Banks Failing

Detective Krum

Banks Failing

By: Detective Krum

Recent scare tactics by corporate media, some members of Congress, the President, Wall Street insiders claim the recent vote in Congress to reject a bailout will be catastrophic. The question is, How do you define catastrophic? Well, they say, credit will tighten up, companies won’t be able to make payroll, investment portfolios will be cut in half, people will loose their jobs. Some have said their will be no loans. Call your bank and ask them if they approved ANY loans this week. Sure, banks may require more down, in cash. The next question is, So before the federal reserve bank was around, pre 1930s, America was a dismal place, is that right? Well look at the stock market crash of 1929, they’ll say. OK, let’s look at that, what caused the crash? Was it bankers? Was it greed? Was it behind the scenes maneuvering of people like Hoover? Was it a behind the scenes effort to bring in a central bank called the Federal Reserve? I’m not here to debate how America has become a poorer nation because of credit, the federal reserve, debt, loss of gold and silver, loss of jobs through Congress over-regulating, Congress stifling growth in America because they want to bring about a “New World Order” as trumpeted by George Herbert Walker Bush. Isn’t there a Bible saying that says something like, “Like father, like son?” I want to look at current bank failures and show, I have struck a nerve here by showing bank conditions.

You’ll find some links here in a pdf file which you can open and save. Points:

1. JP Morgan Chase and Washington Mutual – Right from the Treasury we get the following, click the link too.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 26, 2008 Contact: Robert M. Garsson

OCC Approves Applications for JPMorgan Chase Bank

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced today it has approved applications for JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, to acquire assets and liabilities from Washington Mutual Bank, and to merge Washington Mutual Bank FSB, into JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association. The OCC also approved the application of Chase USA, National Association, to acquire from JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, certain assets and liabilities that JPMorgan Chase acquired from Washington Mutual Bank.

This means Washington Mutual merges into JP Morgan Chase and Chase USA is acquiring certain assets and {certain} liabilities. The rest of the assets and liabilities Chase USA does not get, JP Morgan Chase Bank keeps. The question here, what assets is Chase USA receiving and what assets is JP Morgan Chase getting?

To get a pdf file from JP Morgan Chase attorney click HERE. Or go to the above link then click the pdf. link.

I have received an email from Bank of Coral Gables and decided not to print the name of the person sending the email. Here is a portion of the text from that email:

“Attention: Detective Krum, I am writing on behalf of Bank of Coral Gables to request you withdraw the reference in your blog post dated 9-28-08 describing the bank as a D or poorly rated bank.The information you are referring to in this posting is dated and more than 18 months old.”{Emphasis by sender}

I never said Bank of Coral Gables was a poorly rated bank. What I said is, “A grade of C or D means yellow flags of caution should be going up to the depositor and they need to be prepared to make a quick move if necessary. “ See Florida Banks Failing.

With the star rating system, I said a four and five star rating is best and equivalent to an (A) or (B) rated bank, again see Florida Banks Failing. I also said a two or three star rating is equivalent to a (C) or (D) rating. I pulled a couple bits of information regarding Bank of Coral Gables and here is what I found:

1. I looked at the bank using government information right here. Their FDIC Certificate # is 58131. From here, you can take a close look at the bank.

2. I looked at the type of bank Bank of Coral Gables is and compared it to a similar bank, Hillsboro Bank FDIC Certificate # 34747

Comparison of Banks

Here is a comparison of Bank of Coral Gables and comparable Hillsboro Bank in Plant City, Florida. A couple things I noticed include:

a. Bank of Coral Gables has more assets but Hillsboro has more insured assets.

b. Bank of Coral Gables has almost one third more in liabilities than Hillsboro Bank.

c. Hillsboro Bank of Plant City, Florida has an  (A-) Rating.

d. Hillsboro Bank shows no past due 30-90 assets where Bank of Coral Gables shows a lot. See Here.

e. There was an enforcement action taken against a bank called The Private Bank of Coral Gables, See Here, but I haven’t checked yet if this bank is affiliated with Bank of Coral Gables yet, so you may want to check that out for yourself.

