Banks are reporting earnings for the latest quarter, and the results are mixed. It is clear that bank earnings are still complicated as a result of banks’ involvement in mortgages and derivatives. However much the banks gloat or groan, it is hard to tell how well they are really doing.
A new banking rule will affect flippers, investors who buy houses in order to sell them again almost immediately. If the sale is to a purchaser who is getting a mortgage loan for the purchase, the seller may have to have to obtain a new professional appraisal of the house. New appraisal rules also apply whenever mortgages are at unusually high interest rates.
A small bank in Minnesota failed tonight. State banking regulators closed 1st Regents Bank, in Andover, Minnesota. The failed bank had $50 million in deposits. Its successor is First Minnesota Bank.
