Banks Earn $44 Billion in First Quarter 2017

First Quarter Net Income of $44 Billion Is 12.7 Percent Higher Than a Year Ago Higher net operating revenue helped lift quarterly earnings of FDIC-insured institutions to $44 billion in the first quarter of 2017. First quarter net income was $5 billion (12.7 percent) higher than the year-earlier total. More than 57 percent of all banks reported year-over-year increases in quarterly earnings, while only 4.1 percent reported negative net income for the quarter. In the first quarter of 2016, 5.1 percent of banks were unprofitable. The average return on assets (ROA) rose to 1.04 percent, from 0.97 percent a year ago.

Banks Post 6.3 Percent Year-Over-Year Growth in Net Operating Revenue Net operating revenue - the sum of net interest income and total noninterest income - totaled $183.6 billion, an increase of $10.9 billion (6.3 percent) from a year ago. More than two out of three banks - 69.7 percent - reported year-over-year growth in net operating revenue. Noninterest income increased $2.1 billion (3.4 percent) over first quarter 2016, as trading income rose by $1.5 billion (26 percent), and servicing income increased by $1.9 billion (220.6 percent). Net interest income was $8.8 billion (7.8 percent) higher, as average interest-bearing assets rose 4.9 percent, and the average net interest margin (NIM) improved to 3.19 percent from 3.10 percent a year ago. Much of the NIM improvement occurred at large banks, as higher short-term interest rates lifted average asset yields. Smaller banks, which have a larger share of their assets in longer-term investments, did not see their NIMs benefit from the rise in short-term rates. More than half of all banks - 53.7 percent - reported lower NIMs than a year ago. Noninterest expenses were $4.5 billion (4.3 percent) higher than a year ago. Salary and employee benefits costs rose $3.3 billion (6.6 percent), as FDIC-insured institutions reported 41,469 more employees than a year ago, a 2 percent increase. Expenses for premises and fixed assets increased by $435 million (3.9 percent) compared to first quarter 2016.



Provisions Register First Decline in Almost Three Years Banks set aside $12 billion in provisions for loan losses in the first quarter, a decline of $541 million (4.3 percent) from a year earlier. This is the first time in the past 11 quarters that loss provisions have fallen. A slightly larger proportion of banks reported higher provision expenses - 34.8 percent - compared to the 31.5 percent who had lower quarterly provisions.

Banks Report Higher Charge-Offs on Loans to Individuals During the first quarter, banks charged-off $11.5 billion in loans, an increase of $1.4 billion (13.4 percent) over the total for first quarter 2016. This is the sixth consecutive quarter that charge-offs have posted a year-over-year increase. Most of the increase consisted of higher losses on loans to individuals. Net charge-offs of credit card balances were up $1.3 billion (22.1 percent), while auto loan charge-offs increased $199 million (27.7 percent), and charge-offs of other loans to individuals rose by $474 million (66.4 percent). In contrast, charge-offs on loans to commercial and industrial (C&I) borrowers were $291 million (15.7 percent) lower than a year ago, while residential mortgage charge-offs were $221 million (52.5 percent) lower. The average net charge-off rate in the first quarter was 0.49 percent, compared to 0.46 percent a year earlier.

Noncurrent Loan Balances Continue to Decline The amount of loans and leases that were noncurrent - 90 days or more past due or in nonaccrual status - fell for the 27th time in the last 28 quarters. In the first three months of 2017, noncurrent loan balances declined by $7 billion (5.3 percent). All major loan categories saw noncurrent balances fall during the quarter. Noncurrent residential mortgage loans declined by $5.3 billion (8.2 percent), while noncurrent C&I loans fell by $1.2 billion (4.6 percent). The average noncurrent loan rate improved from 1.42 percent at year-end 2016 to 1.34 percent at the end of March. This is the lowest average noncurrent rate for the industry since third quarter 2007.



Equity Capital Posts Relatively Strong Increase Equity capital increased by $28.6 billion (1.5 percent) during the quarter. Retained earnings contributed $16.7 billion to equity growth in the quarter. This is $1.6 billion (8.9 percent) less than a year ago, as first quarter dividends were $6.6 billion (31.7 percent) higher. Accumulated other comprehensive income posted a $3.3 billion improvement, as a slight decline in long-term interest rates caused a reduction in unrealized losses in securities portfolios.

