their lesson from the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s and are in the best position right now," he said.

National and international institutions had the greatest exposure to the subprime mortgage crisis, which involved pooling risky loans into securities that were then classified by rating agencies and sold to investors lured by higher-than-normal returns.

Connecticut Banking Commissioner Howard Pitkin said state-chartered banks "have excellent asset quality" and depositors have no cause for alarm because funds are sufficiently insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Institutions will face challenges this year with respect to interest rates and market fluctuations, he said.

Three banks headquartered in Connecticut will be releasing fourth-quarter and year-end earnings reports for 2008 in the coming days, starting today with People's United Financial Corp., the holding company for People's United Bank in Bridgeport. Its report will be released after the stock market closes.

People's stock prices have ranged over the past 52 weeks from a low of $13.92 per share to a high of $21.76 per share. Its stock closed at $17.13 per share Wednesday, up $1.06 on the Nasdaq.

Waterbury-based Webster Financial Corp., the holding company for Webster

Bank, is set to release its earnings Friday.

Webster's stock price has fluctuated over the past 52 weeks, as of Tuesday, from a low of $6.43 per share to a high of $34.90 per share. It closed at $6.04 Wednesday, down 45 cents on the New York Stock Exchange.

NewAlliance Bancshares Inc., the holding company for NewAlliance Bank in New Haven, will release earnings after the market closes Tuesday.

NewAlliance stock prices have gone from a 52-week low of $9.50 per share to a high of $17.98 per share, and closed at $11.25 per share Wednesday, down 8 cents on the NYSE.

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