So given the information provided by government officials and reporting statistics, would you rather do business with Bank of Coral Gables or Hillsboro Bank?

How’s SunTrust Bank?

Detective Krum

Is Your Bank At Risk?

By: Detective Krum

Is your bank at risk of failing? Let me start with a couple points:

You will be able to read this information at: http://v1-p.com/ and on this blog.

Wachovia’s takeover, sale, failure, whatever you want to call it; Why should this bank interest you?

Wachovia showed five major branches:

Houston Texas office was Rated ( C )

Charlotte, NC office was Rated ( C+ )

Wilmington, Delaware office was Rated ( B+ )

Atlanta, Georgia office was Rated ( B- )

LasVegas, Nevada office was Rated ( C- )

Looking at my previous posts regarding Florida banks, Illinois banks, Texas banks, and now Arizona banks, you understand why a bank with an ( A ) or ( B ) rating is desired. Remember, I said banks with a ( C ) or ( D ) rating meant yellow flags should go up. Three of the five Wachovia banks had a ( C ) range rating. SunTrust shows only one bank based in Atlanta, Georgia with a ( C – ) Rating. City National of Taylor, Texas has a ( C – ) Rating.

SunTrust Bank based in Georgia purchased First Priority Bank on August 2, 2008. First Priority failed and SunTrust acquisition was arranged by a regulatory agency. Granted, assets were acquired by SunTrust but it appears, so was some debt. Could this acquired debt through mortgages and maybe other areas be bad news for SunTrust? Time will tell. You can look at a detailed report here.

In looking at SunTrust, I noticed some interesting information. Looking at the picture:

SunTrust Bank

It appears that SunTrust debt has increased considerably. You can get more information regarding SunTrust right here. Why mention this? Wachovia had five banks and SunTrust shows one. Wachovia had 3 of the 5 in a ( C ) rating and two in ( B ) ratings and Wachovia couldn’t make it work. If SunTrust bank has one and it has a ( C- ) rating, how long can SunTrust stay around? SunTrust Bank stock has gone from about 85 down to 38 on 9/29/2008. The following report was from 9/23/2008.

SunTrust Banks (STI) was downgraded today by analysts at Robert W. Baird and the stock is now at $52.68, down $1.20 (-2.22%) on volume of 1,683,014 shares traded. The brokerage reduced its rating on STI to “Neutral” from “Outperform.” Over the last 52 weeks the stock has ranged from a low of $25.60 to a high of $78.76. SunTrust Banks stock has been showing support around $48.31 and resistance in the $61.59 range. Technical indicators for the stock are bearish and S&P gives STI a negative 1 STARS (out of 5) strong sell ranking. This from here.

If you have any comments or questions, please post in our comments section.

Arizona Banks Rated

Arizona Banks Better Than Illinois

Detective Krum

By: Detective Krum

I reported in the last edition, the banks in Arizona appear to be in better condition than the banks in Illinois. Senator Obama serves in the 13th District for Illinois and I reported there appears to be about 200 banks in jeopardy of failing, see the post titled Obama-land Bank Failures. Despite Senator Obama’s living in the area and working for the great people of Illinois, 200 banks in a potential failing condition should be alarming. Yet Arizona came in as follows:

Bank Rating Bank Name

E+ First National Scottsdale, Arizona

That was it for banks specific to an (E) rating. Again (A) rating is best (E & F) rating worst and red flags go up and depositors should move their deposits into a safer bank before failure. I am not giving financial advice and anyone reading this information reads and uses this information at their own risk. This information is all public record and if you copy our material, please give a link back to http://www.victory1project.wordpress.com/