Pace of Loan Growth Slows Total loans and leases declined by $8.1 billion (0.1 percent) during the three months ended March 31. This is the first quarterly decline in loan balances since first quarter 2013. Credit card loans posted a seasonal decline of $43.7 billion (5.5 percent), as cardholders paid down outstanding balances. Residential mortgage loans fell by $10.2 billion (0.5 percent), reflecting increased loan sales activity. C&I loans increased by $25.6 billion (1.3 percent), while real estate loans secured by nonfarm nonresidential properties rose by $22.5 billion (1.7 percent). Unused loan commitments increased by $119.3 billion (1.7 percent) during the quarter. The slowing in loan growth that began in the second half of last year continued through the first quarter. The 12-month loan growth rate slowed to 4 percent, down from 5.3 percent in calendar year 2016. While all major loan categories saw balances rise over the past 12 months, annual growth rates are now lower than they were in the previous quarter and a year ago. The rate of loan growth remains above the nominal GDP growth rate.



FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile

Peter Schiff: Fed Has No Exit Strategy!

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Peter Schiff

Bernanke Almost Comes Clean On "Exit" Strategy

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MetLife No Longer Designated Bank Holding Company

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MetLife reported QE December 2012 financial results on February 13

MetLife Sheds Bank Holding Company Status with Approvals from the Federal Reserve and FDIC

NEW YORK -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Feb. 14, 2013 -- MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) announced today that it has received the required approvals from both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve to deregister as a bank holding company.

MetLife completed its sale of MetLife Bank’s depository business to General Electric Capital on January 11.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. is a leading global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs, serving 90 million customers. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

MetLife Sheds Bank Holding Company Status with Approvals from the Federal Reserve and FDIC

$MET $XLF

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Federal Reserve Issues 2 Cease & Desist Orders Against JPMorgan

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Federal Reserve Board Issues Two Consent Cease and Desist Orders Against JPMorgan Chase & Co.

(Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; January 14, 2013)

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve Board on Monday issued two consent Cease and Desist Orders against JPMorgan Chase & Co., New York, New York (JPMC), a registered bank holding company. The first order requires JPMC to take corrective action to continue ongoing enhancements to its risk-management program and its finance and internal audit functions, particularly in regard to JPMC's Chief Investment Office (CIO). The Board's order follows the disclosure of significant losses in a large synthetic credit portfolio that was managed by the CIO. The second order requires JPMC to take corrective action to enhance its program for compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering requirements at JPMC's various subsidiaries.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Monday issued two similar Consent Orders against JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Columbus, Ohio.

Consent Cease and Desist Order #1

1. Source of Strength: The board of directors shall take appropriate steps to ensure that the Bank complies with the Consent Order issued by the OCC.

2. Board Oversight: Within 60 days of this Order, the board of directors shall submit to the Reserve Bank an acceptable written plan to continue ongoing enhancements to the board’s oversight of JPMC’s risk management, internal audit, and finance functions.

3. Risk Management: Within 60 days of this Order, JPMC shall submit to the Reserve Bank an acceptable written plan to continue ongoing enhancements to its risk management program, particularly with respect to the matters set forth below.

4. Finance: Within 90 days of this Order, JPMC shall submit to the Reserve Bank an acceptable written plan to continue ongoing enhancements to the finance function, particularly with respect to the CIO finance function.

5. Internal Audit: Within 90 days of this Order, JPMC shall submit to the Reserve Bank an acceptable written plan to continue ongoing enhancements to firmwide internal audit, particularly with respect to the matters set forth below.

6. & 7. Approval, Implementation, and Progress Reports to Federal Reserve

Consent Cease and Desist Order #2

1. Source of Strength: The board of directors shall take appropriate steps to ensure that the Bank complies with the Consent Order issued by the OCC.

2. Board Oversight: Within 60 days of this Order, JPMC’s board of directors shall submit to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the “Reserve Bank”) an acceptable written plan to continue ongoing enhancements to the board’s oversight of JPMC’s firmwide compliance risk management program with regard to compliance with BSA/AML Requirements.

