Smalltownbanker

The Danger in Financial Stocks in 2009

As a small town banker on the mortgage side I don't know a great deal about derivatives. I do know what their purpose is. My concerns are more direct. The credit card money market is getting tight. I spoke with the owner of a local tire store today who told me that my 800 credit scores would not get me credit to buy tires today through GE Money Bank where he goes to finance the purchases of customers who can't pay cash.

How long will it be before the credit lines start getting cut off that are already in existence for example on my credit cards, HELOC, etc?

Was the flow of credit improved by EESA/TARP or was the collapse just prolonged at an extraordinary cost?

Will any of the mortgage modifications done to date keep the buyers in the homes or will they all fail resulting in significantly higher losses than would have been incurred without intervention?

Are we fixing anything or just prolonging the pain?