BankThink

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Down, Up, and Down Again: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 520 points, 4.62 percent, putting it to the lowest level since September 2010 and wiping out Tuesday's gains. The Post predicted "The dramatic reversal signals investors are likely to see more volatile trading in the days and weeks ahead as world markets struggle to digest the full ramifications of the European debt crisis." The Journal said that bank stocks led the way down. The paper added that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been ramping up the number of calls it makes to banks to ask about "the volatility in their stock prices." It noted that for the second time this week Bank of America shares fell more than most. Meanwhile, the Times said the stock market fluctuations are giving Americans flashbacks to the 2008 financial crisis. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post

The article "Bankers Fear 'Witch Hunt' in Government Pursuit of Fair Lending Cases" [Aug 2] chronicles the response of bankers, advocates, the Department of Justice itself, and others to "an aggressive push by the Justice Department to investigate fair lending claims..." and "...the launch last year of a special fair-lending unit within Justice's civil rights division...investigating claims of bank discrimination in their credit policies."

Community bankers have a chance to have our issues heard over the next few months on the national front.

Breaking News This Morning ...HSBC Sells U.S. Credit Card Business: Capital One will buy HSBC's credit card business in the U.S. for a premium of $2.6 billion. Analysts expect the deal could raise Capital One's earnings by 10 percent or more. Wall Street Journal, New York Times

A little over one year ago Congress overwhelmingly passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, more commonly known as Dodd-Frank. Though many parts of the bill are controversial, none has sparked more debate than Title X, which created and authorized the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

William A. Cooper makes a cameo appearance in Ryan Lizza's profile of the GOP presidential hopeful.

The branch will be mainly a marketing and new account indoctrination center. Smartphones will eliminate most face-to-face transactions, as well as paper checks, currency and cards – not to mention the costs associated with those media.

Malicious apps on Android handsets can "pop up" over the original app and steal users' credentials, using a security flaw discovered independently by two research teams.

Unlike grading corporate credits, rating big countries is thoroughly ridiculous. We can all look at the same budget numbers and assess the political prospects as well as any rating agency.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Dow Down: The lead story in all three papers was the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 635 points, or 5.55 percent, to 10,810 yesterday, the worst day since December 2008. An address from President Obama, the Journal said, failed to inspire the markets as the Dow lost 20 points during his 11-minute speech. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post