Economic Collapse

“I am more concerned with the return of my money than the return on my money”
- Mark Twain

As expected for a long time now, CIT filed for bankruptcy yesterday. This is huge for small and medium sized businesses in USA as Reuters reports “CIT failure to leave small businesses floundering”:

The company’s long-term prospects are uncertain and the bankruptcy could leave more than one million small and medium-sized businesses looking for another source of funding, lawyers said.

“This could have a devastating effect,” said Jerry Reisman, a partner at law firm Reisman Peirez & Reisman in Garden City, New York, who has been working with many of CIT’s factoring clients.

These clients — about 2,000 small companies — are in a particular bind when it comes to finding alternative financing since CIT is by far the biggest provider of factoring services.

CIT’s factoring business, worth about $42 billion in 2008, is estimated to be at least five times the size of its closest competitor, Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), followed by other smaller companies such as GMAC Inc and Rosenthal & Rosenthal. It is not clear if these rivals have enough capacity to take on all of CIT’s existing customers.

Reuters reports:

U.S. authorities seized nine failed banks on Friday, the most in a single day since the financial crisis began and the latest stark sign that substantial parts of the nation’s banking industry are being crippled by bad loans.

The move brought the total number of failed banks in 2009 to 115 — their highest annual level since 1992 — with analysts expecting more to come. Among the lenders seized Friday was Los Angeles-based California National Bank, in what was the fourth-largest U.S. bank failure this year.

The largest institution to fail in the current financial crisis was Washington Mutual, which boasted $307 billion in assets when it was shuttered in September 2008.

U.S. Bancorp on Friday acquired the nine banks that had been held by FBOP Corp, picking up $18.4 billion in assets and $15.4 billion of deposits.

So another 15 billion to handle by the FDIC. They will need more funds very soon. From whom you ask? From you, dear taxpayer! This will be done through Bernankes printing press and you will pay for it through the further debasement of your currency. Trick or treat?