Looking at Banks with a (D) rating in Arizona

Bank Rating Bank Name

D Bank 1440 Peoria, AZ

D Choice Bank Scottsdale, AZ

D+ Desert Hills Bank Phoenix, AZ

D Gold Canyon Bank Gold Canyon, AZ

D+ Legacy Bank Scottsdale, AZ

D+ Mesa Bank Mesa, AZ

D Mission Bank Kingman, AZ

D Republic Bank AZ Phoenix, AZ

D Sonoran Bank Phoenix, AZ

What was interesting is ( 29 of the 47 banks with a (D) rating) are insurance or insurance related companies and 18 are regular style banks. So putting this together:

Arizona appears to have 52 failing institutions. Of these 52 institutions 33 are insurance related companies and not what people consider a bank. Overall, Arizona appears to have 19 banks (18 with a D rating and 1 with an E rating) which are in danger of possibly failing while Illinois has 200. Could you say, where Senator Obama has been on guard, bank failures appear four times higher than where Senator McCain has been on guard? If I were to look at how many of the institutions in John McCain’s state are in a position to possibly fail, I see most are insurance related. Could the fact that most of the companies that appear to be failing in Arizona are insurance companies due to illegal immigration? Could illegal immigration be burdening insurance companies in Arizona so much that the insurance companies are likely to fail? You have to decide. If the insurance companies fail due to illegal immigration, how does that affect legal citizens? One other footnote here: I did not or have not voted for John McCain in any election or primary to this date. I voted for a different candidate. One other point, this information is available through FDIC.

Now onto the (A & B) rated in Arizona:

A+ Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona

B Country Bank Prescott, AZ

B+ Foothills Bank Yuma, AZ

B Commerce Bank Tucson

Please leave any comments or questions in the comment section.

Thank you

Detective Krum

http://congressyouarefired.blogspot.com/

Obama-land Bank Failures

Again Detective Krum responds to the economic issues here at Victory1Project. Our effort in publishing these articles from Detective Krum is done to help our readers obtain victory over their personal finances and to have information to protect their assets.

Detective Krum

Obama-land Banks Failing?

By: Detective Krum

With elections coming in America, I thought I would look at Senator Obama’s state of Illinois to see how many banks could be in jeopardy. As a Senator serving in Congress, surely Senator Obama would inform his constituents of any coming possible bank failures to protect his constituents, right? Well, it hasn’t made the news if he has informed anyone about which banks might fail in his state, so I will. After all, we are Americans, right?

To understand my terminology, I suggest you read my first post here or you can look at it here.

Illinois has about ( 200 ) banks in possible failing condition with a rating of a (D) or an (E) rating. I am not giving financial advice and am not responsible for any decisions people make from this information or any other I write about. This information is provided so people can make informed decisions. If you knew your bank had a good chance to fail, wouldn’t you want to take your money out and put your money into a safer bank? This information helps people make informed decisions.

Below is a list of banks which is considered to be “red flag” banks. The red flag indicates these banks are at great risk of failing. As mentioned before, A and B rated banks are the best, C and D rated banks indicate yellow flags of warning and E and F rated banks may indicate red flags and almost eminent failure. I have listed banks in the Illinois area which are considered possible risk of failing.

BankRating Bank Name

E+ American Metro Bank Chicago, IL

E – Citizens Bank & Trust Chicago, IL

E Family Bank & Trust Palos Hills, IL

E- First Personal Bank Orland Park, IL

E- First Suburban National, Maywood, IL

E+ McHenry Savings Bank Mchenry, IL

E- Meridian Bank Eldred, IL

E- Milford Building & Loan Milford, IL

E- Platinum Community Bank Rolling Meadows, IL

E Princeville State Bank Princeville, IL

E+ West Town Savings Bank Cicero, IL’

D Anchor State Bank Anchor, IL

D- Bank of Illinois Normal, IL

D- Belmont Bank & Trust Chicago, IL

D- Community Bank Oak Park, IL

This is not an exhaustive list of all the banks and/or thrifts. As I have to end on a positive note for victory1, I have listed some (A) rated banks in Illinois below.

