Community banks in need of liquidity will soon have a cheaper way to sell debt guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Housing troubles in Colorado and Arizona caused CoBiz Financial Inc. to swing to an $8.6 million loss in the fourth quarter, from a $5.5 million profit a year earlier.

I read an article this week that I believe could be instructive to all of us in an expense-cutting cycle. This particular piece was not about banks. It discussed the negative effects beginning to be felt in restaurants from the cutbacks of busboys.

Bank of Florida Corp. expects to report its fourth-quarter loss grew about tenfold from a year earlier, to $10 million, or 78 cents a share, due to deteriorating credit quality that prompted it to pad its reserves.

FirstFed Financial Corp.'s $244.8 million fourth-quarter loss shaved its capital so much that observers say it needs a cash infusion to keep regulators at bay.

NEW ENGLAND

There are two new government programs in the queue that aim to revive the frozen secondary market for loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration.

Though its credit quality weakened, Wainwright Bank and Trust Co. in Boston said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter earnings improved 5% from a year earlier, to $1.2 million.

The $2.7 billion-asset Home Savings and Loan Co. in Youngstown, Ohio — deemed by regulators a troubled institution in August — has succeeded in boosting capital as required by cease-and-desist orders.

Midwest Banc Holdings Inc., which just a few months ago said it was on the prowl to buy ailing banks, is now concentrating on staying in the black.

Northwest Bancorp Inc. in Warren, Pa., announced a deal to buy a small mutual thrift.

WASHINGTON — The massive stimulus package moving through Congress aims to unclog the market for Small Business Administration loans by providing financing to the broker-dealers that buy and securitize them.

A single line in the stimulus package the House passed last week could put the Federal Reserve Board on the road to becoming a systemic risk regulator.

The story of Flagstar Bancorp Inc. just keeps getting curiouser.

Nara Bancorp Inc. in Los Angeles said Friday that it swung to a $9.9 million loss in the fourth quarter as it aggressively recognized loan losses.

Taylor Capital Group Inc. in Rosemont, Ill., reported a fifth straight quarterly loss Thursday, as bad loans mounted.

Frontier Financial Corp. of Everett, Wash., swung to a loss of $89.5 million, or $1.90 a share, in the fourth quarter, from an $18 million profit a year earlier.

The nation's financial crisis, and its downward effect on the value of private-label mortgage-backed securities, has suddenly thrust an obscure accounting issue into the spotlight.

Genworth Financial Inc., a Richmond, Va., insurer seeking to qualify for government capital by acquiring a troubled Minneapolis thrift, said Thursday that the deal is still on.

Hanmi Financial Corp. in Los Angeles said Thursday that it lost $3.8 million, or 8 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, as a result of higher credit costs.