From The Field

"A weekend economy..."
(Note obvious drop in productivity...)

"Loan delinquencies and losses remain at manageable levels despite high unemployment and a weekend economy."

(Some sort of work-ethic issue...? )
(A weak argument in any case!)

Playing Possum...

Headline:  The Cherokee Scout

Beware of "crispy ear"...

"PETA Files New Petition

To Stop Possum Drop"

Mountain folks...

"People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Tuesday filed a formal petition with the N.C. Wildlife Commission calling for revocation of a permit for the annual New Year's Eve "Possum Drop" in Brasstown, North Carolina."

"The 156-page petition claims to be supported by sworn affidavits from North America's leading opossum experts and five veterinarians with more than 125 years of combined experience in caring for more than 14,000 opossums."

N.C.'s version of Times Square...
lowered (gently), then released...
Don't ask me why?

"According to the experts' sworn affidavits, the stress of capture, combined with the deafening noise and bright lights of New Year's Eve, is so severe that the opossums almost certainly suffer from capture myopathy [shock, stiffness, muscle cramps] and dermal septic necrosis [ better known as "crispy ear"!] and likely die a slow, extremely painful death within days or even hours of release following the event."

As with all things bizarre, there is an opposing opinion...

Capital: A Chance To Set The Standard... To Demonstrate "The Difference"... Or Just More Business (BS) As Usual?

"The United States has the opportunity to lead the world in bringing forward a financial system that is sounder in the long run." said Thomas M. Hoenig, Vice-Chairman of the F.D.I.C., in an interview last week.  (NYT - 7/14/2013)

Mr. Hoenig

"With stronger capital, banks still have the ability to make loans, but if they do have losses they can absorb those losses without imploding the economy."

U.S. banks have now been moved into a new "Basel III-based" capital regime. The FDIC, Fed, and other U.S. regulators have already stepped up to the plate and established tough, prudent capital standards. The new capital standards require both a leverage ratio (up from 3% to 5 or 6%) and revised "all balance sheet" risked-based capital formulas which mandate 10%++ risk-capital goals to be reached by 2019.

So, where does that leave credit unions.....

Stress Testing Credit Unions....

STESS TESTING!!!

You were looking for something else to worry about, weren't you?

Well, maybe we're just over-reacting, being a bit too paranoid.  NCUA could be very open and welcoming with these new tests...

Welcome to Stress Testing !!
We Tough Love YOU!

  

But then again...

Under Capitalized, Under Led

Looking Back....

In 1915, North Carolina adopted one of the very first state statutes governing the formation and operation of credit unions. Pretty progressive stuff for a bunch of unsophisticated "good old boys" from the backward South - wasn't it! Perhaps they just weren't smart enough to know any better; perhaps they just got lucky! Who knows?

Well, what we do know is that the 1915 credit union statute was authored and shepherded through the North Carolina Legislature by John Sprunt Hill, the patriarch of one of the wealthiest and most prominent banking families in North Carolina. Not exactly your barefoot-in-overalls type of guy to be sure! In fact, the credit union law was the direct result of Mr. Hill's then recent travels in Europe studying credit unions and other forms of cooperatives. Mr. Hill happened to be in Europe leading a United States delegation of national financial leaders appointed by President Woodrow Wilson. They learned well; they liked what they saw!

As The World Turns...

Brave New World

"Read an interesting article recently about the evolution in the credit union-member relationship world. The main point was..."

"There has been a shift from helping solve the problems members think they have to identifying and helping them solve problems...

... they don't even realize they have!" 

From The Field...

"Certainly enjoyed our discussion.  The pleasure was defiantly all mine."

(Most definitely...!)

Love and Lunacy...

 The Full Moon...

Hm-Hm-Hm-Hm-Hm !

"Insane Financial System Lives On..."

Global warming, global banking;
both may burn you up...

Gillian Tett writes the highly regarded "Insight" column for the Financial Times.  Her "beat" is the U.S. and global financial market place, financial institutions are her specialty.

