Crisis in the Making

Posted on June 28, 2024 by MN Gordon

Did you know that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) keeps a secret list of problem banks?

These are banks that are at risk of failing financially.

The list is maintained confidential.  So, it is impossible to know for certain if your bank is on it.  This is to keep trusting customers in the dark.  The last thing the FDIC wants is people pulling their deposits and triggering bank runs.

The idea is that by keeping the list confidential the FDIC can discreetly help the banks get their act together.  The goal is to prevent bank failures.

To qualify as a problem bank and be added to the secret list, a bank must score a CAMELS rating of 4 or 5 by FDIC examiners.  This nifty acronym represents the various criteria of a bank’s health that are evaluated by the FDIC.  Specifically, Capital, Assets, Management, Earnings, Liquidity, and Sensitivity.

Scores range from 1 to 5.  One is the best.  Five is the worst.

On May 29, the FDIC released its Quarterly Banking Profile for the first quarter of 2024.  Of note, was the addition of 11 banks to the FDIC’s problem banks list during the quarter.  That brought the total count from 52 to 63. Continue reading →

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Double Nickels on the Dime

Posted on June 21, 2024 by MN Gordon

Lost in the election year noise and the zealous pursuit of World War III is one overarching fact.  The USA is rapidly going broke.  And no one can stop it.

We know digging into the particulars of Washington’s fiscal condition is a dreary and tedious undertaking.  There are certainly more exciting and fruitful ways you can spend your time.  But if you want to better understand why everything is broken, please indulge with us here.

So far in fiscal year 2024, from October 2023 through May 2024, the federal government has spent $4.49 trillion.  According to propaganda on the Treasury Department’s fiscal data website, this money was spent “to ensure the well-being of the people of the United States.”

How exactly all this spending ensures well-being is unclear.  Does it make your morning cup of joe taste better?  Does it enhance your health and ease your aches and pains?  Does it deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to your grocery store? Continue reading →

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Fulfill the Dream

Posted on June 14, 2024 by MN Gordon

“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”

– Henry Ford

“Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers.”

– Lynyrd Skynyrd

Big, Big Dreams

“I will employ one million workers at Muscle Shoals, and I will build a city 75 miles long.”

These were the wild declarations of Henry Ford following a trip to the North Alabama town with his pal Thomas Edison in 1921.  One can only speculate about the dreamy discussions the two had from the picturesque left bank of the Tennessee River that inspired these grand plans.

At the time, the town of Muscle Shoals, which wasn’t incorporated until 1923, was home to less than 750 residents.  And it still had cotton fields within its limits.  Likewise, the shallow waterway zone had been Cherokee hunting domain as recently as two generations before.

Nonetheless, Ford, along with the visionary Edison, saw opportunity.  In fact, Ford’s dream was to turn the quiet town into a Southern mecca – a “Detroit of the South.” Continue reading →

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This Recession Won’t Stop It

Posted on June 7, 2024 by MN Gordon

How would you feel about your monthly water bill increasing 44.47 percent by 2027?

Remember, consumer prices have already increased 21.5 percent over the last four years, per the government’s fabricated data.  So, would an additional 44.47 percent increase in your water bill by 2027 warm your soul?

This is the rate increase being proposed by California’s Golden State Water Company for residents within the Santa Maria Service District.  If approved, as stated in the public participation hearing notification that was sent to customers, the average residential user would see their monthly bill spike from $67.94 in 2024 to $101.81 in 2027, excluding surcharges.

Other service districts supplied by Golden State Water Company are facing similar increases.  These rate increases are being requested to fulfill the company’s General Rate Case (GRC) that was filed last year with the California Public Utilities Commission.  The GRC proposes local infrastructure investments and water rates for the years 2025, 2026 and 2027. Continue reading →

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