3. Compliance Risk Management Program: Within 60 days of this Order, JPMC shall submit an acceptable written plan to the Reserve Bank to improve the firmwide compliance risk management program with regard to BSA/AML Requirements and the regulations issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury

4. and 5. BSA/AML Compliance Program: Within 90 days of this Order, JPMC shall complete a review of the effectiveness of JPMC’s firmwide BSA/AML compliance program (the “BSA/AML Review”) and prepare a written report of findings and recommendations (the “BSA/AML Report”).

6. Progress Reports to Federal Reserve

7. Approval and Implementation of Plans to Federal Reserve

Consent Cease and Desist Order #1 (.pdf file)

Consent Cease and Desist Order #2 (.pdf file)

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Federal Reserve Announces $8.5 Billion Mortgage Settlement

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Independent Foreclosure Review to Provide $3.3 Billion in Payments, $5.2 Billion in Mortgage Assistance

(Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; January 7, 2013)

WASHINGTON -- Ten mortgage servicing companies subject to enforcement actions for deficient practices in mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing have reached an agreement in principle with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board to pay more than $8.5 billion in cash payments and other assistance to help borrowers.

The sum includes $3.3 billion in direct payments to eligible borrowers and $5.2 billion in other assistance, such as loan modifications and forgiveness of deficiency judgments. The payments involve mortgage servicers operating under enforcement actions issued in April 2011 by the OCC, the Federal Reserve, and the Office of Thrift Supervision. The agreement ensures that more than 3.8 million borrowers whose homes were in foreclosure in 2009 and 2010 with the participating servicers will receive cash compensation in a timely manner.

Eligible borrowers are expected to receive compensation ranging from hundreds of dollars up to $125,000, depending on the type of possible servicer error.

This agreement includes Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. For these participating servicers, fulfillment of the agreement would meet the requirements of the enforcement actions that mandated that the servicers retain independent consultants to conduct an Independent Foreclosure Review.

Independent Foreclosure Review to Provide $3.3 Billion in Payments, $5.2 Billion in Mortgage Assistance

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U.S. Bancorp Announces $80 Million Foreclosure Settlement

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U.S. Bancorp Issues Statement in Response to Independent Foreclosure Review Settlement Agreement

MINNEAPOLIS -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Jan. 7, 2013 -- U.S. Bancorp issued the following statement in response to this morning’s announcement from the OCC and the Federal Reserve regarding the Independent Foreclosure Review settlement agreement:

U.S. Bancorp has long been committed to sound modification and foreclosure practices. We have always regarded foreclosure as a last resort, and have helped thousands of borrowers over the past several years to stay in their homes through a variety of modification programs.

U.S. Bancorp’s share of the settlement will include a cash payment of $80 million (pretax), which is expected to reduce fourth-quarter 2012 earnings per share by approximately 3 cents. In addition, the settlement includes a commitment to provide approximately $128 million of other mortgage assistance, such as loan modifications, which is covered by existing loan loss reserves.

U.S. Bancorp Issues Statement in Response to Independent Foreclosure Review Settlement Agreement

$USB $XLF

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The Real Fiscal Cliff: How to Spot the Ledge

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Peter Schiff

The Real Fiscal Cliff: How to Spot the Ledge | Peter Schiff

Archived from the live Mises.tv broadcast, this lecture by Peter Schiff was presented at the Mises Circle in Manhattan: "Central Banking, Deposit Insurance, and Economic Decline." Includes an introduction by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

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Peter Schiff: Fed Chair Bernanke Throws US Dollar Over the Currency Cliff!

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Peter Schiff

Ben Bernanke Throws the Dollar Over the Currency Cliff

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Federal Reserve Penalizes American Express for Deceptive Debt Collection Practices

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Federal Reserve Board Issues Consent Order and Order of Assessment of a Civil Monetary Penalty

(FRB; October 1, 2012)

The Federal Reserve Board on Monday announced a formal enforcement action, including a $9 million civil money penalty, against American Express Company (Amex) and American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (TRS) to address deceptive marketing and debt collection practices and associated deficiencies in compliance risk management and internal audit. Amex and TRS are both registered bank holding companies based in New York.

