Fotograf/in: Silvia Katic Model: Sora Kaze Location: Grugapark/Essen

Here are the main things you should know about student banking:

Student Checking Account

A student checking account will help you keep an eye on your finances, manage your money, build a student budget, start to build your credit history and of course, pay your bills.

College Savings Account

A college savings account will provide a way for you to save the money that you have now, and to increase the interest of the money that you will have in the future.

Student eBill Pay

eBill Pay is available through most banks and financial institutions, and it allows you to pay bills online and automatically debits your account without you having to write a check and mail it.

How to Balance a Checkbook

Part of the responsibility of opening a student checking account is being wise enough to keep track of your expenses by balancing a checkbook.

These "for profit agencies" were set up by the federal government with a special role. They buy large pools of mortgage loans made by banks and other lenders, attach a guarantee that the loans will be repaid and then sell securities backed by the future payments on those mortgages. The federal government of the United States supports, backs and profits from sell securities back by mortgages that these agencies purchase.

Bankers are not alone in having destroyed the economy along with adversely affecting the global economy. This is part and parcel of why the U.S. government and the quasi-governmental Federal Reserve have refused to speak against securitized loans. They are playing the same game as commercial bankers while profiting directly from the same kind of securities that bankers have used in promoting the subprime and alt-a loan market.

"The housing market can not recover unless Fannie and Freddie are out there actively securitizing home mortgages." That is the view of professional mortgage advocates in the marketplace and the words of Jaret Seiberg, financial services analyst for the Stanford Group, a U.S. research firm.

The U.S. government isn't in the old-fashioned mortgage business at all. Just like you can buy U.S. Treasury Bonds, you can buy U.S. backed mortgage securities. Contrary to what American citizens have been led to believe, bankers feel that the only way that a large enough profit can be generated is through the sale of loan securities. The system and banker types are addicted to them.

The agencies have had trouble operating under the old rules of order. Because of new accounting rules, it is suspected that Fannie and Freddie will need to raise more capital to stay in operation. They anticipate suffering more losses in the future and capital is one cushion against those losses. What losses? Bad loans, internal graft and incompetence are the cause of Fannie and Freddie losses. The history of these agencies is clear to see.

Both agencies have reportedly lost 60% of their value in the market. This puts them in a really tight spot. The resulting fear and excuse is that banks will have their primary source of funding for making home loans choked off. How about doing business the old way before the government involved themselves?

The theory of fear dictates that any lack in these agencies would severely restrict the pool of potential home buyers, causing home price declines to accelerate from the record drop seen in the last year. That would make it tougher for the economy to rebound anytime soon, once again emphasizing the hinge of the American economy is placed on rising home prices and the possibility of creating new loans in the banking system.

The real tragedy is that professionals and politicians are convinced that profiting through the use of the fractional reserve, in essence, creating money out of thin air, while collecting interest worth several times times the cost of a house is not enough to make them profitable. Bull cookies. Lending authorities have a simple problem with expectations. What is worse is that taxpayers are on the hook.

"Interest rate" is one of those terms I think I understand, but I don't fully 'get' how it works. Pete is back today with some great answers to my questions about interest rates. He explains what an interest rate is, where we find them, how they're determined and why credit cards have different rates.

Very briefly, please explain what an interest rate is.

An interest rate is the rate at which borrowed money has to be repaid. It is typically expressed as a percentage. A rate of 1% implies that if you borrow $100, you have to eventually pay $101 back the person or institution you borrowed the money from.

Where do we find interest rates?

Interest rates are involved in a countless number of financial transactions -- any time any amount of cash is borrowed or saved, really, although they're often surreptitious enough that you don't really see them. Some obvious examples are things like mortgages and credit cards. If you apply for a mortgage, the bank will agree to lend you a fixed dollar amount, say, $200,000. In exchange, you promise to pay them back their original money, plus whatever the interest rate they offer, within a fixed amount of time. With credit cards, credit card companies are essentially "loaning" you money to pay for a transaction, with the understanding that you will be charged interest on what you buy, after a certain date.

