Brandon

Well-Capitalized Regional Banks: The Bottom Is In

Dee Trooth, your math is correct but your conclusions are incorrect. Indymac failed because of non-performing loans, not how much debt was on their books. That is why s many people are worried about Fannie and Freddie, they hold 5 trillion dollars worth of mortgages. If 1% of them default, that is 50 billion dollars. The 5 trillion isn't what scares people, it's the percentage of that trillion that will default.

Having said that, the author is incorrect in assuming his stock should have gone higher, because there is too much uncertainty in the securities held by these companies. CNB might well be worth $20 a share, but then again it might be worthless. That's the real problem with Bank stocks. There's simply too much uncertainty and even with Wells Fargo's 'everything is great' earnings report, everything isn't great, because at the end of the day, there are still an awful lot of people holding on to houses they still can't afford.