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32 Comments
- TheKosmikKid, on 12/29/2008, -1/+18Great job by Chris Brunner! It must have been a lot of work. Just wish it could be sorted or searched...
- planetaryjim, on 12/30/2008, -1/+11The bank I use most has a Texas ratio of 1. I think anything above 50 is cause for some concern. To say "FDIC has my back" would imply that there are actual funds "in" the FDIC somehow. There are not. If a hundred or so banks failed at once (and there are plenty on Chris Brunner's list) there's no telling how long it would be before the FDIC could pay off anyone.
- WRellim, on 12/30/2008, -1/+8And for those who don't know what a Texas Ratio is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_ratio
The Texas ratio is a measure of a bank's credit troubles. Developed by Gerard Cassidy and others at RBC Capital Markets, it is calculated by dividing the value of the lender's non-performing loans by the sum of its tangible equity capital and loan loss reserves.
In analyzing Texas banks during the early 1980s recession, Cassidy noted that banks tended to fail when this ratio reached 1:1, or 100%. He noted a similar pattern among New England banks during the recession of the early 1990s.
NOTE: Majority of the "Failed Banks" on the FDIC's Failed Bank List (http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklis ... have had Texas ratio's ABOVE 100 (though there is the occasional exception of a failure or two when the ratio approaches 50 or higher). Also note that the list above mostly shows the recent problems with residential real-estate (mortgages), if the economy continues to worsen, and commercial loans begin to fail, then the ratios of banks with currently low numbers will begin to rise, and banks that seem "fine" on this listing will suddenly become vulnerable. - AlphaBronco, on 01/25/2009, -1/+7Fortunately my bank "Texas Ratio" is under 25. Hopefully I'll be safe for another six months.
- brunner, on 12/29/2008, -0/+6Thanks. I'm working with others to organize the data in a better way. In the meantime, you should be able to search using your browsers. (It's Ctrl+F in most browsers.)
- ksusiek, on 12/29/2008, -1/+6Very useful information for all of us!
- 15charmaxwtf, on 12/29/2008, -0/+5Try Ctrl+A and copy and paste it into Excel.
- Cnat, on 12/30/2008, -0/+3There's always control+F
- brunner, on 12/30/2008, -0/+3cooranchhand,
It depends on the particular bank. A Texas ratio of zero could mean that the entity does not have any real estate loans on its books. In the case of IndyMac, it's probably because of the U.S guarantees. - motters, on 12/30/2008, -0/+3If a market economy is to work in a healthy fashion the public should have access to precisely this kind of information, so that they can make informed choices about where to put their money. Responsible financial institutions would never allow themselves to be put into a position where their liabilities exceed their assets.
- MarciaJ720, on 12/30/2008, -0/+3Well, if you will let Capitalism work, then these banks that over-extended themselves should fail and anybody who is not smart enough and leaves more than $250,000 in any one bank should also lose their money.
I worked for a company and my boss at the time opened up bank accounts for a friend of his who was a banker. My boss had several hundred thousand dollars at this bank, but each under a separate Tax ID number so they were all covered by the FDIC and yes, he got all of his money back. It was a mess but I learned first hand not to panic if a bank fails (and I don't have $250,000 sitting in a bank anywhere - like how many people here do?). Oh, and this was back when the FDIC only covered the first $100,000.
It is the lack of transparency that you are suggesting that got us in this mess in the first place. We should be informed - and if that means banks fail, then so be it. - rmhainlen, on 12/30/2008, -0/+3That is an excellent point.
I know that the FDIC does not have my back. All they want me to do is have 'faith' in them and that faith was lost a LONG time ago.
I would love to keep my money in gold but that is not very realistic as a college student who is paying Ball State every month. - jsmithers, on 12/30/2008, -1/+3ANYONE got this sort of info for UK banks?
- MarciaJ720, on 12/30/2008, -0/+1They pay quickly. Basically, they take whatever the balance in your account is that day and issue you a check for that amount. Any outstanding checks will bounce. Okay, that is for a total bank meltdown.
Otherwise, the FDIC takes over and runs it until it can get the assets back in line. - cooranchhand, on 12/29/2008, -0/+1Chris, I am curious about the banks with an Index Rating of zero, especially IndyMac. What does zero represent in the Index?