TRS provides debt collection and marketing services to its subsidiary banks, American Express Centurion Bank (AECB) and American Express Bank, FSB (AEFSB), and also services its own credit card portfolio. In providing those services, TRS allegedly led customers to believe that their defaulted debt would be "waived" or "forgiven" by acting on a settlement offer without also disclosing the effect that settling for less than the full debt would have on the customers' future credit opportunities. TRS also allegedly made deceptive representations in credit card solicitations concerning the benefits customers would receive by acting on the offer. The Federal Reserve also found that deficiencies in compliance risk management and internal audit, which are firm-wide functions at Amex, allegedly allowed these practices to occur.

The Board's action was taken in coordination with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions. Each agency is announcing formal enforcement actions against entities in the American Express organization that they supervise, which include AECB and AEFSB. TRS's credit card customers affected by the allegedly deceptive practices will be compensated according to the CFPB's enforcement action against TRS.

In addition to the $9 million civil money penalty, the Board's enforcement action requires Amex and TRS to improve consumer compliance oversight and compliance risk-management and internal audit programs.

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America: Land of Indefinite Corporate Power, Debt, Detention, Quantitative Easing, Wars

Ah yes, America, the Land of the Fee and  Home of the Grave. Big Brother wages perpetual war to keep the masses rooting for him while the national security and surveillance state ramps up and comes down on you, your family, friends, neighbors, and fellow Americans. Ahead is not only a Fiscal Cliff, but a Day of Reckoning - not more and more exciting TV shows, celebrity news, and 'all is well' corporate mass media coverage. The Matrix has plans for you and your best interests are not in their equation.

You and your descendants will be expected and forced to pay up in taxes, fees, and inflation. Your discretionary income will continue shrinking - but not for the Wall Street Banksters, corporate elite, and politicians wealthy from bribes. They are exempt from paying up by design. You pay, they play. The tab per American citizen (man, woman, child) for the funded USA debt is $51,038 and your share of the FYE 2012 interest expense is $1,191. Both of these per capita amounts, from government data, are grossly understated.

The Supreme Court in January 2010 swept aside the individual citizen with a ruling that corporations are persons with electioneering rights and can attempt to sway elections by authority of the Citizens United case. Even Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, "corporations are people".

President Obama crushed individual liberties, with the overwhelming support of Congress (from the Tea Party caucus to the Progressive caucus voting 'Yes'), by signing the National Defense Authorization Act late on New Year's Eve (December 31, 2011). This provided for the indefinite detention of America citizens (without legal counsel, a judge, a trial, or a jury of peers) as decided by the Office of the President. This is, of course, the Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot totalitarian system of citizen control and ultimately annihilation.

Congress has shown blatant and willful disregard for over a decade of the USA's fiscal future by running up funded debt of over $16 trillion (unfunded is easily in excess of $50 trillion). Next will be Internet censorship. Dissent is the new inconvenient truth. Dissenters will be labeled terrorists for NDAA indefinite detention purposes. The War on Terror is the War on You. The security searches and checkpoints, including groping your genitals to teach you compliance and submission, have already begun.

With all 3 branches of the USA federal government assaulting the American citizen's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that leaves the Federal Reserve for the final blow. Now Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke has announced the beginning of the end of the The Great American Empire with indefinite quantitative easing, with indefinite money printing, with indefinite inflation. This is not QE 3, this is QE Infinity. This announces the "U.S. Dollar in not worth the paper it is not printed on" - more and more dollars, less and less value. The final financial and economic assault on the American citizen has begun and will now intensify. You'll be seeing more of this, as you already have, as you shop for food, fuel, and basic living needs.

Egan-Jones rating agency immediately downgraded USA sovereign debt from AA to AA- upon the Federal Reserve's QE Infinity announcement. The SEC most likely will announce a retaliatory investigation of Egan-Jones later in an effort of intimidation and censorship of the truth. The SEC and Federal Reserve are controlled by the Wall Street Banksters and they don't want you to know America has been pillaged by them. The world's worst and most criminal credit rating agencies who also serve the Wall Street Banksters (Standard and Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch) have negative outlooks on the bankrupt American Dream but that is as far as they dare go. Moody's and Fitch continue to think we will believe the USA is AAA while Standard and Poor's rates America at AA+. Among other credit rating agencies a more dismal and accurate story is told:
Dagong Global Credit (China): A, Outlook Negative
Weiss Ratings: C-, equivalent to BBB- or 1 level above junk, Outlook Not Provided

Egan-Jones cited the obvious in their American sovereign debt downgrade: debt greater than GDP, a weaker U.S. Dollar resulting from indefinite quantitative easing, an ongoing zero interest rate environment, unsustainable budget deficits.

