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The Deep, Inner Meaning Of Bank of America's (BAC) TARP Repayment

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:19:07 GMT

As expected, Bank of America (BAC) will repurchase its $45 billion TARP preferreds, funded in part by an additional $18.8 billion in "common stock equivalents", $4.0 billion in asset sales, and $1.7 billion in restricted stock issued to employees in lieu of cash bonuses.[More...]

Forget Yesterday, It's All About Jobs

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:21:30 GMT

Good morning. Stocks tanked in the last half-hour on Thursday and while the major news outlets attributed the decline to either profit taking or some trepidation in front of this morning's big Jobs report, we'd like to offer a little more substantial reason for the 85 point dive on an otherwise subdued day of trading.[More...]

Fed Balance Sheet Declines By $15 Billion After Improbable Reduction In MBS, Excess Reserves, Monetary Base Hit Record

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:14:41 GMT

The Federal Reserve's balance sheet declined by $15 billion to $2,183 billion from the prior week, after the Fed presumably offloaded $2.7 billion in MBS: this is the first time since QE started that MBS holdings have declined. If anyone can tell us just who the idiots are who bought MBS from the Fed (and at what price), and who the even greater idiots are who are supposed to believe this, please send us an email.[More...]

China Will Continue To Drive The Global Economic Recovery In 2010

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:38:07 GMT

China isn’t just leading the global economic recovery – it’s lapping the field.[More...]

Bank of America (BAC) To Repay Entire TARP Money

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:33:12 GMT

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) said on Wednesday that in a few days it will repay the entire $45 billion of bailout money it has received from the government for its participation in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) at the height of the credit crisis last year and after its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. earlier this year.[More...]

Interesting Stat: How Much Private Sector GDP Is From Construction And Real Estate?

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:15:56 GMT

Back in June, we discussed commercial real estate at length following attendance at a large real estate conference in NYC. Our tone was cautious and one question we wondered about was the percentage of GDP that real estate represents. We actually came across the answer back in August and meant to share then, but didn't get to it. Since the question/topic remains highly relevant to considering the potential negative economic drag from depressed real estate activity, we're sharing now -- the following table is from an 8/28/09 NYTs article, "Construction That Fueled Growth in the Sun Belt Slows":[More...]

Credit Market Overview: Dec 3, 2009

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:59:02 GMT

The credit crunch crisis of confidence which we appear to be crawling out of even though the debt and equity markets catapulted themselves higher earlier this year could be similarly argued to be a crisis that started in the credit markets which crunched confidence around the world as it could a collapse in confidence in the value of the securities investors held which corrupted the credit markets causing them to cease funding.[More...]

Grab Some Northern Exposure With EWC

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:39:42 GMT

Emerging markets are captivating investors again, but tidy profits aren’t always far away. Placing your bets on well-established global markets can also prove rewarding. That's why we're looking at Canada.[More...]

Unemployment Struggling To Turn A Corner As Job Losses Mount In November

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:20:20 GMT

U.S. job losses in the private sector slowed in November but still exceeded economists’ projections, a report by payroll-processing firm Automatic Data Processing (Nasdaq: ADP) indicated yesterday (Wednesday).[More...]

Why Barrick Closed Their Gold Hedge

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:15:14 GMT

It sure looks like gold is going to close above $1,200 an ounce today in New York. And large open market purchases from central banks in China, India and Russia are only helping the price surge more. (Just one year ago, some of these same central banks were actually selling gold in an attempt to fill an annual 10,000-ton supply gap.)[More...]

Earnings Rise for 2 Banking Firms

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:48:00 GMT

Oct. 23--Two regional community banking companies reported higher earnings for the third quarter because they did not incur the big one-time charges for investment losses that they took last year.
Financial Institutions, the Warsaw-based parent of Five Star Bank, swung to a profit of $3.4 million, or 23 cents per share, after reporting a loss of $28.4 million, or $2.66 per share, in the third quarter of 2008.
Northwest Bancorp, the Warren, Pa.-based parent of Northwest Savings Bank, earned $12.1 million, or 25 cents per share, up 22.7 percent from $9.8 million, or 20 cents per share.

: iStockAnalyst.com Symbols Feed

The Deep, Inner Meaning Of Bank of America's (BAC) TARP Repayment

Forget Yesterday, It's All About Jobs

Fed Balance Sheet Declines By $15 Billion After Improbable Reduction In MBS, Excess Reserves, Monetary Base Hit Record

China Will Continue To Drive The Global Economic Recovery In 2010

Bank of America (BAC) To Repay Entire TARP Money

Interesting Stat: How Much Private Sector GDP Is From Construction And Real Estate?

Credit Market Overview: Dec 3, 2009

Grab Some Northern Exposure With EWC

Unemployment Struggling To Turn A Corner As Job Losses Mount In November

Why Barrick Closed Their Gold Hedge

Earnings Rise for 2 Banking Firms

Big Rebound Puts Some Spring Back in Local Stocks: Buffalo Portfolio Gained 17.6 Percent As Market Rallied in the Second Quarter

Big Rebound Puts Some Spring Back in Local Stocks: Buffalo Portfolio Gained 17.6 Percent As Market Rallied in the Second Quarter

Local CEOs' Pay Keeps Rising, Even As Economy Sags

Local CEOs' Pay Keeps Rising, Even As Economy Sags

Bear Market Hits Local Stocks Especially Hard

BMO Capital Markets Continues to Grow Its Financial Institutions Investment Banking Team

More Michigan Banks in Trouble: But State Isn't Tops in Nation Now

Two More Area Banks to Accept Federal Aid

Two More Area Banks to Accept Federal Aid

Financial Institutions Declares Cash Dividend

Respected Business Leader Becomes Chairman of Macatawa Bank Corp.; Richard Postma to Lead Initiatives to Raise Capital, Return Bank to Profitability

Macatawa Bank Corporation Reports 3rd Quarter Results

Macatawa Bank Corporation Announces Date for Its Third Quarter 2009 Earnings Release

Five Star Bank Appoints Karl Krebs As Executive Vice President and CFO

Financial Institutions Declares Cash Dividend

Macatawa Bank Corp. Announces Leadership Changes

Macatawa Bank Corporation Revises 2nd Quarter Results

Financial Institutions, Inc. Announces Second Quarter Earnings

Macatawa Bank Corporation Reports 2nd Quarter Results

Form 3 MACATAWA BANK CORP For: Oct 29 Filed by: POSTMA RICHARD L (10K)

Form 4 KREBS KARL FRANCIS For: Oct 01 (10K)

Form 3 KREBS KARL FRANCIS For: Oct 01 (10K)

Form 3 MACATAWA BANK CORP For: Aug 12 Filed by: PADNOS DOUGLAS B (10K)

Form 4 MACATAWA BANK CORP For: Jul 23 Filed by: BUGGE MARK (10K)

Form 3/A BIRMINGHAM MARTIN KEARNE For: May 06 (10K)

Form 3 BIRMINGHAM MARTIN KEARNE For: May 06 (10K)

Form 3 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS For: May 06 Filed by: HARRISON RICHARD J (10K)

Form 3 MCLAUGHLIN RONALD MITCHE For: May 06 (10K)

Form 3 MURTHA MATTHEW T For: May 06 (10K)