If the banks are losing money.....?

they make money by lending.....
If they got no money they can't lend
If no one can lend.... no one can spend.... bad news for Industry and the ecomony
If Gordon steps in with government funding.... who's he going to borrow off ?
US !!!!....

I think he's going to bankrupt Government in trying to steer off the credit crunch.

the best bit is..... he was chancellor for 10 years and should have stopped the 'free and easy credit' years ago.

opinions please ...........

citi group this morning $5.11 billion....

northern rock.... and a rights issue at RBS..... in the news at the mo

and they are the ones I can remember without looking

(FYI: I'm American. We're deep in economic trouble too - the entire world is - but thats why my POV might be a tad different)

I don't think you're going to see bank CEO's out with tin cans begging for change. Some of the crappier banks, maybe, but it is due to customer retention if anything else (US'ers - Bank of America, anyone?) The banks did have a decrease in profit but it doesn't mean they're making nothing. America's news media prides it self on how much fear it can cause, so for us, it's all in the fine print. WELLS FARGO HAS LOSSES OF 8% SINCE LAST QUARTER and ... oh, yeah, Wells Fargo made an oh-so-pathetic 10.6 BILLION dollars in revenue in their first QUARTER.

The banks are set up to make money as long as they're smart enough to keep customers. People HAVE been taking out equity loans to consolidate debt. Although low interest rates suck for the bank in regards to cashing in from finance charges, people taking out an equity loan - even if it were at 1% - still brings a lot of profit. Sure, some people have defaulted on their mortgages but even more people are using the market as an opportune time to buy their first home. Most mortgage-lending banks usually make between 50-70% of their total income from home loans alone.

The market sucks everywhere, I know this, which seems like a credit disaster in the works. I'll even blame America for a large part of it. We have an idiot president who helped raise the price of gas EVERYwhere and who pursued a useless, expensive wars. But, a new election is coming up for us, things are being done to jump start the economy, and somehow even some of the greedier banks relieved some concern with the ARM crisis.

It's going to be a bumpy few years, but banks will keep lending and people will start to have a some extra cash (thanks to lower interest rates and middle-class Americans getting 600$ checks to "stimulate" spending) and people WILL go shopping and eventually the money the merchants make will get right back around to where it started.

Like I said, it's going to be tough but I don't expect the Depression. It might just be the US media making it seem like Armageddeon but I do think we'll all be fine. And, I can assure you, the banks here won't run out of money anytime soon (and we do have our FDIC insurance to protect our funds in case our bank does goes bankrupt). I just think some of the hysteria is a bit much. I don't see everything living on the streets fighting over rat meat because they became so deep in credit card debt. I'm pretty sure all of our governments and our countrymen will survive the financial debacle. We'll be set back, sure, but I have an optimistic idea that our citizens will have enough brains to live inside their means and just wait this stupid economic rainstorm out.

He will put us in more trouble than we were in before before Labour took over,

Which bank is losing money?
Can you back that statement up?

All the reports I have seen show huge yearly profits.

I agree that the government needs to get out of the way and let things run their course. A little pain in the short run is worth it.

the only people who need a bank loan is the bank of england if we lend them enough to buy the paper and the ink to print more money the problem will be solved, just make sure im involved in the share out

...doesn't the individual have some responsibility regarding how much money they borrow??? everyone including their cat knew this was going to happen to the housing and credit market.