A- Oak Bank Chicago, IL

A People’s National Kewanee, IL

A Reynolds State Bank Reynolds, IL

A- Rochester State Bank Rochester, IL

Senator Obama serves in the 13th District for Illinois according to Wikipedia see here

Neighboring cities or towns include Chicago, Cicero and Oak Park. Overall, about 200 possible bank failures in the Illinois area plus because we have not yet counted those banks and/or insurance companies graded in the low ( C-) range.

For a contrast, when I looked at Arizona where Senator John McCain lives I noticed Arizona has one bank with a failing (E+) grade named First National in Scottsdale, Arizona. The four other with (E) grades are insurance companies. Arizona has what appears to be ( 47 ) (D) rated banks compared to Illinois 174 (D) rated. What does this mean? It would appear there are almost four times as many banks in financial trouble in Illinois where Senator Obama is watchdog compared to Senator McCain’s area of watchdog. Is Senator McCain doing more to protect his constituents in Arizona from banks failing? You need to determine this.

Texas Banks Skid?

Victory1Project has provided a forum for Detective Krum to continue addressing personal victory over personal finances through banking issues. If you have a comment or question regarding Detective Krum’s information, please post in the comments section or send us an email.

Detective Krum

Texas Banks On A Skid

By: Detective Krum

In keeping with an old saying an informed person is wiser than a fool, I have taken the time to research specific banks to inform depositors of potential problems in their personal finances. Please look at the article defining banks failing by looking at this previous post by clicking previous postprevious post

Now I am looking at banks in Texas. What banks in Texas have a D, E, or F rating which puts them at great risk of failing? If you want to avoid potential long lines like IndyMac bank had in California, you may want to make a move with your deposits to a safer bank before the fall of your current bank. Texas banks may skid.

The following banks have an E rating which means red flags should be going up and their is a high risk this bank will fail. Remember, I am not giving financial advice and you do with this information what you will at your own risk. I am just providing information to help people make informed decisions.

Bank Rating Bank Name

E- First Bank, Snook, Texas

E+ Benchmark Bank Plano, Texas

E+ Old American City Mutual Fire Ins. Co, Texas

E+ Texas Republic Bank Frisco, Texas

E Texas National Bank Mercedes, Texas

D+ Cattleman’s National Round Mountain, Texas

D Citizens State Bank Woodville, Texas

D- Community State Bank Austin, Texas

D- Equity Bank Dallas, Texas

D- First Bank & Trust Dawson, Texas

D- Franklin Bank Houston, Texas

D- Independent Bank Irving, Texas

D- Millennium Bank Dallas, Texas

This is not an exhaustive list of possible bank failures coming to Texas. Texas appears to also have many insurance companies that have an E or D rating indicating a strong possibility to fail. Again, FDIC insurance will cover up to $ 100,000 of deposits however, no indication of how long you’ll have to wait to get your money and you could loose your house or car before you see your check from FDIC.

Recently reported through Bloomberg was the laying of of about 1,100 employees at HSBC (bank) in America. Yet we have discovered the following: The UK has a bank named B&B which is going to fail. There are three potential buyers for B&B bank in the UK and one of those buyers is HSBC. How can HSBC lay off 1,100 American workers and turn around and buy the assets of B&B bank in the UK? That might be a question for HSBC. HSBC has three banks in Delaware one in Maryland and one in Nevada. Only the Nevada bank has a (B-) rating the other three have Ds and one (an insurance unit) has a C rating.

To end this on a positive note, per victory1project, Texas has about 91 ( A ) rated banks. If you need more information about a bank in Texas, comment here or send an email.

Florida Banks Failing?

With people focusing on the bank issues, Victory 1 Project wanted to help you have victory with your financial future with appropriate information. We have provided Detective Krum a forum here to explain.

Detective Krum

Florida Banks Failing?

