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New Data Reveals Largest US Banks at Risk of Failure According to Weiss Research: JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, HSBC USA, Goldman Sachs, SunTrust, Compass, Fifth Third, and Huntington

Derivatives Losses Spreading

JUPITER, FL--(Marketwire - April 8, 2009) - In a press conference held yesterday to review fourth quarter call report data and TheStreet.com bank ratings, Martin D. Weiss of Weiss Research, Inc. concluded that:

-- Three out of four of the nation's largest banks are at risk of failure --
JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo.

-- Also at risk are HSBC USA, Goldman Sachs and large regional banks,
including SunTrust Bank, Compass Bank (Alabama), Fifth Third Bank
(Michigan), Huntington Bank (Ohio) and Etrade Bank (Virginia).

-- The total number of at-risk banks and thrifts rose to 1,816 in the
fourth quarter, from 1,568 banks in the prior quarter, an increase of 16
percent.


Also in the conference, Weiss provided updated commentary on his white paper issued on March 19. Titled "Dangerous Unintended Consequences," the white paper names U.S. banks and thrifts believed to be at risk of failure, using that data to demonstrate that the U.S. government greatly underestimates the scope of the debt crisis, while overestimating its ability to effectively save troubled institutions without severe adverse consequences.

"Especially alarming," writes Dr. Weiss, "is the fourth quarter OCC data demonstrating that record bank losses are spreading to interest-rate derivatives. Until now, bank derivatives losses have been limited almost exclusively to credit defaults swaps (CDS), which represent only 7.8 percent of the notional value U.S. derivatives held by all U.S. banks. In the fourth quarter, although the CDS losses continued at a near-record pace, we also witnessed record losses in the interest-rate sector, which represents 82 percent of the derivatives market: The nation's banks lost $3.4 billion in interest-rate derivatives, or more than seven times their worst previous quarterly loss in this category."

Separately, total global losses from the debt crisis to date are estimated at close to $4 trillion, with only about one third written down so far.

"In the face of such enormous risks and losses," Dr. Weiss continues, "it's entirely unreasonable to expect the U.S. Government to rescue failing U.S. financial institutions without unacceptable damage to its own credit, credibility and borrowing power."

In his phone conference with the press yesterday, Dr. Weiss discussed the serious implications of his findings. (To listen to the audio recording, go to http://blogs.moneyandmarkets.com/martin-weiss/jpmorgan-chase-goldman-sachs-citibank-wells-fargo.)

He then followed up with recommendations for 54,000 investors and consumers that had registered for a Weiss online webinar. (To view the video recording, go to http://weiss.streamlogics.com/April7-09.)

About Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D.

Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D., founder and president of Weiss Research, Inc. and a leading advocate for investor safety, is a nationally recognized expert on banking and insurance company solvency. With more than 35 years of experience, Dr. Weiss has helped empower millions of investors to make better financial decisions through his monthly Safe Money Report and daily Money and Markets.

Dr. Weiss, along with Weiss analyst Mike Larson, specifically named nearly all of the major institutions that have suffered a financial failure in this crisis. Weiss predicted the demise of Bear Stearns 102 days prior to its failure, Lehman Brothers (182 days prior), Fannie Mae (eight years prior), and Citigroup (110 days prior). Similarly, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that, in the 1990s, Weiss greatly outperformed Moody's, Standard & Poor's, A.M. Best and D&P (now Fitch) in warning of future life insurance company failures. (See the Weiss forecast track at http://blogs.moneyandmarkets.com/martin-weiss/the-only-ones-who-warned-ahead-of-time/ and the GAO report at http://archive.gao.gov/t2pbat2/152669.pdf.)

Dr. Weiss is a New York Times best-selling author with a new book, "The Ultimate Depression Survival Guide: Protect Your Savings, Boost Your Income and Grow Wealthy Even in the Worst of Times."

For a full history of Weiss Research, Inc., please see http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/content/history.html.

Tags: Bank Safety, Bank Rating, Martin D. Weiss, Money And Markets, credit Crunch, Credit Crisis, Financial Crisis, The Ultimate Depression Survival Guide

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Weiss-Research-Inc-972696.html