Rob Garbin's Blog

1) The banks are struggling mightily to deal with the mortgage mess created by Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Acts by Congress. It takes a lot of time and is costing the banks a fortune.
3) The solvent banks have indeed repaid all the TARP money, and in Citibank's case, the government sold its Citibank stock and made a huge profit. What the govt has done with the money is anyone's guess...probablly threw it into a gaping black hole...
4) The "Wall St Banks" are Morgan stanley and Goldman Sachs. Chase, Wells Fargo, BofA, and Citi are not Wall St banks. And if anoy of them fail it means many thousands of American jobs lost.
5) the banks are not "making so much profit right now". Theyare continually paying settlements to the SEC and other govt agencies and that is killing them. There are many thousands of middle class workers at these banks, and they are losing their jobs because of cutbacks caused by fines and settlements to the govt. Foreclosure on a house means a huge loss, because the bank has to go months without a mortgage payment and then must sell the house, if they can, for a huge loss -- much less than the bank loan outstanding.

1. I question this because of all the money they are sucking off credit card holders with increased fees, even those that are regulaly paying their bills. As I see it, they are paying for their mistakes by passing it on to the customers and still giving their executives bonuses but not their regular employees.

2. Given the fact that some states are now suing the banks for not properly tracking who actually owned the mortgages on the people they are foreclosing on, I feel it is very important to find out how hard they are working on the problem. Are they actually doing the work right or, as I suspect, taking advantage of the confusion and making fast deals. Historically, this is more likely.

3. Just saying government has thrown the money down a dark hole does not mean it is. Yes there are issues that need addressed on both sides of the ailse, but I would like to know the real truth. Big government does not necessarily mean bad. Bad government means bad government. We mostly had that under Goerge W. Bush.

4. Yeah, we are still where we were before with business as usual. We cannot afford the costly mistakes that happened before because the next crash will be even bigger. An, by the way, while Fannie and Freddie play a huge role in the meltdown, the Banks and Wall Street created the business models and deeply participated in the profiteering that may yet bring down the country. But I don't just blame them. I blame all American's for letting it happen. We have all bought into the illusion of the get rich quick system. Get your money and get out and screw everyone else. Live the good life and don't worry about the bills. It is intrisic to our "I" mentality. It is all about me.

5. If the banks are not making much money, then how can they afford to payout large cash bonuses that could keep several workers on the payroll for a year or two. Workers who could be better examining the mortgages so that the banks would not have to pay legal fees defending themselves from wrongful forclosures.

Sorry, but the dodd-frank bill cut deeply into bank profits from credit cards, giving that money to retailers instead.
no, the banks did not create the business models that may yet bring down the country...maybe Goldman Sachs under Hank Paulson did...with lots of help from Washington.
I work for a bank. The people I know are hardworking, middle class types.... and the vast majority of us haven't had a raise in 5 years, let alone a bonus! and we have to pay more for our medical insurance. but the bank I work for gives lavishly to charities, a fortune... so your statement about "It is all about me" is so, so uninformed and downright wong.

I am not talking about everyday banks such as a local bank. I am talking about the big commercial banks. I would be interested to understand the Dodd-Frank Bill and any actual numbers of the affect they have had on the bank industry for fairness. Might I also ask what level you hold in the industry. You don't need to be specific, but I need to understand your place in the industry to better evaluate your information. I am a sales representative working daily within the largest retailer so I have a solid understanding of the retail industry and some of its short comings. I also have an asscoiates degree in business.

I would truely like to see the other side of the coin but I will admit to a jaded point of veiw gained from historical cases like Enron, Tyco, Madoff, and others. I will point out that one of my posts mentions my feeling that all Rich are not to be blamed for our problems and need to speak out. I will also point out that I understand some of the failings of Dodd and Frank as well as their Republican counterparts. Finally, to my understanding, most of the new legislation, while tough on the industry, really are not strongly in affect yet. The teeth, in other words, really are not there. No real power behind the legislation. Can you speak to that?

I also want to speak to the fact that out of the banking industry and society as a whole, the working class have paid the highest price for the meltdown. While bank employees were losing their jobs to pay for the shortfalls in the industry, the executives were still giving themselves lavish bonuses. Do you really think that is fair?

Also, the credit default swaps were created by the investment banks as a way to hide and redistribute the mounting debt they were taking on. A business model that proved lucrative to them on paper for the fees they garnered. Soon more banks piled on to the model without really understanding the folly of the model. Yes, people are to blame for falling for the propaganda and taking out ridiculous loans they could not service, but the industry could have stopped pushing before it got out of hand. That is why I say we are all to blame. In addition, banks and Wall Street pushed for and got changes in the buying process that have lead to the problem of telling who really owns the mortgages.

I would also like to say that selling debt is one of the biggest mistakes this country has ever made. This business model has lead directly to the derivatives and credit default swaps that created this problem. Do you think that all the entities that sell their debts represent their product any better than a person trying to sell their car. Hell, the banks were running or deeply tied to the firms giving the derivatives AAA ratings.

Profitability:

Data from MSN stock quotes

Income:

Wells Fargo - 14.37 Billion

Morgan Stanley - 2.93 Billion

Bank of America - (-3.10 Billion)

Goldman Sachs - 3.76 Billion

Chase - 10.75 Million (not sure I got the correct one)

Citigroup - 11.01 Billion

Another question, does your bank sell their loans to third parties to get capital to loan back out? If so, then your bank is as much a part of the problem because a lot of the third parties were the big commercial banks that repackaged the loans and sold them as derivatives. That is what fannie and freddie did for paper profits.

Apparently, this was someone that only joined to push their agenda. I checked and they had joined in Nov. 11 and had two comments and nothing more. I would be willing to talk more if they ever come back.