Too bad ABC News didn’t take a look at the 10-Q.

What? And give up the joys of stenography?

Paul Krugman says “…there’s no longer any reason to believe that the wizards of Wall Street actually contribute anything positive to society

having bankers contribute to monetary or economic policy is the same as having oil companies shape energy policy.]

I stole that line from bluetoe

B of A screwed me out of $370.00 in fees last month their own mistake and I paid, Krugman is right the big boy serve theselves
What does it mean when a bank tittle says “blank…National Bank”. Something like we own you butts pay up. Freddie is back and taking no prisoners…no cram down for foreclosurew we would rather bulldoze it than let you stay we need a big stick to keep the consumer in line while he/sher pays for our bailout.
Pitchforks

Perfect statement.

ABC news taking a lot of hits these days. Did I hear George Will Sunday say 80% of Americans are happy with their health insurance? Where’d he get that stat from? Is that based on the dwindling percentage of people who still have health insurance?

george will just makes shit up. Maybe he was talking about his peeps. The repugs that are left.

Credit cards are now essentially usury. Why this is not regulated is beyond me. They are encouraging people to walk away from the CC debt, which is unsecured and the banks can’t do a thing but dick with your non sense credit rating.

A credit rating means little these days since no one is lending and hardly anyone except a re fi would consider borrowing.

The whole system is a giant scam.

I suspect car companies will not care much if someone wants to finance a car.

“It’s just not fair,” Busch said. “We pay every month, and this is a bank that is benefitting already from our taxpayer dollars.”

Oh well, they must be having trouble in some other area of their lives.

/National Predator Radio

http://nprcheck.blogspot.com/2…..se-me.html

Americans are getting screwed daily by the ruling elites, the corporations, corrupt and complicit politicians, a phony media. The fact that BOA is screwing Americans should not be a revelation.

Excellent posting. But, au contraire, mon ami, this is not a truthiness issue, but one of consistency: the lawyers & CFO blew it–should have reviewed the 10Q for inconsistency, fuhgetabout truthiness! In any case, read the disclaimers: the 10Q is only a “forward looking statement” with no relation to truthiness.

But seriously, when big banks are merging, at each buyout their costs increase manifold times and the only way to make up the difference is to rip-off the people who actually own the money: their customers.

We started with B of A when it was a SF company and enjoyed going to our branch as we knew the people working there after a while. Once BA moved to So. Carolina, we lost that loving feeling when they changed staff and started dinging us a monthly fee that required a telephone call each month for about a year.

I can attest to the fact that the credit card companies assume their right to continue to make the profits to which they are accustomed trumps any other right.
I can say that now, because I no longer work for one of those companies, which I had done for four plus years (hey, it was willing to hire me when absolutely no one else would, and having health insurance was nice, y’know.)

It’s interesting that this “anecdotal” couple had their rate raised to 32%; in “my day” 30% was the line that absolutely would not be crossed – if only because it was where consumers would freak out.
Guess the recession/depression tossed that rule out the window, too.

Oh, and there was a directive last year to all employees – talking about the company, admitting that you worked for the company (by name) or even mentioning the “industry” you worked for in a blog or other internet post was absolutely forbidden. It was, in fact, a firing offense.

I’m not happy to be unemployed, but I am so glad to be out of that ‘industry,’ trying to defend policies I hated with all my heart.

But, yeah, heaven forbid a bank/credit card company’s profit should go down. I hope the new regs due to go into effect in 2010 will be implemented this year, instead. And they are not enough.

Union Bank of SC bought BofA and took the name

But seriously, when big banks are merging, at each buyout their costs increase manifold times and the only way to make up the difference is to rip-off the people who actually own the money: their customers.”

Truer words….Actually, my company wasn’t bad at first, to employees or to customers. Then there was a merger. The new company became, essentially, the other bank that “we” allegedly bought. The merged co. kept my co.’s name because it had a longer, more respectable history, but practices increasingly became those of the other bank. Things went downhill from there, for employees and customers both.
When I arrived, people who’d been there for years talked often of how much they liked working there. By the time I was let go, they were hemorrhaging long-time workers who couldn’t stand the stuff they were required to do anymore, and nobody was heard saying they loved working there.
But it’s just like with customers – those who leave can be easily replaced. Training has even been reduced in time and breadth. So gaggles of new employees are brought on regularly, to make up for the gaggles who leave one at a time.
Customers think closing their account will “show them.” Believe me, the bank doesn’t care. It would have to be numbers in the tens of millions to make any impression.