With the Federal Reserve's QE Infinity, Congress can continue deficit spending, the oldest sovereign trick in the book. No need to balance the budget until the Day of Reckoning. This props up the financial system, prices will go higher, commodity prices will increase, other hard asset prices will rise, and the markets will continue well aloft. The ridiculous and criminal idea that the Fed is creating  jobs with printing money will ultimately be shown a sham. The global corporations want the cheap labor of Asia and South America, not the higher cost American labor. The USA's future is 'post-industrial' which means most jobs will be low-paying service jobs. A poor nation is easier to control per totalitarian doctrine. A middle class is pesky and has higher expectations such as a future.

Through federal government accounting chicanery, the July 2012 interest expense was a negative -$52 billion and this reduced the annualized interest expense and related annualized effective interest rate paid. No matter, the financial truth and facts will ultimately prevail, they always do, and the FY 2012 interest expense is actually an all-time high no matter what the proven liars in Washington say.



The graphic story of the pillaging of a nation.



The real reason the Federal Reserve's zero interest rate environment is indefinite. America will financially collapse if interest rates spike when the debt is $16+ trillion. That's why the Federal Reserve has to buy a significant portion off the U.S. Treasury debt - to keep rates low and fund the ongoing deficits. There's not enough lenders, buyers of U.S. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds, to keep the Ponzi scheme afloat.



Charts consist of the latest data available from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (GDP at 6-30-12), U.S. Treasury (Public Debt at 9-16-12), and U.S. Census Bureau (Population at 9-16-12):
Public Debt $16.05 trillion GDP $15.61 trillion
Population 314.39 million
Annualized Interest Expense $374.29 billion (the books are cooked)
Effective Interest Rate 2.53% (actually higher than 3.0%)

USA Sovereign Debt Now Exceeds GDP: Greetings From Big Brother

$SPY $DIA $QQQ $IWM

Federal Reserve Releases GDP, Unemployment, Inflation Projections

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Federal Open Market Committee GDP Projections

Federal Open Market Committee Unemployment Rate Projections

Federal Open Market Committee PCE Inflation Projections

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Federal Reserve: "Economic activity has continued to expand at a moderate pace"

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Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

Federal Reserve Issues FOMC statement

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in August suggests that economic activity has continued to expand at a moderate pace in recent months. Growth in employment has been slow, and the unemployment rate remains elevated. Household spending has continued to advance, but growth in business fixed investment appears to have slowed. The housing sector has shown some further signs of improvement, albeit from a depressed level. Inflation has been subdued, although the prices of some key commodities have increased recently. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee is concerned that, without further policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions. Furthermore, strains in global financial markets continue to pose significant downside risks to the economic outlook. The Committee also anticipates that inflation over the medium term likely would run at or below its 2 percent objective.

To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most consistent with its dual mandate, the Committee agreed today to increase policy accommodation by purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month. The Committee also will continue through the end of the year its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities as announced in June, and it is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities. These actions, which together will increase the Committee’s holdings of longer-term securities by about $85 billion each month through the end of the year, should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative.

The Committee will closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments in coming months. If the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially, the Committee will continue its purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate until such improvement is achieved in a context of price stability. In determining the size, pace, and composition of its asset purchases, the Committee will, as always, take appropriate account of the likely efficacy and costs of such purchases.

To support continued progress toward maximum employment and price stability, the Committee expects that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy will remain appropriate for a considerable time after the economic recovery strengthens. In particular, the Committee also decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate are likely to be warranted at least through mid-2015.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth A. Duke; Dennis P. Lockhart; Sandra Pianalto; Jerome H. Powell; Sarah Bloom Raskin; Jeremy C. Stein; Daniel K. Tarullo; John C. Williams; and Janet L. Yellen. Voting against the action was Jeffrey M. Lacker, who opposed additional asset purchases and preferred to omit the description of the time period over which exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate are likely to be warranted.

Fed Takes Aggressive Stimulus Action to Move Economy Forward

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke announced the Fed's third attempt to stimulate the economy by buying up mortgage-backed securities and bonds and keep borrowing rates low. Judy Woodruff talks to David Wessel, economics editor for The Wall Street Journal, to understand why the Fed chose this course of action.

