The Treasury Department has approved 20 more banks to sell preferred stock to the government under the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The companies accepted over the past few days will get $960 million in public investment.
Fulton Financial Corp., the parent of Columbia Bank, will get the biggest chunk of that money. The Lancaster, Pa.-based company was approved to sell $375 million in stock to the government. It reported in October that its earnings for the third quarter were down 13.4 percent because of charges related to securities investments and an increase in reserves for loan losses. The bank also said that its deposits had fallen by $374.6 million, or 3.6 percent.
Central Pacific Financial Corp., of Honolulu, said it was approved to sell $135 million in stock to the Treasury Department. The bank posted a surprise $146.3 million loss in the second quarter, after taking big charges to cover the reduced value of some California real estate loans and other real estate-related assets. It returned to profitability in the third quarter.
Heartland Financial USA Inc., based in Dubuque, Iowa, said it was approved for $81.7 million in taxpayer investment. Independent Bank Corp., of Rockland, Mass., said it would get $78 million. The company, which operates Rockland Trust, announced last month that it would acquire Benjamin Franklin Bancorp in a deal valued at $125 million.
Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida, based in Stuart, Fla., was approved to sell $50 million in stock to the Treasury Department. Cadence Financial Corp., of Starkville, Miss., was approved for $44 million, and Sterling Bancorp of New York, was approved for $42 million.
Alliance Financial Corp., of Syracuse, N.Y., was approved for $26.9 million in taxpayer investment, while Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Inc. was approved for $25.1 million. Blue Valley Ban Corp., in Overland Park, Kan., will get $21.75 million, and Wilber Corp., of Oneonta, N.Y., will get $12 million.
The Treasury Department plans to inject $250 billion into U.S. banks in hopes of strengthening their balance sheets and stimulating lending. It will get preferred shares that pay annual dividends of 5 percent for the first five years and 9 percent thereafter.
The other banks selected for TARP money in the past few days were:
Center Bancorp Inc., Union, N.J., $11.5 million
NCAL Bancorp California, Los Angeles, $10 million
Southern Missouri Bancorp, Poplar Bluff, Mo., $9.5 million
Elmira Savings Bank, Elmira, N.Y., $9.09 million
Citizens First Corp., Bowling Green, Ky., $8.78 million
Commonwealth Business Bank, Los Angeles, $7.7 million
Patapsco Bancorp Inc., Baltimore, $6 million
Pacific Commerce Bank, Los Angeles, $4.06 million
Manhattan Bancorp, El Segundo, Calif., $1.7 million
The media tells us that unemployment is about 8 percent
Eight percent of 200 million is 16 million.
The whisper number that includes the people not counted or those that have given up is about 13 percent
Thirteen percent of 200 million is 23 million.
I think that unemployment is about 20 percent.
Twenty percent of 200 million is 40 million.
Now lets put that into dollars and how it affects America and how it Affects our retailers, manufacturers and raw material producers
Using an average salary of 50,000 dollars
16 million people out of work would take 800 BILLION out of the economy, of which 240 BILLION would be taken from your town, your county, your state and your countrys budget and 560 BILLION would be taken from our retailers, manufacturers and raw material producers
23 million people out of work would take 1 TRILLION 150 BILLION out of the economy, of which 345 BILLION would be taken from your town, your county, your state and your countries budget and 805 BILLION would be taken from our retailers, manufacturers and raw material producers.
40 million people out of work would take 2 TRILLION out of the economy, of which 600 BILLION would be taken from your town, your county, your state and your countries budget and 1 TRILLION 400 BILLION would be taken from our retailers, manufacturers and raw material producers.
Now do you see why GM is having a tough time making ends meet ?
And no amount of bailouts are going to solve the problem.
It will take jobs.
It will take our political and corporate leaders waking up and realizing that their insistence on sending our jobs overseas is destroying the whole world's economy.
Why the whole World's economy ?
Because American consumers are the biggest spenders in the World and they want things and as long as they have money, they will buy these things.
A lot of them are made in other countries.
So when the American consumer has to stop buying because they no longer make what they used too, the trickle down effect, affects the whole World.
Right now, our experts and our political and corporate leaders are in denial.
They say that what is good for them is good for America.
We need to work together to get them to see what they are doing to America and the rest of the World.
If we can't do that, we need to use our vote and get somebody in there that will put their town, county, state and country first.
Virgil
http://www.KeepAmericaAtWork.com