Yes, 600 mid-sized banks would fail the stress test!  That's a lot of banks.  And the biggest problem is commercial real estate... which is the next piece of the bailout puzzle.  How long are we going to throw money at these black holes?  The most inefficient parts of our economy?  Why don't we let it get worse on its own before it gets better... let the free market work itself out.

Read more here.

At least 6 of the 19 largest banks have failed the stress test, including Bank of America and Citibank.  

This is a test to find out if the banks have enough capital for some worst case scenario financial situations.  And now they're all appealing... how can you appeal the fact that your bank sucks?  This makes zero sense.  I've sucked on a lot of tests and have never had the option to appeal.  Give me a break.

The government wants these banks to raise capital by converting preferred shares to common shares, which would hold off the need for capital injection.  I'd stay away from the banks.  This market rally is starting to look even more fairy tale-like.

Read more here.

The DOW, S&P 500 and NASDAQ were all down big on Monday.  Investors took profits and finally realized that the banks are still in trouble. Citi fell almost 20 percent... is it really worth 20 percent less than it was Friday?  What happened over the weekend?

Is the worst over?  Doesn't look like it to me... Check out the full story here.

Greed is good?  Didn't think so.

JPMorgan beats estimates and pulls in $2.1 Billion profit, Nokia profit plunges 90 percent in 1st quarter, Southwest Airlines plans buyouts in what the CEO called the toughest revenue environment ever.  That's scary.  If people aren't flying with Southwest in these times they're sure as hell not flying with Delta and Continental.  Stay away from the airline stocks.

The one positive thing here is that you can check in just before your Southwest flight and still get in that coveted A group... no more checking in exactly 24 hours prior to avoid getting the C ticket.  Ding!

Still a lot of uncerntainty regarding this report... was it before or after paying dividends to the US government?  I can't wait to see the silver lining behind these numbers.  I'm guessing most of the earnings were due to a huge increase in overdraft fees.

Is Tim Geithner just covering up massive fraud?  I think he's got a little too much in common with Gordon Gekko.  If you haven't seen it, Wall Street is a must watch film. 

Here's another must watch video going into further detail about the treasury and bank fraud.

Don't think Citi or Bank of America big... think regional.  Did you know a that a quarter isn't even an inch in diameter?  Small.

Glacier Bancorp, Inc.

Unless you were shorting WaMu when it was at $40/share (so you know what you're doing), there is no reason to be investing in big banks right now.  You might as well head to Vegas and throw it all down on the Roulette table.  However, there are some small banks that actually have strong balance sheets and will end up in great position after this financial mess shakes out (not any time soon).  One to look at is Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (GBCI).  It does a lot of its lending in Wyoming and areas that do not have the 10% unemployment rates seen in California and other struggling states (Wyoming has a lot of cash).  It may fall a little more based on news from the banking sector (which will be bad again, like today) but it pays a healthy dividend and has plenty of capital to stay afloat without government help.  It was recently downgraded but do these people really know anything?  The answer is no.  I don't currently have a position.

All of the big banks are starting to show positive earnings and the future looks bright but can we trust the numbers?  The new stress test for banks that Tim Geithner has come up with is being called "A complete sham" by a formal bank regulator and "asinine" by the Chairman of Wells Fargo. 

Here's how it works for those of you who may not know...

The stress tests are to be finished no later than the end of April. They will evaluate the financial position of banks against two different scenarios, a baseline scenario consistent with consensus economic projections by several "forecasters", and a "more adverse scenario" that sees unemployment rising above 10 percent in 2010, and home prices falling another 22 percent in 2009.  The second scenarios seems much more plausible to me.  Keep in mind these are much of the same people that didn't have a clue we were getting into this mess.  And it goes on...

If a bank is deemed "under-capitalized" it will then have six months in to raise private capital before it must receive government aid.  If it needs the government aid, then convertible preferred secretaries will be provided that can be converted into common stock as needed.  How convenient!  More government aid.  Basically pulling money out of thin air.  Watch out inflation! 

And this is how Timmy is trying to instill confidence in the banks.  A little late maybe?

 How are we now just coming up with a test to determine the "health" of our nations banks.  Shouldn't this have been something in place like a million years ago so we could have seen the shady practices happening before they were to large to fix?  So the question is: are the banks really making any money or is this just more tricky accounting? 

Check out some more info below.  Or ask questions here.

Check out the full article.  Article 2.