How Are the Banks Doing?

With this crazy economy how are the banks doing? Wells Fargo reported a 3 billion dollar gain for there first quarter in 2009! Wells Fargo says it has to do with strong operating results from its acquisition of Wachovia and that lending activity has been brisk. Many are saying that although the Wells Fargo incident is nice to hear it is more then likely a one-time event.

As for the rest of the banks they are playing it cool. “A lot of banks got caught with their pants down,” said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading with Canaccord Adams. But with the improved economic data, government plans to aid help and positive comments about the stock market many people do not expect the economy to recover as fast as they would like.

Unemployment is still down which reflects that it is still difficult to find work for the unemployed. Hopefully better news is right around the corner for many and with the government’s help the big banks can get back on track! I guess only time will tell and hopefully it will tell positive news sooner then later ☺

A Ray of Hope for the Economy

With the current state of the economy is there a ray of hope shining through? According to a recent article found at money.cnn many economists are seeing signs of recovery as early as this summer! Even though New York unemployment is at a 25 year all time high there could be a silver lining right around the corner. Economists are saying they are seeing indicators bottoming out left and right. Starting with job losses peaking in January to increased home sales and stocks. Even better news is because the economy took such a steep fall they are hopeful that the recovery will be that much stronger.

Some economists are saying recovery could be as close to four months away! Such as economist Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of Economic Cycle Research Institute. He says his firm’s readings on long-term and short-term economic indicators give him significantly more hope that the economy is closer to a turnaround than he had thought even a month ago! Among the more than dozen different things his firm looks at are home prices, the jobs picture and stock prices.

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, also believes that a recovery could be closer than most people think. However, he said an end to the recession would largely depend on improvement in the labor markets. His first concern is getting job losses under control. He says if we can help improve job losses that will help build consumer confidence back into the economy and stocks.

I say the sooner the better! I love reading good news…