- The "too big to fail" banks have gotten even bigger, according to the Washington Post...
- Here is a link to a graphical representation of this phenomenon
- Here are a few stats on the collective dominance of JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo:
"Those three banks, plus government-rescued and -owned Citigroup, now issue one of every two mortgages and about two of every three credit cards, federal data show."
- Meanwhile, the health of the overall banking sector continues to worsen...
- The FDIC's 2Q report noted that the number of problem banks increased in the second quarter to 416, a fifteen year high.
- Today, the FDIC announced that they will be keeping a closer eye on newer banks also, noting that recent bank failures had the following causes: "The “troubled or failed” new lenders have suffered from an “over-reliance on volatile funding, including brokered deposits,” weak risk management, and “noncompliance with conditions in the deposit insurance orders,” the FDIC said.
- Closer to home in student loan land, the news is not much better as Moody's yesterday put Sallie Mae under review for another potential downgrade of their credit rating. In May, Moody's downgraded Sallie Mae to non-investment grade (or junk) status. The reason for this potential downgrade, according to Moody's:
"Sallie Mae "faces significant uncertainties related to the
political and consumer lending environment for student
lenders," Moody's said in a statement. "These issues could
challenge the company's liquidity and funding position as it
nears large unsecured debt maturities in 2010 and particularly
in 2011."
I guess this is one way of saying that we are not out of the woods yet when it comes to the banking crisis. 
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