Interest rates also come into play when you're saving money, not borrowing. A standard savings account at a bank will have a posted interest rate. A savings account with an interest rate of 5% would mean for every $100 you deposit into the bank, the bank will give you $5, on top of your original investment.

What's a typical interest rate for a savings account vs. a chequing account?

The Toronto Star has a handy chart.

Typically, a chequing account pays next to no interest, not much more than 0.1%. The reason for this is that money doesn't tend to stick around in chequing accounts, so banks won't give you much interest on it because they can't depend on it being there. Whereas a savings account is typically more long-term, so they give you a bit of a reward for your patience.

As far as savings accounts go, the rates have come down lately. The best I can find is ICICI Bank (an online bank base in India, operating in Canada) at 3.4%. But the average is probably around 2.5-3.25% right now. Not that long ago, they were near 5, for example, but as the Bank of Canada slashed rates, the trickle-down effect brought down the rates on savings accounts.

How are interest rates determined?

Rates are determined at the discretion of the lender. Basically, within certain legal limits, banks are entitled to loan you money at as high a rate as they want. The higher the rate, the more money they theoretically make off of you. But there are caps on it, as if they post their rates much higher than other banks rates, they're unlikely to bring in any new business.

Mortgage rates are loosely based on the Bank of Canada's interest rate, although it's not 100% linked. Maybe you've heard something like, "The Bank of Canada dropped interest rates by a quarter of a point today." That means is that the Bank of Canada has cut something called the "overnight lending rate" -- the rate that banks charge each other to borrow money for short-term loans to each other.

Typically, mortgage rates are very closely connected to whatever that rate is -- although as I said, it's not 100% directly related to it. A bank can charge you any rate you'll agree to, but the lower the rate they're offered by the Bank of Canada, the more likely they'll be agreeable to pass those savings on to you, and vice versa. A bank that was borrowing money at 5% and loaning it out at 4% wouldn't stay in business for very long.

In an indirect way, then, the central bank's of different countries "set" the basic rate upon which all other rates are based in that country. They try to balance a number of factors in making their rate decisions, but in a very basic way, the Bank of Canada cuts rates when it's trying to stimulate the economy. The lower rates are, the more likely you are to borrow money for things like expanding a business, and buying a home -- all of which are good for the economy. When they raise that rate, that's the Bank of Canada's way of trying to slow down the economy. Reasons for this may be because the economy is getting ahead of itself, inflation is too high and things might be headed for a crash.

Why do some credit cards charge higher interest rates than others?

The short answer is, because they can. The goal of any credit card is to keep you constantly paying off the minimum -- not a penny more, and not a penny less, every month. It's a bit of a delicate art for them to try to guess exactly what rate they can afford to charge you without you going bankrupt, which is bad for them because then you don't pay them. It's also bad for them if you can easily pay your bill, because then you're not paying them on an ongoing basis.

Let's say there are two credit cards. One charges 15%, and one charges 30%. You, obviously, are better off with the 15% card. A bank might offer the 15% card to someone who has an excellent history of paying back money they borrow (known as a "credit history"). They're willing to give you a rate as low as 15% because you've proven yourself to be a low-risk of defaulting on that loan.

Or, you might be paying an annual fee for your card, in which case you get a lower rate because the bank already gets that $100 fee from you every year. In that case, it's less urgent for them to gouge you on
the interest rate from month-to-month.

The 30% card, on the other hand, would be offered to people who have bad credit history. You can get bad credit history, if you have a history of doing things like not paying your phone bill, for example. In this case, it makes sense that a bank might look at you and think "this person might not pay us back, either" so they charge you a higher rate to make up for the higher risk they are taking by loaning you money.

Thanks Pete. If you have any other questions about interest rates, please ask them in the comments and I’m sure Pete would be happy to answer them. Have a financial term you’d like explained? Leave a comment or suggest it in an e-mail: and.chiu [at] gmail dot com.