Great job. My bank has an Index of 22, but it's owned by the Dutch so maybe that helps. - xrayecho, on 12/30/2008, -0/+1You can also do a Ctrl+A to select all, then copy (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) into a blank spreadsheet, such as Excel or Open Office Calc. The you can sort it.
- merlotdrinker, on 12/30/2008, -0/+0copy the data from the browser, put it in a spreadsheet, save it, sort it
- jdh24, on 12/30/2008, -1/+1good thing Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citibank appear safe, considering they all have assets over 1 trillion dollars
- BXRWXR, on 12/30/2008, -1/+1Thanks for scaring the crap out of me.
My bank is on the list - with a TX Ratio of 12. - ZIODINO, on 08/28/2009, -0/+0I just copied the whole table to a "Numbers" Program (Apple Excel Equiv) and played with the table from there no prob.
- inactive, on 12/30/2008, -1/+1The good news is my bank appears to be in little danger of collapse. The bad news is I don't have much money in it...
- brookea812, on 12/30/2008, -1/+1The only thing the government is good for now is fear mongering. If you calculate some statistics using this list, the highest risk group (which has a texas ratio of 51 and over) only owns 2% of the banking assets and comprises only 5% of the banking institutions in the US. We all knew Paulson's friends were the ones who got the money anyways, right? We should have let the 5% of banks that were using immoral practices fail. But, nooooooo, we couldn't let people suffer the consequences of their own actions.................
- MarciaJ720, on 12/30/2008, -1/+1I did a "Ctrl A" and copied the info into Excel.
8,393 banks on the list....only that is.
My banks appear to all be okay with 11 being the highest (Wells Fargo). - jeffiner44, on 12/31/2008, -1/+1Good job! Thanks for watching our backs. This must have taken a ton of time to compile. The author has my deepest gratitude.
- buckleyka, on 01/01/2009, -0/+0Copy the data to excel spreadsheet, then sort to state first, then city second. You can find what you're looking for in a flash. I see that solution has been suggested. I did it, and it's now a very useful list. We don't know when the list was compiled though and the data will likely change.
- fishgonebad, on 01/03/2009, -0/+0How can I can this so even a second grader can understand it. Wait, wait, I know... Nuh uh!
How can this possibly be considered irresponsible? Here is something to think about: Wamu is now considered "safe" after being taken over. Wamu was a loan slut.
Clark Jenkins
FishGoneBad.com - Waznah2, on 01/04/2009, -0/+0Great list...real public service. Thanks for the effort.
Please update the list on a regular basis ... hint - jennyk123, on 12/30/2008, -1/+0Thanks for all the hard work..........it was a little hard to sort through......but the information was well worth the time......
- brodskie, on 12/30/2008, -3/+2It is extremely irresponsible to publicize this information. A bank that may only be in trouble today may collapse tomorrow due entirely to lists like this creating a bank run. It is a self fulfilling prophecy. Every smart person has less than $200,000 in any individual account. This situation is exactly what the FDIC was created to deal with.
- Demonmonger, on 12/30/2008, -3/+2If my bank was rated 71 should I be concerned? FDIC seems to have me covered.
- Iheartmoney, on 12/30/2008, -3/+1Looks like if you have over $200,000 (or whatever the new FDIC insurance limit is) sitting in Suburban Federal Savings Bank of Maryland your pretty much screwed. It's Texas ratio is 110 points higher than the next bank. Seriously? Wow.
The biggest thing I took away from this article was how many banks there are in the US. There's gotta be at least a few thousand in that list. Apparently, all banks also are required to have one of the follow words in their name: State, Community, Federal, Southern, Trust, 1st, First, Peoples, Citizens, America, National, or Liberty.
To planetaryjim's point I'd be curious to know how long it does take FDIC to pay depositers of banks that go under. If they did actually pay back deposits in a reasonable amount of time I suppose most people wouldn't be overly concerned if their bank went under since they don't exceed the FDIC insurable limit.
Frankly, I'm more concerned about my local Border's going under: http://financialfellow.com/2008/12/27/borders-offe ... - NoLibertarians, on 12/30/2008, -8/+3You won't find this anywhere else on the net because it is pure speculation and most sites don't post fear mongering fantasy articles. There will be many mergers in 09, but few if any failures !
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