But I Thought The Economy Was Improving?

Why is it that we're told that economic conditions are "stabilizing" and that business outlook is "improving" when even large institutions still can't pay their bills?

Classified assets rated 'substandard', 'doubtful', and 'loss,' rose to $447 billion from $163 billion in 2008.

The volume of SNCs rated 'doubtful' and 'loss' in 2009 rose almost 14-fold to $110 billion, while non-accrual loans touched $172 billion, up from $22 billion in 2008.

14-fold increase? 1,400% eh? Hmmmm....

But the real news in here is the comparison with the "headline" number:

U.S. regulators say that the level of losses from syndicated loans facing banks and other financial institutions tripled to $53 billion in 2009, due to poor underwriting standards and the continuing weakness in economic conditions.

So let's see..... we have $53 billion declared as "a loss" while more than double that much is rated "doubtful" (at best) and nearly 10 times as much is included if you count "substandard" risks as well.

Here's the obvious question - if the economy is improving and has reached a bottom, if economic activity is turning around, then why is it that we continue to see this sort of deterioration in loan performance across all sectors - consumer, mortgage, and now large commercial?

The answer is simple: The media and government are lying. Period.

More at Link

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1466-But-I-Thought-The-Economy-Was-Improving.html

It's so much easier to believe the economy is in jobless recovery.

Oh yea, K&R