Regional banks taking it on the chin today.....

[marmar]

from MarketWatch:



Nervous investors mull more potential bank failures
Commercial banks face heavy sell-off as analysts search for next IndyMac
By John Spence, MarketWatch


BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Bank stocks were under intense selling pressure Monday as investors and analysts worried that worsening housing and credit problems could claim more banks after the failure of IndyMac Bancorp Inc.

Regional-banking shares led the decline in the financial-services sector on Monday. Among the biggest losers were National City Corp., Zions Bancorp Inc., Washington Mutual Inc., Sovereign Bancorp Inc. and KeyCorp.

National City shares were briefly halted Monday amid a panic-driven plunge before the company in a statement tried to quell what it called market rumors. "National City is experiencing no unusual depositor or creditor activity," the Cleveland-based bank said. Still, investors shrugged off the news and the shares were off more than 25% at last check.

WaMu shares were also down over 25% in midday trading. Lehman Brothers analysts in a note Monday said WaMu could be forced to substantially boost its reserves to cover an estimated $28 billion of losses on the balance sheet, with $21 billion coming from mortgages. They said home prices and mortgage credit are showing no signs of stabilizing.

An exchange-traded fund tracking the regional banks, SPDR KBW Regional Banking ETF, was down about 7% at last check. More broadly, SPDR KBW Bank ETF lost nearly 7%. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B3E186B03%2DA4E5%2D4E70%2D9D50%2D5C02AD0D93FA%7D&siteid=mktw