By: DetectiveKrum

People receive credit scores to determine, by lenders, the person’s credit-worthiness. To keep my investigation easy to understand, I will lump a variety of financial organizations which include banks, credit unions, insurance companies and so forth, into one category for now, called lenders or banks. Technically, a credit union is not a bank, but a credit union. But for this report, I will call them all banks.

As I researched banks, in lieu of the current economic conditions in America, I was interested in bank failures. With IndyMac bank failing and watching many wait outside the bank in California, I wanted to know why IndyMac depositors were not aware of their bank failing in advance. If you know your bank is in a position to fail, what would you do about your deposits? FDIC – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation provides depositors up to $ 100,000 insurance. But you might wait months to get your money from FDIC and you could loose your car or house by then. What if you could share with people, their bank’s rating in advance? What if you could show depositors, in advance, how strong or weak their bank is? People could make informed decisions and decide if they want to change banks or not.

This investigation looks at Florida. Why Florida? Because a lot of pension money, retirement accounts and life savings have been put into Florida banks as more and more retirees head south. Clearly, this list is not complete and if your bank is not on this list, email or comment and I will look into your bank’s stability.

Banks are generally rated by stars or letters. For stars, a five star rating is the best you can get and one star is the worst rating. For letters, A is the best and F the worst. The rule of thumb by most investors?  I am using the letter rating system. A bank that is rated an A or B, this the best rating for a bank. This A or B means your bank has a green light for your account and everything should be just fine.  A grade of C or D means yellow flags of caution should be going up to the depositor and they need to be prepared to make a quick move if necessary.  A bank rated as an E or F means red flags should go up and you would be wise to remove your money out of that bank before it closes. Even with FDIC, it could take a long time to figure out deposits before you could see your money from FDIC.

The list below is listing Florida banks in the lower E and F grade. These banks may be in serious trouble and appear  likely to close. If you are banking with these institutions, it might be wise to remove your deposits and find an A or B bank. If you have a loan with an E or F graded bank, keep making your payments on time. This list in no way reflects giving financial advice to anyone. Use this information as you research your bank’s solvency at your own risk. I am reporting what I see through documents supplied through FDIC and other sources.

This list of E and F graded banks is not conclusive and if you do not see your bank on this list and want to know where your bank stands, email or comment here.

(E+) – Commerce Bank of Ft. Myers, Florida

(E-) – Federal Trust Bank Sanford, Florida

(E)  – First Florida Bank Naples, Florida

(E-) – First Priority Bank Bradenton, Florida

(E+) – Florida Community Bank Immokalee, Florida

(E-) – Freedom Bank Bradenton, Florida

(E) – Ocala National Bank Ocala, Florida

(D) – Alarion Bank of Ocala Ocala, Florida

(D) – American First Bank Clermont, Florida

(E-) Federal Trust Bank Sanford, Florida

(D) First Avenue National Bank Ocala, Florida

(D) – Gateway Bank Ocala, Florida

(D) – Bank of Central Florida Lakeland, Florida

(D+) – Bank of Coral Gables Coral Gables, Florida

(D) – Bank Trust Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

(D-) – Beach Community Bank Ft. Walton Beach, Florida

(D+) – Biscayne Bank Coconut Grove, Florida

(D) – First Bank Jacksonville, Florida

(D) – Gateway Bank Ocala, Florida

(D-) – Great Eastern Bank Miami, Florida

(D+) Great Florida Bank Miami, Florida

(D-) – Sunrise Bank Cocoa Beach, Florida

This is not an exhaustive list of possible failing banks in Florida. There are about 3,000 (D rated) banks in the country another 500 of (E rated) banks.  Banks may have certain branches under different names and different parent companies. Wachovia  shows five different names all under a different rating. Two of the Wachovia banks have a  (B rating) and the other three Wachovias have a (C or low C rating). Citi Bank is allegedly buying Wachovia. Is this buyout a move on Citi Bank’s part to obtain Wachovia before ratings drop further and Wachovia fails?  Another bank to watch to maybe fail or be bought up is SunTrust Bank, based in Atlanta, Georgia yet servicing many states. SunTrust has a (C-) rating showing yellow flags of caution here and you may want to spread out your deposits to other banks.

