STOCK MARKET WATCH - Wednesday, 1 February 2012

[Demeter]

4. Trends that Won’t End By Addison Wiggin

http://dailyreckoning.com/trends-that-wont-end/

U.S. taxpayers have lost $133 billion from TARP — the abominable acronym inflicted on us by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson — a new report out this morning shows...“TARP is not over,” Christy Romero, acting inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, reminds folks of the program through which she derives her own power, prestige and paycheck (PPP).

Congress authorized $700 billion. $413.4 billion was paid out. Only $318 billion’s been paid back, according to a new report from Ms. Romero. So much for the shrill lecture delivered last fall by CNN’s Erin Burnett to an Occupy Wall Street protester: “Taxpayers actually made money on the Wall Street bailout.” But what would you expect from someone engaged to an executive at Citigroup? Getting the rest back will be no easy task: For starters, General Motors stock would have to more than double from $24.28 to $53.98...

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Another trend that’s “not over,” we note, is bank shutdowns. The FDIC swooped in and closed four banks Friday night. (Yes, it’s the return of our own watch list for failed banks and the feds’ attempts to save them…)That makes seven banks for the month of January — an annual pace of 84. Close to last year’s total of 92, but lagging 2010’s peak of 157. (Who knows, maybe things will pick up in the spring!) There is one notable increase: the FDIC’s “loss ratio.” Of the 92 bank failures last year, FDIC losses totaled 20% of the failed banks’ assets. So far this year, it’s 32.9%… nearing TARP territory.