Entries Tagged as 'Troubled Companies'
Great Atlantic & Pacific Goes Under!
Hard to believe! When I was in New York in 1969, the A&P was an institution. That was THE place to grocery shop. Started in 1859, the A&P In the 1930s was the largest grocer with 16,000 stores, now they have less than 400 mainly in the NE and today the company is considering filing for bankruptcy!
Bad Economic News Day
This following bad news came after Cisco cut its sales forecast for the second quarter in a row. If Tech goes down, another bright spot disappears.
New York state manufacturing unexpectedly plunged in November, the first contraction since July 2009 when the US economy exited recession, official data showed Monday.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported its manufacturing activity index dropped to minus 11.1 points in November, from a positive 15.7 points in the previous month.
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey index is considered a bellwether of the manufacturing sector which has been a key strength in the economic recovery.
It was the first time the index fell below zero since July 2009, the month after the worst recession in decades was officially declared over.
The sharp 27-point decline surprised analysts, who had forecast on average a slip to a positive 11.7-point reading.
The new orders index plummeted to minus 24.4 points, from positive 12.9 points in October.
Tags: Cisco sales forecast New York Manufacturing economic recovery
Bankruptcies Erupt Again
Two popular supermarket tabloids, National Enquirer and Star, are in trouble according to CBS News.
American Media Inc. (publisher of National Enquirer and Star) plans to seek federal bankruptcy protection in the next two weeks or so. The privately held company, based in Boca Raton, Fla., announced its intention Monday without sharing any details about its finances.
Then Bloomberg reports: Bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. is likely to file for bankruptcy by the end of the year, either through a prepackaged plan arranged with senior debt holders or through Chapter 11 proceedings.
Tags: National Enquirer Star American Media Inc. Ambac Bankruptcy
Illinois Is Bankrupt!
Mish says, “The state of Illinois is sitting on $4 billion in unpaid bills.”
Maybe, we are approaching a time when it’s appropriate to ask, “What would Tony Soprano do?”
How Safe Are Oregon’s Banks And Thrifts?
In Bernanke Hallucinating Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. points out as a result of massive liquidation of debt in the U.S., we face three major consequences. First, Bernanke’s nearly powerless, second, we face a Double dip, and third, there will be More bank failures!
You can click this link to review his list of the Weakest Banks and Thrifts in the U.S.
This list includes only institutions with a Weiss Rating of D+ (weak) or lower — institutions we believe to be vulnerable to future financial difficulties or even failure. To be sure, many vulnerable institutions will NOT ultimately fail. However, we believe that their risk of failure is high.
Here is a list of Oregon’s financial institutions and their assets that get a low rating:
- Albina Community Bank Portland OR 189,260 E-
- Bank Of America Oregon NA Portland OR 14,736,199 D+
- Bank Of The Cascades Bend OR 2,083,883 E-
- Capital Pacific Bank Portland OR 185,316 D-
- Columbia Community Bank Hillsboro OR 390,788 D
- High Desert Bank Bend OR 39,758 D-
- Home Valley Bank Cave Junction OR 257,952 F
- Libertybank Eugene OR 768,222 F
- MBank Gresham OR 241,476 E-
- Northwest Bank Lake Oswego OR 122,171 D-
- Oregon Pacific Banking Co Florence OR 164,240 D
- Pacific West Bank West Linn OR 73,697 E
- Peoples Bank Of Commerce Medford OR 109,131 D+
- Premierwest Bank Medford OR 1,502,539 D-
- Siuslaw Bank Florence OR 283,394 D
- Summit Bank Eugene OR 124,202 D-
- Us Bank Trust Co NA Portland OR 13,165 D
- West Coast Bank Lake Oswego OR 2,666,887 D-
Weiss Ratings scale: A = excellent, B = good, C = fair, D = weak, E = very weak, F = failed, plus sign = upper third of grade range, minus sign = lower third.
Data source: FDIC’s Call Reports and OTS’ Thrift Financial Reports via SNL Financial LC, reflecting bank and thrift data filed March 31, 2010.
Tags: Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D Oregon’s financial institutions Bernanke
The Gall of Fannie Mae
A Beginner’s Guide to Freedom posts:
Fannie Mae, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, recently announced it will take steps to penalize “strategic defaults.” A strategic default is when a homeowner who is underwater on his house simply walks away from the mortgage even though he can still afford to pay it back. From now on, borrowers who default in this way will be blacklisted from obtaining another Fannie Mae loan for a period of seven years, and in the states that allow it, Fannie Mae will sue the borrower for the balance of the loan.
Simply outrageous!
Sen. Robert Byrd (D- WV) R.I.P?
My friend Greg at Rhymes With Right has an “appropriate memorial to the memory of the former Ku Klux Klan Kleagle and Exalted Cyclops” promoted into politics at the suggestion of KKK leaders.
U.S. Home Foreclosures Climb 44% to Record in May
Bloomberg reports:
U.S. home foreclosures reached a record for the second consecutive month in May, with increases in every state, as lenders stepped up property seizures, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s senior vice president for marketing, “…predicted last month that another 5 million delinquent mortgages will end in foreclosure in addition to properties that had already been repossessed.”
