In his comments with the Unofficial Problem Bank list , surferdude808 noted that the Federal Reserve issued a Prompt Corrective Action order against Orion Bank on Thursday. Orion was seized the following day by the FDIC. The PCA order makes for interesting reading (Note: Stephen at FUMU Financ ... Read more

Gretchen Morgenson at the NY Times writes about the tax loss carry-forward "gift" for home builders in the recently signed "Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009": Home Builders (You Heard That Right) Get a Gift The Center for Responsive Politics reports that through Oct. 26 of ... Read more

From Barron's: Sam Zell: Too Soon for Dancing Sam Zell ... said ... that the time isn't ripe because owners of office, retail and warehouse properties and their lenders are living in a dream world, believing that property prices will recover and vacancies will drop. ... "Everybody is waiting for ... Read more

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is the federal agency that guarantees pensions for 44 million Americans. The PBGC deficit doubled over the last six months to $22 billion ... but this is only just the beginning as the agency's potential exposure to future losses increased sharply. F ... Read more

This is amusing ... From the Telegraph: FSA treats mortgage lenders like 'drug dealers', says CML chief Hitting back at the idea that lenders are “evil” and reckless, [Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) chief] Matthew Wyles said the industry should be allowed to treat its customers as adults, ... Read more

When Pacific National Bank of San Clemente was closed by regulators Friday, the TARP lost $4.12 million (ht Matt Padilla ). Last week the TARP lost $298.7 when San Francisco-based United Commercial Bank (UCBH Holdings) failed. It looks like TARP losses are becoming a trend ... and, oh, the cost ... Read more

Note: This was before the three FDIC bank seizures today. This is an unofficial list of Problem Banks. Changes and comments from surferdude808: The Unofficial Problem Bank List changed by a net two institutions this week to 507. Seven institutions with assets of $1.6 billion were added to ... Read more

Near the waters edge Sun sets on Pacific Coast A bank, drowned by debt by Soylent Green is People From the FDIC : Sunwest Bank, Tustin, California, Assumes All of the Deposits of Pacific Coast National Bank, San Clemente, California Pacific Coast National Bank, San Clemente, California, was ... Read more

Suited Bureaucrats Waiting for critical mass Century flames out What is that white light? Orion Supernovas Hot money burns bright by Soylent Green is People From the FDIC : IBERIABANK, Lafayette, Louisiana, Assumes All of the Deposits of Century Bank, Federal Savings Bank, Sarasota, ... Re ... Read more

From the WSJ: State Finance Directors Warn of More Trouble Ahead "I looked as hard as I could at how states could declare bankruptcy," said Michael Genest, director of the California Department of Finance who is stepping down at the end of the year. "I literally looked at the federal constitution ... Read more