This post would be something that would fit in to the programming on the ED Show on MSNBC. Spotlight hasn’t updated its lists in years so that won’t work. I don’t know how to get it there but it would be worthwhile.

I haven’t seen much of Ed – why do you say it fits his show? Wouldn’t it fit Rachel or Keith as well? Just wondering.

He has a populist bent to his shows, is a staunch EFCA supporter and also single payer advocate.

No not, “essentially” usury. They ARE usury.

In many times and places throughout history, those practices would have earned their perpetrators the death penalty, but now it get’s them a government bailout.

I’d call it more Republican “Family Values” but on this one Democrats’ hands are almost as dirty.

“Our costs of providing credit have significantly increased.”

What?? The Banksters are currently borrowing from the Fed at 0%. that’s why interest rates should be capped at 3-5% – no more.

Senator Levin giving nice speech on Senate floor right now about Credit Card Reform bill. You can still call your Senators – please call Toll Free Capitol switchboard 1-800-828-0498.

I don’t like ed, I think he’s a rush limbaugh wanna be from the left, I’ve heard quite a few times him cow towing to his sponsors as well

It merged with Nations Bank in Charlotte, NC.

I know nothing about bank income statements, but aren’t there noninterest costs of administering credit cards, like default rates?

“No not, “essentially” usury. They ARE usury.”

Yep. You don’t hear it called that because some years ago Congress essentially eliminated usury as a crime. I believe there was also a SCt case that invalidated state usury laws on the theory that federal law pre-empted them. Then the banks moved their credit card divisions to states like N.Dakota (or was it S. Dak?) that allowed interest rates of whatever – no usury law, in other words. So there effectively are no usury laws as there used to be. Banks and other lenders can charge whatever they want to, legallly.

aren’t there default rates in all loans?

32% when money is nearly free! Good job Joe Biden stands up for the impoverished credit card lenders.

“Our costs of providing credit have significantly increased.”

No their profits from loaning money to hedgefunds at rates of $36 to every $1 of collateral have disappeared. The American credit card holder wished they got rates half as generous as that!
Instead the Credit card companies are charging regular people more money to make up for their losses to the hedgefunds.

The Banks sold Mortgage paper to the hedgefunds. The Hedgefunds bought that paper with low interest loans from the banks .

Which in this economy should be going up already. And they should go up more with the interest rate increase on credit cards.
Are the credit card companies really trying to get paid or are they trying to create a Shock Doctrine economic squeeze and make Obama unpopular.
Because to raise interest rates right now you have to wonder if they will really make more money or lose more money by forcing more people into bankruptcy?

I was listening to Clark Howard the other day. He said Chase Bank has charged some customers 65% interest on their credit cards.

BOA are jerks I think they might still get what they deserve the bank bailout is flawed as several Posters and Commentors here have noted there is a good chance BOA might go under.
After all just who besides the business channel talking heads believe BOA’s numbers even after the stress test?

Our costs of providing credit have significantly increased.”

Due entirely to your poor business choices but I still see you guys getting bonuses for good work!
We should be going after you for fraud and taking back your previous bonuses based on fraud!

How are banks making money these days home sales are down an d many of those sales are short sales at a loss for the banks?
Is anyone buying Mortgage paper anymore from the banks even if the banks make a loan?
Hedgefunds who buy mortgage loan paper have their own trouble, stocks are down, big corporate buyouts where banks get a cut for arranging the deal they are down.
Hot new Initial Public Offerings on the stock market that the investment firms dealt in they are down.
So just how are the banks making money?

How much cash can we give the banks to burn through until they make money?

I think Foreign banks will end up buying our major banks in a year or two.

Wow, looks like I messed up the link. Here, I hope, is the correct link to the most recent 10-Q.

To answer your question, there are administrative expenses. They appear on page 95 as “non-interest expense”. For 2009 first quarter they are $2.075bn compared with $2.199bn for the first quarter of 2009. Thus, there was a good bit of cost-cutting.

The loss in this segment was due to a huge increase in the reserve for loan losses, which was $8.2bn, which I make to be about 4% of the outstanding holdings in this segment. That would make a huge loss for the year if it continues, which the NYT says today is likely across the industry.

And torches. And tar and feathers.

I hope stimulus spending kicks in soon. Where can one learn about the ‘credit markets’ and how much lending is occurring (preferably in chart form to show relation to the past)?

Great post. The 100% markup on borrowing costs seems counter-intuitive given the falling cost of money to the lenders. It’s not just due to the direct transfers of entitlement funds to the too-big-to-fail elite club, but also the Fed low-interest policy that’s near 0 Kelvin. But what do I know?

Thanks masaccio.