So, fellows out there, whatever happened that the once mighty US economy—once contributing to 40% of Gross World Product (GWP)—is now drifting downwards, producing now just 22% of GWP?  That the EU would itself catch up with the USA and equally produces 22% of GWP, though EU’s money is bloodily mightier than Uncle Sam’s once mythical Dollar?

As a matter of realistic forecasting, if trends today would continue across the globe, Asia would overshadow both the US and EU, as follows: China will overtake each one of them by 2015; India, by 2022; ASEAN, by 2030.

While the US ‘real economy’ keeps on contracting (and the EU’s stagnates), the Asian economies are still expanding. 100 years ago the Western thinkers Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee already forecast so sharply the ‘decline of the West’, while Daniel Bell foresaw in the 1950s-60s the rise of Asia-Pacific and its overtaking of the US 60 years hence (2005-2015 period). No one listened to them.

If we all recall, in the 1930s the great statesman Franklin Delano Roosevelt launched the ambitious New Deal. This program initiated gigantic growths in the ‘real economy’, solved unemployment, and led to high-growth and high-wage trends for sustained periods. By ‘real’ is meant the most productive sectors, namely: manufacturing/industry, agriculture, infrastructures, S&T, and transportation & communications.

By 1971, with enormous pressures from the financial cartels, the famed ‘gold standard’ was junked, the fixed exchange rate system was likewise junked in favor of ‘floating rate’, and after which serial liberalization of economic sectors and the bureaucracy went on in very radical fashion. This led eventually to the rise of the ‘virtual economy’ led by predatory finance, featuring hedge fund operations and ‘vulture funds’ to salve crisis-ridden financial enclaves more so overseas.

The ‘gambling economy’ based on speculation, conceit, lies, rather than based on the real value of consumable articles of trade, became the dominant modality in the USA. Debts and more debts piled up, since having no debt was moralized as bad behavior. Debs quadrupled in just a few decades, resulting to $5 Trillion worth of debts today.

How can an economy that churns out merely $12+ Trillion a year pay up for debts worth 4 times the GDP? It’s madness, blatant madness! The US economy is largely now a bubble, so gigantic that when it bursts, it can reveal the real flaws behind the ailments, and the weakness of the ‘real economy’ altogether.

The message to the next President & VP of the USA is to take down that ‘gambling economy’ or ‘virtual economy’ and quickly bring back the powerful ‘real economy’ in place. Failing to do that, Uncle Sam will be faced with many mass out-migrations beyond 2010, as true-blue Americans leave for more stable and promising jobs and businesses offshore. They’ve already began doing that in fact.

[Writ 05 June 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]

NEW YORK/PASADENA, California (Reuters) - Mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc  said on Tuesday depositors had been withdrawing cash at an "elevated" pace since a key U.S. senator questioned its ability to survive the housing crisis.

IndyMac shares sank 38 percent to 44 cents. A collapse of the largest independent, publicly traded U.S. mortgage lender could prove a headache for U.S. regulators since more than $17 billion of its deposits carry federal insurance.

Paul Miller, a Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co analyst, said shareholders may be wiped out, citing IndyMac's decision to stop most mortgage lending and inability to raise capital. Miller cut his price target for the stock to zero from $1.00.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUKN0744512020080709

In India, we pride ourselves for our family values and joint family support system. But the urban culture is creeping in all corners of India. Independence has become a catch word for not only the yonger generation bit also for the senior citizens. Today’s grandparents want to live life on their own terms and do not want to be financial dependent on their children. Many provide for the retirement years through savings. But often the income required for retirement is underestimated or due to some reason a chunk of the retirement funds are used for other purposes like medical emergencies, child’s education etc.

Coming to the rescue of senior citizens who need a steady income during their golden years is reverse mortgage. Highly popular in the west reverse mortgage unlocks you’re the money locked in you most important asset - your home.

