Profits and balance sheet developments at U.S. commercial banks in 2001

Despite the economic slowdown, the profitability of the U.S. commercial banking industry remained high in 2001. Although the weak economy contributed to a sharp rise in provisions for loan and lease losses, those losses were offset in large part by an advance in realized gains on investment account securities as banks' portfolios benefited from declining short- and intermediate-term market interest rates. Profits were also supported by reductions in noninterest expense, as large merger-related charges in 2000 were not repeated last year. Lower short-term interest rates also spurred a rapid increase in core deposits, which provided banks with plentiful, low-interest-rate funding. The expansion of bank balance sheets was slower in 2001 than in the preceding year, as weaker economic activity held down growth in loans to businesses. Loans to households advanced relatively rapidly, though at a somewhat slower pace than in 2000. An increase in the share of banks' portfolios consisting of mortgage-backed securities issued by government agencies, which have lower risk weights than loans, together with continued strong earnings, contributed to an increase in risk-based capital ratios.Banks and banking ; Bank profits ; Bank assets

Profits and balance sheet developments at U.S. commercial banks in 2000

The profitability of the U.S. commercial banking industry remained robust in 2000, but returns on equity and on commercial bank assets fell back somewhat from the peak reached in 1999. The falloff reflected a continuation of the decline in net interest margin that dates from the extraordinarily high levels of the early 1990s, a significant increase in loan-loss provisions, and a notable slowing in noninterest income growth. The expansion of bank balance sheets was much stronger in 2000 than in the preceding year, as growth of both loans and securities accelerated. The pickup in loan growth resulted mainly from a marked decline in securitizations, which boosted the growth of consumer loans in bank portfolios, and from business and real estate lending. The faster growth of securities was due to a surge in trading accounts, as runoffs of U.S. Treasury securities damped the growth of investment accounts.Banks and banking ; Bank profits ; Bank assets

Recent developments in business lending by commercial banks

After growing rapidly during much of the 1990s, the real value of commercial and industrial (C&I) loans at domestic commercial banks and at U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks has fallen 19 percent since the beginning of 2001. The recent contraction in business loans has been concentrated at large banking institutions and appears to stem from the combined effects of weak demand for credit and a tightening of lending standards and terms. The move toward a more-stringent lending posture, although partly cyclical, also reflects a reassessment of the risks and returns of C&I lending. This reassessment, in turn, is due partly to structural changes in the market, including the increased participation of nonbank financial institutions, the growth of the secondary loan market, and the greater use of credit derivatives by some banks.Commercial loans ; Bank loans

Profits and balance sheet developments at U.S. commercial banks in 2007

Reviews recent developments in the balance sheets and in the profitability of U.S. commercial banks. The article discusses how developments in the U.S. banking industry in 2007 and early 2008 were related to changes in financial markets and in the broader economy.Banks and banking - United States ; Bank profits

The economic performance of small banks, 1985-2000

Several trends in the financial industry over the past decade and a half have potentially threatened the competitiveness of small banks. Among these developments are the numerous mergers that increased the size and scope of large banks and the increased competition from mutual funds and other nonbank financial institutions. This article examines the economic performance of small banks during the 1985-2000 period by focusing on their ability to attract and profitably intermediate insured and uninsured deposits. It finds that the expansion of deposits and assets at small banks, when adjusted to account for the effects of mergers on measured growth, has consistently exceeded the growth at large banks. Moreover, the profitability of small banks has risen to high levels over the period. These indications of strength among small banks as a whole also hold true for subgroups within the small bank sector. Aside from their success in attracting deposits, the key reasons for the generally good performance of small banks in recent years appear to be their ability to earn relatively high rates of return on their loans and an increase in the share of their portfolios devoted to loans.Bank mergers ; Bank size

Melting of troilite at high pressure in a diamond cell by laser heating

A system for measuring melting temperatures at high pressures is described. The sample is heated with radiation from a YAG laser. The beam is reflected downward through a microscope objective, through the upper diamond anvil, and focused onto the sample. Hense, intense heating is produced only at the sample and not within the diamond anvils. A vidicon system is used to observe the sample during heating. Incandescent light from the heated sample passes back through the objective lens into a grating spectrometer. The spectrum of the incandescent light is received by the photodiode array and stored in the multichannel analyzer. These data can then be transferred to floppy disk for analysis. A curve fitting program is used to compare the spectra with standard blackbody curves and to determine the temperature. Pressure is measured by the ruby fluorescence method. The system was used to study the melting behavior of natural troilite (FeS)

Hybrid monomers & resins for high-performance thermosetting polymers, thermoplastics, & additive manufacturing

Vinyl ester and epoxy resins are used to produce thermosetting polymeric materials for a variety of commercial and military applications due to their relatively high moduli (2-3 GPa at 25 deg C), glass transition temperatures (Tgs) (greater than or equal to 120 deg C), and adequate fracture toughness (G1C approx. 200-250 J m-2). Most commercially available vinyl ester and epoxy resins are typically cured via traditional manufacturing techniques such as resin transfer molding and thermal curing. However, additive manufacturing (AM) has gained significant traction as a favorable manufacturing technique over traditional methods due to the ability to create customizable parts with complex geometries on-demand. This work aims to design high-performance materials that display similar thermal properties to conventional vinyl ester and epoxy resins while achieving significant gains in polymer fracture toughness and, in some cases, enable the use of such materials in stereolithography, an AM technique. Studies of the structure-property relationships of prepared, bio-based materials demonstrate that, in general, there are significant tradeoffs between Tg and fracture toughness; therefore, desired properties are not achieved. However, manipulation of polymer network connectivity via sequential formation of interpenetrating polymers allows for not only the use of AM, but also yields polymeric materials with Tgs that exceed 120 deg C and fracture toughness values four to five times higher in magnitude than conventional vinyl ester and epoxy resins

LXVI. Sir William Bassett to Cromwell

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