This comes via Bloomberg:

At least six of the 19 largest U.S. banks require additional capital, according to preliminary results of government stress tests, people briefed on the matter said.
While some of the lenders may need extra cash injections from the government, most of the capital is likely to come from converting preferred shares to common [...]

Below is a very good video of John Bogle, the legendary investor, at Columbia Business School, hosted by CBS Professor David Beim. In his speech, Bogle places much of the blame for the present crisis with the increasingly hostile corporate governance environment of the last quarter-century, a point I make in my recent post “The [...]

Now on YouTube, an Outcry Against BofA’s Lewis – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com
“Ahead of Bank of America’s annual meeting on Wednesday, the activist filmmaker Robert Greenwald is helping lead the charge to fire Kenneth D. Lewis, the bank’s embattled chief executive.”

E*Trade pressured to raise capital; reports loss – Reuters
E*Trade Financial Corp, a U.S. retail brokerage, [...]

CNBC’s Trish Regan talks about banks and the economy with FDIC Chair Sheila Bair.

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A friend passed me a URL now which led me to a few posts over at Bronte Capital and at Felix Salmon’s blog at Reuters about a firm connected to the Biden family called Ponta Negra. T here may be a connection here to the alleged Stanford fraud.
I have done and probably will not do [...]

Over the past few days, I have written two posts regarding the increasingly acrimonious sparring surrounding Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

The horrible self-dealing of Ken Lewis and the principal-agent problem
BofA CEO Lewis investigated by SEC
BofA saga continues as John Thain calls Lewis a liar

The latest news is stunning: Bank of America’s MAC [...]

This is a bombshell from the political world. I believe that means Al Franken will make Obama filibuster-proof. Obviously, this is very bad news for Republicans. I suspect that the deal is that Rendell and Casey will pull out ALL the stops to get Specter re-elected too.
Confirmed that Sen Specter will become a [...]

This is a thought experiment, so bear with me.
I have written repeatedly how I felt that the U.S. Government’s plans to save the banking system were not adequate in the face of a severe capital shortfall in banking.
On one level, I cannot understand the seemingly blinkered view now being taken in Washington by the Obama [...]

You might find some analysts looking for some green shoots in the just released Case-Shiller Home Price Index.  For instance, the year-on-year change in house prices showed a slower decline in the latest month (February) than in the previous release.
So, this report is better for homeowners than the last one which I surveyed in a [...]

The following is the currency outlook released today by the Brown Brothers Harriman Currency Strategy team:
Swine flu and concerns about US banks may be hitting the headlines but, the European banking sector remains a threat for the euro zone. Indeed, ECB President Trichet, speaking in NY yesterday, highlighted the fact that the European banking sector [...]