What is reverse mortgage?

A reverse mortgage is a loan against your home that you do not have to pay back for as long as you live there. With a reverse mortgage, you can turn the value of your home into cash without having to move or to repay the loan each month. The cash you get from a reverse mortgage can be paid to you in several ways: all at once, in a single lump sum of cash; as a regular monthly cash advance; as a ‘credit line’ account that lets you decide when and how much of your available cash is paid to you; or as a combination of these payment methods.

No matter how this loan is paid out to you, you typically don’t have to pay anything back until you die, sell your home, or permanently move out of your home. To qualify for most loans, the lender checks your income to see how much you can afford to pay back each month. But with a reverse mortgage, you don’t have to make monthly repayments. So you don’t need a minimum amount of income to qualify for a reverse mortgage. You could have no income and still be able to get a reverse mortgage.

With most home loans, you could lose your home if you don’t make your monthly payments. But with a reverse mortgage, there are no monthly repayments to make, so you can’t lose your home by not making them. Reverse mortgage systems would, perhaps be a boon to senior citizens who are property rich, but cash poor, and shall be another instrument for the banks to compete for

How does it work?

Suppose the value of your house is assessed at Rs. 60 lakhs and you are 65 years of age. Going according to the general stats, assuming that you will live upto the age of 82 years, you are eligible to get loan for a tenure of 15 years. It becomes important to mention that the older you are the more eligible you become for the loan since this would reduce your loan tenure. Coming back to the example, lets say you get 60% of the value of your house as loan, which comes to Rs. 36 lakhs. It means that the amount you will receive be Rs. 88,000 on an annual basis so every month you will receive an amount of Rs. 7,352 for 15 years.

How do you get the loan?

You have to approach a housing finance company (HFC) or a bank and express your interest in pledging your home for the reverse mortgage scheme. The HFC will asses the value of your house and, depending on your age and the prevailing interest rate, the amount of loan payable to you will be decided upon.

The value of the house will be determined by independent valuation through the generally accepted property valuation methodology in the industry. Though there would be a provision for periodic valuation and consequent adjustment of payments, the loan amount will be fixed on the basis of current value and not on possible future appreciation. The interest rate at which the loan will be given most likely to be marginally higher than the prevailing interest rates as the lending company will receive its money when the borrower dies. The loan to value ratio is fixed at 45-60 per cent of the value of the property based on the age.

What happens after the loan tenure?

Under the present recommendations of the NHB, the borrower needs to be 62 years of age and the tenure of the loan is fixed at 15 years. However, if he outlive the tenure of the loan, he will not be asked to move out of the house. Although payments will stop after 15 years, the interest will keep accumulating till the accounts are finally settled.
The corpus accumulated at the end of 15 years will be used to fund the years that you outlive the loan tenure. The accounts will be settled by the HFC only after the borrower’s death or if he vacates or sells the property. The settlement of the outstanding loan amount, along with the accumulated interest, will be met by the proceeds of the sale. In the event of his death, his spouse can continue to occupy the property until her demise, and she usually made a co-borrower. So it makes sense to include the spouse in the loan or else the bank will reclaim the loan after the borrower’s demise.

How is it different from a usual home loan?

A Reverse Mortgage as the name implies goes in reverse of the usual loan structure. Here it is the borrower who gets a monthly payment instead of making a payment. There is an evaluation of the cost of the property and then the around 60% of that is lent by the bank. It is a loan without recourse. The lender will never ask the borrower to pay the loan amount instead he will recover the loan after the death of the borrower.

The rate of interest is expected to be 1-2% higher than the home loan rate. There will also be some additional cost like the property evaluation costs. The reverse mortgage does not take into account any income stream or your earning capacity. It will only evaluate the value of your home and lend.

