FDIC's Bair: "Institutions of greater size" May Fail

I found this over at Calculated Risk. The website is worth bookmarking. They come up with some good information and present it concisely.

clipped from calculatedrisk.blogspot.com From Reuters: Bigger U.S. bank failures may be coming - FDIC (hat tip Ed) An increasing number of banks face high exposure to deteriorating conditions in commercial real estate and construction lending, [Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair] told a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the state of the banking industry. "There is also the possibility that future failures could include institutions of greater size than we have seen in the recent past," Bair said. "Uncertainties in today's economic environment continue to pose significant challenges for the banking industry, households, and bank regulators." Feb 25, 2008: FDIC Bracing for Bank Failures March 17, 2008: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Stresses Importance of Managing Commercial Real Estate Concentrations April 17, 2008: Fed Vice Chairman Kohn Warns on CRE Concentrations at Small banks Note: The largest bank to fail this year was ANB Financial with $2.1 billion in assets.

A Father Fights ‘Doctor Shopping’ for Prescription Drugs

Bob and Carmen Pack are to be congratulated. They honor the death of their children in a wonderful way. In the end, we all benefit.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com In 2003, Bob Pack’s son and daughter were killed by a driver who was abusing prescription drugs. Pack started looking into the issue of prescription drug abuse, and launched a foundation named for his children. He wound up offering to raise over $3 million to fund a state database that would allow California doctors and pharmacists to see if patients are “doctor shopping” to get prescriptions for drugs of choice. Yesterday, California Attorney General Gerry Brown took Pack up on his offer. The existing database has millions of entries for commonly abused drugs such as Vicodin, and receives 60,000 queries a year, the statement said. But responses come by phone or fax, and can take days. Pack, who worked with Kaiser Permanente on a feasibility study, told the Los Angeles Times that the online database could be up and running in 10 months, and offer instant results.

Pump Pain: Stung by Gas Prices, Even Dallas Asks People to Walk

This made me chuckle. Charging to use a public street to ease congestion. I lived in Dallas and they do get some interesting ideas down there.

Want a sure-fire sign that high gas prices are changing behavior? They’re walking in Dallas.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Or at least, they’re talking about it. A city commission is meeting today to discuss new zoning rules that would encourage pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. there’s another plan on the table that would cause a stir just about anywhere: congestion pricing. Highland Park, a ritzy neighborhood north of downtown Dallas, is considering a plan to charge drivers who use a major local road as a cut-through. (Locals wouldn’t generally be charged.) The Dallas Morning News says the idea, if adopted, would create the nation’s first tolled surface street. That may not be as ambitious as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s much-discussed plan to charge drivers entering downtown Manhattan—but then, that plan was killed in April. (The Highland Park plan may suffer the same fate—no one seems certain the plan is even legal.)

In the slideshow, "States with the Biggest Declines and Increases in Home Prices," where does Wyoming stand?

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In the slideshow, "States with the Biggest Declines and Increases in Home Prices," where does Wyoming stand?

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On June 3, George Soros said oil prices will not "crash" any time soon. What reason(s) did the billionaire cite?

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Squawk Box
In his June 4 blog, what did Jim Goldman call "the only real issue" in the Yahoo-Microsoft drama? Answer: fiduciary accountability

Squawk on the Street
On June 3, George Soros said oil prices will not "crash" any time soon. What reason(s) did the billionaire cite? Answer: prices' strong foundation

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On June 3, George Soros said oil prices will not "crash" any time soon. What reason(s) did the billionaire cite?

George Soros: 'We face the most serious recession of our lifetime'

on june 3, george soros said oil prices will not "crash" any time soon. what reason(s) did the billionaire cite

On June 3, George Soros said oil prices will not "crash" any time soon. What reason(s) did the billionaire cite?

Oil Price Crash Not Imminent Despite Bubble: Soros

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The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crash of 2008 and What It Means

In his June 4 blog, what did Jim Goldman call "the only real issue" in the Yahoo-Microsoft drama?

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Squawk Box
In his June 4 blog, what did Jim Goldman call "the only real issue" in the Yahoo-Microsoft drama? Answer: fiduciary accountability

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In his June 4 blog, what did Jim Goldman call "the only real issue" in the Yahoo-Microsoft drama?

Reasonable vs. Ridiculous: The Yahoo Story


In his June 4 blog, what did Jim Goldman call "the only real issue" in the Yahoo-Microsoft drama?

in his june 4 blog, what did jim goldman call "the only real issue" in the yahoo-microsoft drama

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The Last Lecture

Krugman digs Ben Bernanke

clipped from krugman.blogs.nytimes.com Ben Bernanke’s aggressive response to the financial crisis may have saved the world from a very severe credit crunch. But where the “committee to save the world” was lionized for its response to a much less serious crisis, Bernanke is getting a lot of grief from critics who think he’s been too soft on inflation — and want him to reverse course. I’m glad to see that he’s sticking to his guns: I see the differences between the economy of 1975 and the economy of 2008 as more telling than the similarities … Importantly, we see little indication today of the beginnings of a 1970s-style wage-price spiral, in which wages and prices chased each other ever upward.