"Insane Financial System Lives On Post-Lehman" was the headline of her latest column (9/13/2013).  Her lead question in the piece was: "So as markets mark the fifth anniversary of the Lehman collapse, is the system any safer or saner?"

Ms. Tett's answer "...the bad news is that the system is just as insane - perhaps more so."

Here are the six reasons she cites as evidence of the continuing insanity:

* The big banks [TBTF] are bigger - not smaller than when Lehman collapsed.
* The "shadow banking" world is taking over more activity, not less. And, it is likely to swell further...
* The financial system depends more than ever on investors' faith in the central banks [Fed, et. al.]. A belief that central bankers know.. "what they are doing with quantitative easing; even though nobody has tried it on this scale before, or knows how to exit." 

The Fatcats gain 
more and more weight !

* The rich have become richer.
* Few financiers have been prosecuted.
* Fannie and Freddie are still alive and well.



What's wrong with this picture?  What's wrong is...

Deceptive Practices in Foreclosures - "The Highest Standards In The Industry"...

It wasn't us !!

Don't have to look too far these days to find evidence that "reform" in the banking industry may not yet have "taken hold". You might even start to suspect that b*@ks don't really "get it" about reform, or perhaps don't really want it, or astoundingly, after all that's gone down, don't really believe they even did anything wrong.

Latest piece of evidence, that all is still not right with the banking world, reared its ugly head in a NYTimes editorial ("Deceptive Practices in Foreclosure" - 9/13/2013) which describes "end game" abuses by b*@k hired foreclosure agents working in Illinois.  Safeguard, the largest hired gun in the "kick-em out" industry, has the starring role in the lawsuit filed by the Illinois Attorney General.  

"B*@ks are responsible for vetting, supervising, and auditing contractors, a category that clearly includes property management companies  It starts out innocently enough.  It doesn't always go that way. " 

"The suit accuses Safeguard of breaking into homes despite evidence of occupancy, damaging and removing personal property, cutting off utilities and bullying occupants into leaving their homes when they have the legal right to stay."

"Profit and expediency seem to have trumped due process yet again."

And what is the response from that largest of the largest, professional "breaking and entering", b*@nk-agent surrogate firm, Safeguard?

"Safeguard has said its work meets...

From The Field...

"The branch as a hole would like to thank the auditors for their efforts in helping to improve our operation."

(Lot's of potential with that one...!!)

From The Field...

 

 

 

"If we provide the members with the service they deserve, "the numbers" will take care of themselves."

 

- Bobby Hall

 

(Very wise words...)

From the Field...

"The member had called to complain about the insignificant funds notice he had received..."

 

(Been there, done that...)

The American Mortgage Market ....

"Bad money drives out good money;

 government money drives out both."

Faithful Servants...

Wall Street, USA
Hog Heaven !

"MAMMON, n.  The god of the world's leading religion.  His chief temple is in the holy city of New York."

- Ambrose Bierce, 1911

Rants and Raves...

Excuse me, may...
 I borrow a cup of sugar?

* "When you see the signs in the National parks  saying, "Don't Feed the Animals", it is not there to be mean to the animals.  The reason is because the animals will become lazy and will just hang around the campsite waiting for a handout. And, like welfare... (Well, you know where this is heading...)".

* "Weight Loss Support Group Buffet Banquet Scheduled for August 31." (Got to guess it's an all you can eat event...)

Let's jump on that idea!

* "Port City Attracting Mattress Stores" - "... mattress innovations are helping to drive the sector higher." (Mattress innovations?  Afraid to ask...)

4-Wheel Dumb....

* "Repair of Revere Road Continues" ... "DOT:  "We have a long road ahead of us." (Ya reckon...!)

* "Barber School Offers Free Haircuts" - a big part of the training program is actually cutting hair and practicing dyeing on real human beings.  The school cheerfully recruits volunteers for what amounts to a cut-price..." (Bad hair, cheerfully done ....)

But the subscription buster of the week is...

Gall Street, USA...

Doesn't bother me a bit ...

Question:  What is a Wall Street investment banker?

Answer:  A Wall Street investment banker is...

In Time...

Around the clock...

"Time goes from present to past."

- Dogen-zengi