Some quick facts about reverse mortgages

• To qualify for a reverse mortgage, you must own your home.
• The amount you are eligible to borrow generally is based on your age, the equity in your home, and the interest rate the lender is charging.
• Because you keep the title to your home, you are responsible for taxes, repairs, and maintenance.
• Depending on the reverse-mortgage plan you choose, your reverse mortgage becomes due, with interest, when you move, sell your home, die, or reach the end of the selected loan term.
• The lender does not take title to your home when you die, but your heirs must pay off the loan. The debt is usually paid off by refinancing it into a forward mortgage (assuming the heirs are eligible) or with the proceeds from the sale of the home.
• A real benefit of reverse mortgages is that borrowers can live in their homes as long as they like, even after they have completely exhausted their equity. Borrowers must do their best to maintain the value of the home with diligent upkeep.

As a consumer who pays off balance every month (except 0% APR deals), I have been taking advantage of cash reward credit cards for years. In the past 12 months alone, I earned 2.68% cash back (equivalent to a pre-tax return of 3.83%) for all my purchases charged to credit cards - Here we’re talking about $500-$1,000+ per year... (read full article)

Good money $$$ at: http://www.goodmoneyblog.com.

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"The slogan is the centerpiece of a multimedia marketing campaign Berkshire launched early last year to win over potential customers and energize its work force. The bank put big red buttons on desks throughout its branches that play a few bars of the Pointer Sisters song when pressed. Bumper stickers and cheerful phone greetings reinforce the theme. Individual branches, which are free to plan special events, have had Halloween parties and cookouts, and branch employees helped create their own incentive program."

My take: America's most exciting bank? The bar is set pretty low on that criteria, no?

But seriously, Berkshire Hills' approach begs the question of whether or not trying to be the "most exciting bank" is a sound strategy.

There's certainly a strong argument that both consumers and employees want a differentiating experience -- especially one that's based on something other than the tired old "best customer service" or "most convenient" claims that many banks have made for ages. Claims without much merit, by the way.

But there's also a strong argument for why the "most exciting" strategy might be doomed. In his 1999 book The Experience Economy, B. Joseph Pine discussed the opportunity for firms to differentiate themselves based on the customer experience. Pine discussed the strategy of the Rainforest Cafe restaurants which offered decent food (I guess) but with a truly unique dining experience.

The problem that Pine foresaw Rainforest Cafe having to face was figuring out Act Two. After a critical mass of customers had tried Rainforest once or twice, Pine believed the uniqueness would wear off. In other words, after the thrill is gone, what's next?

When the Rainforest Cafe opened up in the Boston area, it wasn't uncommon to find 3 hour waits. Today, it's more like 3 minutes.

What does this mean for Berkshire Hills? It means that the bank is going to have to continually come up with new approaches and tactics to maintain their excitingness. Put differently, the bank is going to have to develop a strategic competency in being -- and measuring -- exciting. And it's not like it has many successful or even unsuccessful acts to follow and copy from.

There's no doubt in my mind that Berkshire Hills' approach will resonate with a segment of customers -- initially. But what happens if the bank focuses too much on being exciting, and not enough on (yes, Colin) innovating and improving core service, transaction, and channel delivery capabilities?

Time will tell if it's a successful strategy. But for today, kudos to Berkshire Hills for being America's most exciting bank. I can't even begin to imagine who's in second place.

Technorati Tags: Banking, Marketing, American Banker, Berkshire Hills Bancorp, B. Joseph Pine, Experience Economy

1). A below average credit score? 2). Collection accounts on your credit report? 3). Incorrect information on your credit report? 4). Unpaid medical bills on your credit report? 

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Utilizing all techniques available to remove items from your credit report, you can rest assures, that your unique situation will be treated with the utmost care and professionalism and confidentiality. On average, our customers will see a credit score increase of 50 to 100 points. Whether you are looking to purchase a new car, refinance your home or simply planning for the future, your credit score is a major determining factor.

Get started today by calling Beverly Shropshire Orr one of our Certified Credit Councilors and speak with her about your situation. She will review your credit report from all three bureaus. She will then explain how our program can best serve you. You and her will build the best strategy that will best satisfy your specific situation.

