The stock market hit a new high and the dollar climbed against a number of foreign currencies, all because Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke signaled a change to its massive bond buying practice. Beginning in January, the FOMC will only…
We’re Not Santa but we Have a List
December 10, 2013: New bank and credit union ratings are now posted at bauerfinancial.com! BAUERFINANCIAL, Inc., the nation’s leading independent bank rating firm, can let you know if your financial institution has been “naughty” (problematic indicates a rating of 2-Stars…
Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner
Your wallet may indicate otherwise, but according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, for the first time since 2009 and only the second time in the past decade, the cost of feeding a family of ten a “traditional” Thanksgiving dinner…
Too Big to Fail a Global Problem
While the cry to end “Too Big to Fail” (TBTF) gets increasingly louder here at home in the USA, it’s easy to overlook the fact that it’s a global problem. Instead of trying to end TBTF, however, the International Financial…
The Federal Reserve, Unemployment & Politics (Fed-Up)
CNNMoney coined the phrase “QE-Indefinitely”. Sad but true. The Federal Reserve will continue buying bonds at a rate of $85 billion per month as it has been doing since September 2012. There is still no end in sight. In fact,…
Would You Bank Here?
September 30, 2013: This self storage facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was the address used by two fraudulent “banks” in the past two months. On August 16th, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an alert to…
Community Banks, Local Credit Unions Team Up
Zero-Star Second Federal S&L, Chicago, IL failed on July 20, 2012. The failure was no surprise. The thrift had a rather unique business model; it specialized in making home loans to undocumented immigrants (with taxpayer-identification) in Hispanic markets in and…
The Difference Between Capital One & Capital One 360
August 26, 2013: That’s what the caller wanted to know. He called BAUERFINANCIAL for the rating on Capital One 360. Apparently he had called Capital One directly and was told that they had nothing to do with ING or Capital…
U.S. Deposit Insurance Not a Free-for-All
Who said it? “We had a bad banking situation. Some of our bankers had shown themselves either incompetent or dishonest in their handling of the people’s funds. They had used the money entrusted to them in speculations and unwise loans.…
Seven out of Ten Banks & Credit Unions Recommended by Independent Rating Firm
September 12, 2013: Newly released bank and credit union ratings from BAUERFINANCIAL, Inc., the nation’s leading independent bank rating firm, show the majority of the industry is on solid footing. The percent of banks and credit unions recommended by the…