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Marc Faber on Hedging the Bernanke Put and QE3 with Gold, Land, and Equities!

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Marc Faber on Hedging the Bernanke Put and QE3 with Gold, Land and Equities!

Welcome to Capital Account. The Fed gave the QE-addicted markets another dose of its stimulus drug today as it announced another securities purchase program. The Fed launched an open-ended program to buy $40 billion in mortgage backed securities each month, a program that will continue until the labor market improves. The Fed also committed to record low interest rates even after the economy strengthens. To what end will the Fed pursue this accommodative stance? In response to this action gold climbed to a six month high. Marc Faber, Gloom Boom and Doom publisher, has said that he will not sell any of his gold as long as people like Ben Bernanke are running the world's central banks. We ask Dr.Faber about his near term outlook for gold, and what he thinks of Ben Bernanke's monetary policy.

Also, an editorial from Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, warns that massive spending to boost China's economy could be detrimental. How does this effect China's growth or slow down? We ask Marc Faber, founder of Marc Faber limited and author of the book "Tomorrow's Gold," about likelihood of a contraction in China and other Asian economies.

Plus, in today's episode of "Loose Change," Lauren and Demetri discuss the reports of Jon Corzine's meeting with officials from the Department of Justice last week, ten months after MF Global failed.

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Government Lending Drives Consumer Credit Higher!

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Federal Reserve: Monthly Consumer Credit

USA Consumer Credit Holders/Lenders (Not Seasonally Adjusted)



USA Private and Public Sector Lending (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

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USA Consumer Credit at Post-Recession High

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Federal Reserve: Monthly Consumer Credit

USA Total Consumer Credit (Not Seasonally Adjusted)



USA Total Revolving Credit (Not Seasonally Adjusted)



USA Total NonRevolving Credit (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

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Peter Schiff: Fed Readies QE3, Gold Standard, Fiat US Dollar

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Peter Schiff

The Fed Readies QE3, Republicans Re-Consider the Gold Standard

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Wall Street Banksters: Ongoing Bailouts & No Criminal Prosecutions!

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Neil Barofsky on the Ongoing Bailout of Wall Street and the Lack of Criminal Prosecutions

Welcome to Capital Account. The legacy of the financial crisis and the response from the government is still making headlines. It has turned into a legacy with taxpayers footing the bill and Wall Street paying less for its crimes. Today the SEC charged Wells Fargo's brokerage firm, as well as a former Vice President, for selling investments tied to Mortgage-Backed Securities without fully understanding their complexity or disclosing the risk to investors. Wells Fargo agreed to settle the charges. However, a fine of $6.5 million, no admission of guilt, and a 6-month suspension of the Vice President sounds like a handslap playing on a broken record. We talk to Neil Barofsky, the man who helped prosecute the CEO and President of Refco, and the watchdog for TARP -- the government-sposered bailout of Wall Street.

Neil Barofsky discuses the costs associated with the taxpayer funded bailouts of wall street doled out through tarp and the false promises made under the pretense of bailing out main street. He provides an in-depth account of his experience behind the scenes, as he tried to negotiate what he initially believed, was a program designed to save main street, but that he later discovered was really created with the full intention of bailing out wall street. That man is Neil Barofsky, the former Special Inspector General for TARP and author of "Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street."

Also, Bloomberg reports that Russell Wasendorf Sr., the CEO of the bankrupt Peregrine Financial Group, was indicted on 31 counts for making false statements to regulators. We ask Neil Barofsky if, even without blatant confessions of guilt, there are legitimate criminal cases that could be built around executives at major firms. He cites the LIBOR scandal as the most current, and most obvious example of an opportunity for criminal charges and prosecutions to be filed by authorities.

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Max Keiser: World in Financial Holocaust!

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Wall Street Bankster, Con Artist, and Financial Terrorist: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon

Max Keiser: We're in A Financial Holocaust!

On the Sunday, August 12 edition of Infowars Live, Alex hosts Max Keiser discussing the ravaged state of the U.S. economy and fragility of markets as published in a recent Fox News article The Coming Economic Collapse.