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With an inflation rate running at 27% pa, current account deficit forecast at 9.2% of GDP, and a widening of the dong/dollar exchange rate between the official and informal markets (at times in excess of 7-8 percent), the Vietnamese government, whose emphasis had traditionally been on stability, is facing its first significant macroeconomic turbulence since opening the economy to international trade and investment almost 20 years ago.

Paradoxically, Vietnam’s success in attracting capital inflows over the last couple of years is behind the current problems. This has revealed some of the limitations of its reform process over the past five yeas.

The origins of the current macroeconomic problems stem principally from the failure of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to sterilize the surge of capital inflows (which took the form mainly of foreign direct investment and remittances from Vietnamese living abroad) whilst keeping a rigid exchange rate peg in 2007. This left the banking system awash with liquidity, fuelling credit growth of over 50% by the end of last year. Macroeconomic management has been complicated on the one hand, by a ‘young’ banking system inexperienced in pricing risks and, on the other hand, easy access to bank credit on the part of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) eager to expand investments into real estate, financial services, and other non-core activities. Easy credit, coupled with a nascent and poorly regulated stock market, also fuelled a spectacular boom and then bust which is currently dampening investor sentiments.

To make matters worse, 10 days ago, the SBV banned third currency trading by banks (the so-called ‘grey market’) in an effort to curb arbitrage and enforce the official exchange rate. This has incited fears that, unless exporters and others could be persuaded to sell dollars at the official exchange rate, the SBV could be left as the only legal supplier of foreign exchange, and would have to be prepared to use the country’s international reserves to back what is perceived to be an over-valued official exchange rate.

This is unfortunate as moves in the past month to broaden the exchange rate band and allow for some official depreciation of the dong were welcome, and still greater flexibility is needed in the management of the exchange rate in order to give greater effectiveness to monetary policy, without excessive reliance on capital controls which, over time, can become porous. At the same time, a much-needed reining in of the SOEs seems to be occurring and must be continued. As much of the capital inflow is underpinned by foreign direct investments into the industrial and tourism sectors, a sudden reversal of inflows (a la Thai style) is unlikely in spite of the downturn in the world economy. However, the seeming inability of the authorities to put together a coherent package of monetary and exchange rate policy at present undermines investor confidence, and could impact negatively on Vietnam’s growth prospects. Furthermore, Vietnam’s future in expanding its industrial base and participating successfully in the production networks of East Asia depends crucially on its government’s ability to restore macroeconomic stability, and to convince domestic and foreign investors that it has the institutions capable of managing future financial turbulence.

In the medium term, a positive outcome of the present period of instability could be a significant deepening of reforms in key macroeconomic institutions such as the State Bank of Vietnam, in terms of increased independence and capability in managing monetary policy and in the regulatory oversight of the financial system. The ultimate aim should be to develop a public perception that these key government policy and regulatory institutions are run by people with professional integrity. Legislative independence of the central bank and significant increase in its professional capability would be a good start.

SOURCE:

AVERSA, JEANNINE, AP Economics Writer, "Fed to curb shady home-lending practices", July 8, 2008.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080708/ap_on_go_ot/fed_credit_crisis

The fact is that there are plenty of regulations. Regulations did not stop bankers from breaking the law with predatory loans, nor stopped investors from piling on with superficial investments created by the same banking bodies. Regulations have not stopped the housing crisis, the decline of ratings agencies, the decline of international bank holding firms, nor the fall of Wall Street from its pinnacle of grandeur. While many, including this writer, want to have kind things to say, kind things are not in the cards.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke about the challenges confronting policymakers in trying to stabilize a shaky U.S. financial system. Bernanke proposed the possibility of giving squeezed Wall Street firms more time to use the central bank's emergency loan program.

