WITH BONUSES LIKE THESE WHO NEEDS LENDING?

BANZAI7 NEWS-- Lending by the banking industry fell by $587 billion, or 7.5 percent, in 2009, the largest annual decline since the 1940s, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported Tuesday.

The number of "troubled" banks -- those the FDIC considers at some risk of failure -- increased to 702 at the end of 2009, a 64 percent increase over the end of the previous year.

The vast majority of the decline was the result of lending cutbacks by the largest banks, which have tightened qualification standards and increased the proportion of money that they hold in reserve against unexpected losses in their proprietary trading operations.

A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain--Mark Twain