First off, there's the tsunami advisory that we are now under. Right now, at 9 am, it doesn't look that likely, but doubtless by noon it will look different: better or worse. And the Olympics are almost over, so for our entertainment we'll have to find something else. And then there's Sterling Bank.
Today, Calculated Risk, a blog of economics and The Great Recession, posted this about banks in trouble:
Only 154 institutions increased their assets during the quarter with the largest balance sheet increase at West Coast Bank ($80 million). Balance sheet downsizing happened at 462 institutions with the largest decrease at Westernbank Puerto Rico ($1.5 billion) and Sterling Savings Bank ($1 billion).
This looks like more bad news for Sterling, which was supposed to be raising capital to satisfy the FDIC's Cease and Desist Order, not decreasing its assets. On the other hand, Sterling's stock went from about 45 cents to almost 80 cents just over the past 3 days (it's currently at 72 cents per share). Which suggests that Sterling stock purchasers are suffering from something akin to Alan Greenspan's irrational exuberance or that somebody knows something that most everybody else doesn't know.
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