The newly adopted rules are designed to crack down on a range of generally unnamed shady lending practices that have plagued the country. Consumer groups have complained that the proposed rules aren't strong enough, while mortgage lenders worry that they are too tough and could crimp customers' choices. Bankers know of the economic independence of Americans on credit, fearing loss of business and prestige. Most Americans know of no other way than to borrow to support their lifestyles.

The Bush administration has proposed revamping the nation's financial regulatory structure, making the Fed in charge of financial market stability. The Fed will lose daily supervision of big banks as part of that plan. Bernanke is unhappy with that provision. He claims the Fed must maintain this power if it is to be an effective manager of financial stability.

The SEC has agreed to share information with the Fed to bolster its knowledge and power. The SEC is also linked to secret data supervising Americans and terrorists. Could this information become useful to the Federal Reserve in the future? Since none of this information is monitored by public bodies and a new court system has been recently set up to monitor communications in the United States, only time will tell.

Outstanding downloadable report with very interesting data.  Harvard's "The State of the Nation's Housing 2008" Report.

The study presents a dispiriting picture of how severe and structurally ingrained housing affordability challenges have become.  By 2006, 17.7 million households—about 15.8 percent of all households—were spending more than half their income on housing, an increase of 3.8 million just since 2001. Even 34 percent of households with incomes equivalent to 1-2 times the federal minimum wage, and 15 percent with incomes equivalent to 2-3 times this wage, spend more than half their incomes on housing. With the economy spinning out a growing proportion of full and part-time jobs with wages in these ranges, prospects for a meaningful reduction in affordability problems remain dim.

This year’s State of the Nation’s Housing report finds that demand for new homes has dropped well below projected long run demand. House price deflation, tight credit, and consumer concerns over the direction of the economy have kept buyers at bay and some households from forming. The somber conclusion is that if the economy slips into recession or job losses keep racking up, household growth and homeownership demand could fall even more.

Full Report Can Be Found Here

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Click here to read more.

[source: USA Today, Kathy Chu reporting]

CNNMoney.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shares of mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both plummeted Monday after an analyst with Lehman Brothers wrote in a report that the two companies may need to raise billions of dollars if accounting rules are changed.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government sponsored enterprises that help the mortgage market function by purchasing pools of loans and packaging them into securities.

According to a report from Lehman Brothers analyst Bruce Harting, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is considering a rule change that would force Fannie and Freddie to move so-called off balance sheet securities onto their balance sheets.

The potential accounting change would require Fannie Mae to add $46 billion of capital and Freddie Mac to add $29 billion of capital, Harting noted.

Full Article Here

Wonder where they're gonna find all that money???

"If Congress again opens up banking to Wall Street speculation, as it opened up S&Ls and banks to real estate speculation, regulators will quickly lose control over the complex series of events that a pervasive marketplace will immediately set in motion. Insider abuse, self-dealing, and back scratching relationships between institutions will run rampant.

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If you are just looking for any list of the largest banks, then you can find a list here  - Largest banks list. If you are looking for a more detailed list with figures and statistics then your best bet is Google or any of the finance websites such as ft.com or Yahoo finance. These sites may have the type of information you are after.

You could also just go to any major search engine and do a search for 'largest banks list'. You might find a list of sites which feature such a list. Of course you will still have to do a little bit of research before you can find what you are looking for. 

If nothing comes up try Google Answers or Yahoo Answers. Ask the question and someone will answer it. Forums are also great for research too.

Good money $$$ at: http://www.goodmoneyblog.com.

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The following chart from John Mauldin’s mid-2006 e-letters divides the economic cycle into four major stages... (read full article)

Good money $$$ at: http://www.goodmoneyblog.com.

Think: Auto, Banking, Bonds, Budgeting, Career, Credit Cards, Deals & Offers, Debts, Education, Frugal Living, Goals, Good Money 101, Groceries, Home & Garden, Insurance, Investing, Mortgages, Real Estate, Retirement, Saving, Simple Living, Spending, Stocks, Taxes, Tools & Calculators