Archive for February, 2009

It’s amazing how well your company can do, and how much profit you can make when the government pumps millions of dollars into your books.

GMAC Financial Services said Tuesday it swung to a fourth-quarter profit as proceeds from a debt swap more than offset billions of dollars in losses at its auto-financing and mortgage businesses.

The financing arm for General Motors Corp., which provides financing for GM customers and dealers as well as home mortgage loans, also said its financial condition has improved since the government approved its application to become a bank holding company last month.

I wonder if my creditors will allow me to perform a debt swap. I don’t want it anymore, so I’ll just swap it with someone. Heck, maybe everyone. You all wouldn’t mind adding a couple cents to your already mounting bills from the bailout, would you?

All this money and nothing to show for it. Are there holes in the boat we’re bailing out?

Banks in Florida, Maryland and Utah were closed yesterday as regulators wrapped up the busiest month for failures since the housing slump began in 2006.

Ocala National Bank in Florida and Suburban Federal Savings Bank of Crofton, Maryland, were shut by federal regulators, according to statements sent by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. MagnetBank of Salt Lake City was seized by the Utah Department of Financial Institutions. The banks had total assets of $876.4 million and deposits of $790 million.

Maybe they should have thought to require banks to report where they were spending our money before they spent it all the first time around.

The Obama administration is expected to first unveil rules for banks receiving U.S. government help, including clarifications on lending and restrictions on executive compensation, a source with knowledge of the government’s thinking said on Sunday.

Those rules are expected to be announced as early as this week and the administration’s plan to bolster the country’s banking industry is expected about a week later, the source said.

How much you bet they still won’t report it the way they should?