It seems those bank stress tests weren't so stressful......

:think:


via Dollars & Sense:



Banks Won Concessions on Stress Tests (WSJ)
by Dollars and Sense

Fed Cut Billions Off Some Initial Capital-Shortfall Estimates; Tempers Flare
at Wells


By DAVID ENRICH, DAN FITZPATRICK and MARSHALL ECKBLAD
Wall Street Journal | May 9 2009


The Federal Reserve significantly scaled back the size of the capital hole facing some of the nation's biggest banks shortly before concluding its stress tests, following two weeks of intense bargaining.

In addition, according to bank and government officials, the Fed used a different measurement of bank-capital levels than analysts and investors had been expecting, resulting in much smaller capital deficits.

The overall reaction to the stress tests, announced Thursday, has been generally positive. But the haggling between the government and the banks shows the sometimes-tense nature of the negotiations that occurred before the final results were made public.

Government officials defended their handling of the stress tests, saying they were responsive to industry feedback while maintaining the tests' rigor. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.dollarsandsense.org/blog/2009/05/banks-won-concessions-on-stress-tests.html