Victory 1 Project asked me to end on a positive note, so here goes. For Florida, here is a list of (A rated) banks you may want to consider moving deposits into. Again, this list is not exhaustive.

Hillsboro Bank  Plant City, Florida

City National  Miami, Florida

Drummond Community Bank Chiefland, Fl

Community State Bank of Starke Florida

There are about (14 – A rated) banks in Florida and about 110 (B rated) banks in Florida. Readers may want to locate these banks to feel secure during this financial examination. One question readers need to ask: “How does Congress choose what banks they want taxpayers to bail out? What Constitutional authority does Congress have to bailout any business in a free market society? Of the banks Congress chooses to bail out, how much money did each Congressman make from these banks prior to the real estate bust and now?

Detective Krum 9/27/2008

Blogging Importance

This is a repost of a notice about this bailout. The Importance of this matter is so grave we felt it necessary to repost here.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Dear Friends,

Whenever a Great Bipartisan Consensus is announced, and a compliant media assures everyone that the wondrous actions of our wise leaders are being taken for our own good, you can know with absolute certainty that disaster is about to strike.

The events of the past week are no exception.

The bailout package that is about to be rammed down Congress’ throat is not just economically foolish. It is downright sinister. It makes a mockery of our Constitution, which our leaders should never again bother pretending is still in effect. It promises the American people a never-ending nightmare of ever-greater debt liabilities they will have to shoulder. Two weeks ago, financial analyst Jim Rogers said the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made America more communist than China! “This is welfare for the rich,” he said. “This is socialism for the rich. It’s bailing out the financiers, the banks, the Wall Streeters.”

That describes the current bailout package to a T. And we’re being told it’s unavoidable.

The claim that the market caused all this is so staggeringly foolish that only politicians and the media could pretend to believe it. But that has become the conventional wisdom, with the desired result that those responsible for the credit bubble and its predictable consequences – predictable, that is, to those who understand sound, Austrian economics – are being let off the hook. The Federal Reserve System is actually positioning itself as the savior, rather than the culprit, in this mess!

• The Treasury Secretary is authorized to purchase up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets at any one time. That means $700 billion is only the very beginning of what will hit us.

• Financial institutions are “designated as financial agents of the Government.” This is the New Deal to end all New Deals.

• Then there’s this: “Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.” Translation: the Secretary can buy up whatever junk debt he wants to, burden the American people with it, and be subject to no one in the process.

There goes your country.

Even some so-called free-market economists are calling all this “sadly necessary.” Sad, yes. Necessary? Don’t make me laugh.

Our one-party system is complicit in yet another crime against the American people. The two major party candidates for president themselves initially indicated their strong support for bailouts of this kind – another example of the big choice we’re supposedly presented with this November: yes or yes. Now, with a backlash brewing, they’re not quite sure what their views are. A sad display, really.

Although the present bailout package is almost certainly not the end of the political atrocities we’ll witness in connection with the crisis, time is short. Congress may vote as soon as tomorrow. With a Rasmussen poll finding support for the bailout at an anemic seven percent, some members of Congress are afraid to vote for it. Call them! Let them hear from you! Tell them you will never vote for anyone who supports this atrocity.

The issue boils down to this: do we care about freedom? Do we care about responsibility and accountability? Do we care that our government and media have been bought and paid for? Do we care that average Americans are about to be looted in order to subsidize the fattest of cats on Wall Street and in government? Do we care?

When the chips are down, will we stand up and fight, even if it means standing up against every stripe of fashionable opinion in politics and the media?

Times like these have a way of telling us what kind of a people we are, and what kind of country we shall be.

In liberty,

Ron Paul

To read more visit the Ron Paul blog Here.