The FDIC has $52 billion in their tiny little kitty, used to insure $4.4 trillion of the $6.8 trillion deposited in America's bank accounts

Americans have $6.8 trillion deposited in institutions.

$4.2 trillion is FDIC insured

And the FDIC only has $52 billion tucked away to back the entire system.

One more time, the FDIC only has 1% put away to back the entire thing. And Americans stupidly have $2.6 trillion sitting out there at naked risk.

(side note - just think how dumb you had to be to have more than the FDIC limits sitting in IndyMac. Amazing)

In the end, after the banks fail, and the tiny little FDIC kitty is swiftly blown away, the 'insured' deposits will still be backed up. But you-know-who will be called upon to cut the check.

You and me.

The taxpayer.

And once again, if this happens, Bennie and the Inkjets would just get those printing presses going.

And the US currency emergency would go into high-gear.

Got gold?

Goldman Sachs ups subprime mortgage mess loss estimate to a HP-worthy $1.2 TRILLION. But just wait until they find out about the Alt-A and Prime mess

Still seeing 'subprime this' and 'subprime that', when we all know the REALLY big mess coming up ain't subprime at all.

Why is it so tough for everyone to see what we see? Maybe they know and just don't want to say?

When you see nationwide home values plummeting 10%+, and major cities like Vegas, Miami and Phoenix in total freefall, it's not just subprime that's for dinner. Nope, it's EVERY mortgage written the past few years that may be in trouble.

It's the IndyMac Alt-A garbage, and the First Federal Option Arm timebombs. It's the entire Countrywide portfolio. And it's regular prime loans made by regular lenders all over the country. It's all melting down now - any loan made 2003 - 2007 is suspect, especially when the rates adjust or the job losses mount.

And it infuriates me to no end to keep hearing reporting over here about the "dodgy loans made to poor people" who couldn't afford their loan that caused this mess.

IT WASN'T JUST THE POOR PEOPLE!!! It was the housing gamblers, failed flippers and mortgage fraudsters who brought down the system. A million Casey Serin's, putting no or little money down on lottery ticket STUPIDLY PRICED homes, and when prices went south, the f*cked buyers just walked away.

$1.2 trillion for subprime and we're good to go? I don't think so. Trillions in the plural will be lost by the time this is done. Trillions. And I'm looking for just ONE respected source to say it.

You want the truth America? You can't handle the truth.

Goldman sees $1.2 trillion global credit loss

Goldman Sachs forecasts global credit losses stemming from the current market turmoil will reach $1.2 trillion, with Wall Street accounting for nearly 40 percent of the losses.

U.S. leveraged institutions, which include banks, brokers-dealers, hedge funds and government-sponsored enterprises, will suffer roughly $460 billion in credit losses after loan loss provisions, Goldman Sachs economists wrote in a research note released late on Monday.

Goldman estimated $120 billion in write-offs have been reported by these leveraged institutions since the credit crunch began last summer.

"U.S. leveraged institutions have written off less than half of the losses associated with the bursting of the credit bubble," they said. "There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it is still rather dim."

FLASH: Bear Stearns on verge of failure - emergency bailout by Fed underway. HP calls for the arrest of Bear CEO Alan Schwartz for false statements

Now things are getting interesting...

I'd like to see the crap toxic mortgage CDO's the US taxpayer via the New York Fed just bought.

Oh, wait, no, I really WOULDN'T like to see the crap toxic mortgage CDO's the US taxpayer just bought.

This one's not surprising, but what is amazing (and illegal) is that Bear's CEO Alan Schwartz put out these false and misleading statements this week:

Exhibit A: "Our balance sheet has not weakened at all," he said. "We don't see any pressure on our liquidity."

Exhibit B: "We don't see any pressure on our liquidity, let alone a liquidity crisis"

Exhibit C: "there is absolutely no truth to the rumors of liquidity problems that circulated today in the market"

COME ON MAINSTREAM MEDIA - GET ON THIS STORY LIKE FLIES ON SH*T. THE US TAXPAYER IS BEING ROBBED IN THE NIGHT AND YOU LAZY BUMS DO NOTHING!!!

JPMorgan Chase, With Federal Reserve Bank of NY, to Provide Funding to Bear Stearns

NEW YORK (AP) -- The federal government and JPMorgan Chase & Co. teamed up on a bailout of Bear Stearns Cos. on Friday, a last-ditch move to save the investment bank, which acknowledged its dire financial straits after a week of firm denials.

Bear Stearns lost half of its value within 30 minutes of the market open.

While it was not clear exactly how much money Chase would pump into Bear, a person familiar with the bailout, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private, said Chase may end up buying Bear Stearns outright.

Is your bank ready for a run? Could it fail? Are you FDIC insured on your accounts? Are you certain?

Want to do a little test? For anyone who has $50,000 or more in a branch bank, go stop by tomorrow and ask to withdraw your entire balance - in cash, right there on the spot.

See what they say.

You may be surprised.

Now assume EVERY account holder in the area tried to do that tomorrow - perhaps after news that the bank might be one of the ones about to fail.

It wouldn't be pretty.

Here's a posting from an HP'er who did the test today:

Anonymous said...

I went to the bank today to withdraw about $10,000 in cash. The bank was so low on cash they could barely give me my 10k.

At that point I asked if I could withdraw my entire balance (around 50k) in cash. I just wanted to see if they could. Sure enough they could not. Evidently they've had many people all day long pulling their cash out of the bank.

Freaking scary.

FLASH: UK government rushes new policies to prepare for more bank failures. Get ready folks, it's coming...

The British government, after acting like stupid chickens with their heads cut off during the collapse of the Northern Rock bank, has now put into place new policies in order to deal with the wave of bank failures about to hit in 2008 and beyond.

Not a moment too soon I'd say.

Also, the US Fed today stepped up their secret cash auctions to failing banks by 50%. Hmmm...

Waves of banks will be failing in Europe and the US. Waves of 'em. No surprises for HP'ers.

IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN THE FDIC LIMIT IN ANY US BANK - GET IT OUT TODAY AND GET IT OUT NOW - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. IF YOU HAVE DEPOSITS ANYWHERE ELSE, OPERATE UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT YOUR BANK WILL FAIL. GET YOUR MONEY INTO SAFE ASSETS NOW - AND NO, MONEY MARKET FUNDS ARE NOT SAFE.

UK regulator to get tough powers over failing banks

Britain's financial regulator is to be given sweeping powers to intervene in failing banks, as part of a banking code shake-up aimed at avoiding a repeat of the crisis that engulfed Northern Rock, the mortgage lender.

Alistair Darling, the chancellor, said the new powers - which echo those in place in the US - would allow the Financial Services Authority to seize and protect depositors' cash when a bank got into serious difficulty, heading off the risk of a run on the bank.

He also proposed changes to Britain's regulatory system - the so-called tripartite system - where the Treasury, Bank of England and FSA work together in handling banking crises.

"I want to make sure our own legislation is up to the mark in dealing with problems when they arise in future," Mr Darling told the Financial Times.