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How the bailout will affect Utahns depends on banks

Impressive how education-reporter-tuned-business reporter is able to get the "lowest per pupil funding" angle into a story about the Wall Street bailout.

To terms to watch over the next few weeks. The first is the Libor and the other is the TED.

The Libor is based on the London Interbank exchange rate, basically what banks charge other banks to borrow money. As in big bank lends to smaller bank, how much do they charge as a percentage for an overnight loan.

The second, the TED is the valued exchange dealing with the Euro.

Between the two it is a great measure of how much banks trust each other. As of yesterday the numbers were bad.

Institutions are not unlike people, since people run them. What did you do with the Incentive Check that Congress sent you a few months back? Did you live it up in Cancun? Go to Wendover and blow it on the craps table? Or did you most likely pay off that one credit card? Or simply hold onto it?

Everyone is antsy right now, banks are no different. As much money as the Feds have pumped into the system (roughly $3 trliion, not counting other central banks) banks are still very hesitant to lend.

We need to fix underlying causes, Community Reinvestment Act and dump the Democrats.)

The banks look for special treatment but they do not extend the same to the lowly consumer. They resist workouts, have successfully lobbied Congress to take away the power of the bankruptcy courts to implement workouts as consumers work to get back on their feet, and they have caused a lot of the consumer debt issues by their predatory credit practices. There is no doubt that consumers are partially responsible for their excessive spending, but the blame and the burden of fixing the problem should also be shared by banks. Whatever happened to concern for the middle class? Where is the relief for the American people? DO we have to hire our own lobbyists to get the attention of our government? So much for a government formed for the common good....

Isn't it interesting how after the bailout was given that the stocks fell 400 points.

So, did it work or did it give opportunity to Wall Street to manipulate the money so the poor investors can have that drop to recover their retirement money without the government putting it in writing? Just another secret combination for the legal crooks.

It is interesting that I have already read half a dozen articles since the bailout passage, already starting to give excuses that the bailout may not work if such and such is not also done, or may not even work at all.

All of the "dumb" congressmen and senators as well as the media were hoodwinked and forced that on the majority of the population that totally saw through this farce and fraud. We will remember and vote them out.

I laugh every time I read one of these articles saying how credit in the banking system should be the answer. They don't even now the theory behind banks. It is not to loan and borrow from each other and the government. The basis of all banking is for depositors to participate and be the majority of the source of money.

Now that wall street and the government have totally broken any trust that depositors had, banks will start to fail by the hundreds now as people continue to pull their money out looking for something safer which will probably be overseas resulting in another selloff of the dollar.

Gee thanks Hatch, Bennett, and Cannon (heavy sarcasm here!).

I work on the side as a Realtor. I say on the side because I'm not willing to be devious to make me a full time Realtor. However I am a top performer for a large brokerage.

Here is the latest that people are now doing. I have been approached to assist in these sales and I refused. So I'll remain an "on the side" Realtor for a while.

A person decides they don't want to pay for their $500,000 home because the payments are too much. So they stop making payments, hire a Realtor to negotiate a short sale with the banks then they sell the home to their friend for $220,000. They pay a credit repair guy to get their credit score back up in the 700's and they repurchase their home back from their friend for $250,000. A "For Sale" sign never goes in the yard and it never lists on the MLS. The original people never move out of the home.

If the banks don't put a stop to short sales then they will VERY SOON be back into asking for another bailout. To cover all the short sales.

Why is this allowed?

I liked Jason Chaffetz, but I think he is wrong on this one. Our country needs help. I've switched my vote to Bennion Spencer.

We are going into a scary time. I believe consumers have lost confidence in the economy and government. Congress did what they wanted, to help themselves, and said, "to heck with what Americans think." I think we have to vote all of these people out for sure.

I feel it is too late to do much other than prepare as best you can for your families. It won't get better from now on. Watch the markets drop to below 9000.

The only reason Utah banks are afraid is because of their poor lending practices. Getting into risky loan is their own fault. They have a long history of stupidity from Adnan Kashogi to lending for flight school for one or more of the 9-11 airplane hijackers.
Sound lending practices and underwriting would keep them from problems but few in the State can honestly say they do that.
Add in the failure of State and Federal Regulators to enforce the rules and laws and you have the current crisis.

I think that only banks which publicly proclaim they will stop making risky loans should receive government bailout money. This means that Zions and Wells Fargo would both have to quit lending money to illegal aliens in order to qualify. Perhaps they should shut down their "Su banco" branches and fire their controversial illegal alien advocate employees (Joe Reyna, Sylvia Haro, Luz Robles)

Are you kidding me, this crash has been in the works since the presidential election started. The remote possibilty that McCain will not be elected sent all Bush's rich buddies in a frenzy. Obama would not take of them, so instead the huge financial industry cried wolf, the gov bails them out and all these ceo's will leave millionaires, who bails out the americans who lost their all of their investments, and we are supposed to want to reinvest again! This is an inflated Enron, It would have been cheaper to give all working americans(mind u who have not over exceeded their income budgets) a check for $50,000 in order to catch up their morgages and bills, this would have jump started the economy b/c actual cash would be circulating back to banks and it would have decreased debt with out leaving one 100x's worse. So bend over and pucker up middle class, we will be, our child will be and our childrens children will be paying for this for years to come, who ever the president might be.