MSM: Seven U.S. Banks Are Seized, Raising Year’s Failure Toll to 140

(Bloomberg) – Seven U.S. banks were seized by regulators, bringing this year’s total of failed lenders to 140 as financial companies are tested by the recession and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. anticipates more shutdowns.

Video: 1,000 Banks to Fail In Next Two Years: Bank CEO

(CNBC) – The US banking system will lose some 1,000 institutions over the next two years, said John Kanas, whose private equity firm bought BankUnited of Florida in May.

Seven More Banks Fail

Oh, the joys of not having to get up with the first ring of the alarm clock!  But then, as I laid in bed this morning wondering what to write about, it came to me in a flash:  There have been numerous alarming signs and portents in the markets this week, if one knows where to look.

Obama’s Wall Street cabinet

A series of articles published over the weekend, based on financial disclosure reports released by the Obama administration last Friday concerning top White House officials, documents the extent to which the administration, in both its personnel and policies, is a political instrument of Wall Street.

Economist: US collapse driven by ‘fraud,’ Geithner covering up bank insolvency

In an explosive interview on PBS’ Bill Moyers Journal, William K. Black, a professor of economics and law with the University of Missouri, alleged that American banks and credit agencies conspired to create a system in which so-called “liars loans” could receive AAA ratings and zero oversight, amounting to a massive “fraud” at the epicenter of US finance.

Video: From Trap to Crunch to Assimilation – The Great American Power Lunch

Before I start with anything about the banks and the financial markets and this whole mess, I should start at the beginning of all this. On the news the words are flashed, subprime, subprime, mortgage, housing crisis. Crisis crisis crisis! Well just what the hell is the subprime mortgage crisis?

FDIC: Bank Profits Fell 86% in 2Q

U.S. banking industry profits plunged by 86 percent in the second quarter and the number of troubled banks jumped to the highest level in about five years, as slumps in the housing and credit markets continued.

The Week that America Woke Up to the Economic Crisis

Last week, for the first time, the average American woke up to the fact that our economy is in trouble.