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Federal Reserve Fines MetLife for Unsafe, Unsound Mortgage, Foreclosure Processes

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Federal Reserve Board announces issuance of monetary sanctions against MetLife

(Federal Reserve; August 7, 2012)

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday announced the issuance of monetary sanctions totaling $3.2 million against MetLife, Inc. for failure to adequately oversee its subsidiary bank's mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing operations. The oversight deficiencies represented unsafe and unsound practices at MetLife and corrective measures were required by a formal enforcement action issued against the company on April 13, 2011.

The $3.2 million assessed against MetLife takes into account the maximum amount prescribed for unsafe and unsound practices under the applicable statutory limits, the comparative severity of MetLife's misconduct, and the comparative size of MetLife's foreclosure activities.

The April 2011 action against MetLife was among 14 corrective actions issued against large mortgage servicers or their parent holding companies for unsafe and unsound processes and practices in residential mortgage loans servicing and foreclosure processing. Those deficiencies were identified by examiners during reviews conducted from November 2010 to January 2011.

The Board's assessment order against MetLife contains similar terms to those in the assessment orders issued by the Board in February 2012 imposing monetary sanctions against five other mortgage servicing organizations. The Board's assessments against these five organizations were issued in conjunction with a comprehensive settlement agreement between the organizations and the state attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice requiring the organizations to provide payments and designated types of monetary assistance and remediation to residential mortgage borrowers. Although MetLife was not a party to the settlement in February, the Board's monetary sanctions against MetLife contemplate the possibility of a similar settlement under which MetLife agrees to provide borrower assistance or remediation.

In particular, if by June 30, 2013, MetLife enters into a settlement with the attorneys general and Justice Department similar to the February agreement, MetLife must pay the Board the amount not expended by MetLife within two years of its agreement for borrower assistance or remediation in compliance with the settlement agreement. If there is no settlement agreement by June 30, 2013, MetLife will be required to pay to the Board the portion of the $3.2 million that it has not expended by August 6, 2014, on funding to nonprofit organizations for counseling to borrowers who are facing default or foreclosure, or in connection with the independent foreclosure reviews required by the April 2011 enforcement actions.

The Federal Reserve will closely monitor expenditures on borrower assistance and remediation and the counseling program and compliance by MetLife with the requirements of the monetary sanctions issued by the Board. Any money paid by MetLife to the Board will be remitted to the U.S. Treasury.

The Board is taking action against MetLife at this time in light of MetLife's publicly announced decision to sell its subsidiary bank's deposit-taking operations. Because that sale is subject to formal approval by regulators other than the Board and would result in MetLife no longer being a bank holding company, the Board believes it is appropriate to act at this time.

The Board continues to believe that monetary sanctions in the remaining cases are appropriate and plans to announce monetary penalties against those organizations.

Federal Reserve Board announces issuance of monetary sanctions against MetLife

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Federal Reserve: "Economic activity decelerated somewhat over the first half of this year"

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Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

Federal Reserve Issues FOMC statement

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June suggests that economic activity decelerated somewhat over the first half of this year. Growth in employment has been slow in recent months, and the unemployment rate remains elevated. Business fixed investment has continued to advance. Household spending has been rising at a somewhat slower pace than earlier in the year. Despite some further signs of improvement, the housing sector remains depressed. Inflation has declined since earlier this year, mainly reflecting lower prices of crude oil and gasoline, and longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee expects economic growth to remain moderate over coming quarters and then to pick up very gradually. Consequently, the Committee anticipates that the unemployment rate will decline only slowly toward levels that it judges to be consistent with its dual mandate. Furthermore, strains in global financial markets continue to pose significant downside risks to the economic outlook. The Committee anticipates that inflation over the medium term will run at or below the rate that it judges most consistent with its dual mandate.

To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most consistent with its dual mandate, the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy. In particular, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions--including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run - are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014.

The Committee also decided to continue through the end of the year its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities as announced in June, and it is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities. The Committee will closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments and will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth A. Duke; Dennis P. Lockhart; Sandra Pianalto; Jerome H. Powell; Sarah Bloom Raskin; Jeremy C. Stein; Daniel K. Tarullo; John C. Williams; and Janet L. Yellen. Voting against the action was Jeffrey M. Lacker, who preferred to omit the description of the time period over which economic conditions are likely to warrant an exceptionally low level of the federal funds rate.

Fed Pledges Help But Waits to Act on Economic Vulnerability

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