"If we don't get ahead of this, we are going to face a run on the retail banks by election day,"

[BR_Parkway]

Interesting what the AP buries near the end of articles that are written with the most emphasis of saying "well yes, Lehman and Merrill are bankrupt, but The Market has it well under control - relax, don't worry - go shopping even..."

Only when you read all the way down to the bottom do you find these wonderful little quotes:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080915/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown

The International Monetary Fund predicted earlier this year that total losses from the credit crisis could reach almost $1 trillion. So far, banks have only taken about $350 billion in losses.

Commercial banks are also starting to feel the pinch. Eleven have closed so far this year, including Pasadena, Calif.-based IndyMac Bank, which had $32 billion in assets and $19 billion in deposits.

Christopher Whalen, managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics, a research firm, predicts that approximately 110 banks with $850 billion in assets could close by next July. That's out of 8,400 federally insured institutions, he said, which together hold $13 trillion in assets.

Individual customers are starting to get nervous about the financial health of their banks for the first time in generations, he said. Whalen's firm analyzes the safety and soundness of banks for business clients, but began receiving inquiries from individuals in the past two months for the first time, he said.

"If we don't get ahead of this, we are going to face a run on the retail banks by election day," he said.

[Demeter]

1. Right on Schedule

for us!

[colonel odis]

2. or on schedule for them. dump a broken pile of shit in obama's lap, then

let hannity/limbaugh/coulter/murdoch/o'reilly/et.al. hammer him for four years about being unable to fix it.

[formercia]

3. That was the plan

but it happened earlier than expected because some crazy Frenchman made some bad back room deals that the boys didn't know about and the market took a hit sooner than expected.

Looks like the boys got burned this time.

[BR_Parkway]

4. Tell me more about the frenchman and the back room deals?

I've been following this coming train wreck for a while, but hadn't seen anything related to this

[formercia]

5. This was covered earlier

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3156043


All it takes is a loud noise to set an avalanche in motion. This was the bang. It got out of control when Societe Generale unwound the trades and propagated the losses. Once it started, just like an avalanche, it was almost impossible to regain control.

[canichelouis]

6. google somthing like bank fraud frenchman and you'll be on your way

[OnionPatch]

7. As far as I'm concerned, they can yammer all they want.

As long as someone competent is in the power to fix things.

And right now, we on the left should be hammering, hammering, hammering it in that the GOP has had the reigns to our economy for the last eight years, and this is exactly what their economic policies lead to.

[krkaufman]

8. But dare we point out that the underlying problem is free market deregulation ...

... that the Republicans have been pushing for 30 years?