Best Place For Cash?

[flying]

Just curious................

With all the thrashing in the financial sectors & the fears of US banks having problems.

Is anyone worried about their cash savings?

What is the general consensus as to the best place for cash?

I know FDIC exists but wonder is the fit hits the shan is it enough?

Does one lean towards the biggest like BOA or???

Stick it in a safe/safety box & forget interest kidding

[midas]

I share your concerns and have been wondering the same thing myself !

I have my " liquid " money with Citibank which has already had it's fair share of problems but

I have been telling myself surely one of the biggest bank's would ultimately be protected

by the authorities ?

But now I'm beginning to question whether even this is prudent because there doesn't seem

to be an end to all of this..............

[flying]

I share your concerns and have been wondering the same thing myself !

I have my " liquid " money with Citibank which has already had it's fair share of problems but

I have been telling myself surely one of the biggest bank's would ultimately be protected

by the authorities ?

But now I'm beginning to question whether even this is prudent because there doesn't seem

to be an end to all of this..............

Thanks

Yeah I am using HSBC & Cap One now for my savings & I know HSBC does not rate well.

Like You I know FDIC is there but wonder perhaps needlessly if they could even handle a major problem.

BTW........here is a link to a rating system on banks. Street dot com does

http://www.thestreet.com/screener/index.ht...index&tab=3

put in the banks name then pick from list.

Then over on the right is a small report for download

[midas]

I am questioning the entire " system " now .........!

I just posted this question in another thread in this forum ...............any theories ............?

" Just how far can the US government go on bailing out institutions and

allocating more and more funds to be available to the banks?

We have now had Bear Sterns, Freedie and Fanny, Federal money for

what seems like an endless string of natural disasters

in the USA, and what seems to be an assurance every week

to the financial markets that the government will underwrite liquidity in the markets..............

So where is all the money going to come from to do all this

and can they really afford to keep doing this ?

What about the monthly cost of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan................. is anyone keeping

a budget because surely they can just keep going on indefinitely making money available ? "

[midas]

This article in todays " The Times of UK " makes me feel even less

comfortable....................it raises some interesting points !

I have never been impressed with Henry Paulson, the Secretary of the US Treasury.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/c...icle4761265.ece

[flying]

This article in todays " The Times of UK " makes me feel even less

comfortable....................it raises some interesting points !

I have never been impressed with Henry Paulson, the Secretary of the US Treasury.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/c...icle4761265.ece

Your right I just read it & do not feel any better

You know at this rate I am sure many others think the same & worry.

I wonder if folks will start to withdraw savings out of fear?

Needlessly or not it would cause more problems.

[midas]

This article in todays " The Times of UK " makes me feel even less

comfortable....................it raises some interesting points !

I have never been impressed with Henry Paulson, the Secretary of the US Treasury.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/c...icle4761265.ece

Your right I just read it & do not feel any better

You know at this rate I am sure many others think the same & worry.

I wonder if folks will start to withdraw savings out of fear?

Needlessly or not it would cause more problems.

I just emailed the Reserve Bank of Australia to ask about my deposit at Citibank

after reading that article.

Guess what ? They dont have ANY form of guarantee for deposits in banks in Australia at this time

THEY ARE ONLY TALKING NOW TO introduce one for a measly $20,000 Aust dollars

and that certainly would not cover me by any means.

This is worrying................maybe it is time to seriously think of other

places to park the money...................but where .............?

[flying]

[

I just emailed the Reserve Bank of Australia to ask about my deposit at Citibank

after reading that article.

Guess what ? They dont have ANY form of guarantee for deposits in banks in Australia at this time

THEY ARE ONLY TALKING NOW TO introduce one for a measly $20,000 Aust dollars

and that certainly would not cover me by any means.

This is worrying................maybe it is time to seriously think of other

places to park the money...................but where .............?

Well dont feel too bad.

In reality the FDIC has 50 billion to cover 1 trillion in savings

But they could print more right

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/artic...,%5eDJI,%5eGSPC

http://www.cnbc.com/id/26408785

[flying]

Here are a couple of cool sites

The first is the FDIC failed banks list.

Actually all small banks except Indymac?

http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html

This is a cool site in a way too. I am not saying it is valid but it is interesting to read back

on what they were saying. Also most of the list is mortgage banks

http://ml-implode.com/alphabetical.html

[Jimjim]

If you have more than $100,000 in one bank savings account, spread it out to other savings accounts.

[benjamat]

My money is in nationwide B/s uk, biggest ib the uk. very usefull for moving money, no charge for foreign withdrawals at all.

I dont hear anything about them at the moment but wonder what exposure they have to the bad debts of banks, and mortgage defaults.

[OriginalPoster]

[

I just emailed the Reserve Bank of Australia to ask about my deposit at Citibank

after reading that article.

Guess what ? They dont have ANY form of guarantee for deposits in banks in Australia at this time

THEY ARE ONLY TALKING NOW TO introduce one for a measly $20,000 Aust dollars

and that certainly would not cover me by any means.

This is worrying................maybe it is time to seriously think of other

places to park the money...................but where .............?

Well dont feel too bad.

In reality the FDIC has 50 billion to cover 1 trillion in savings

But they could print more right

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/artic...,%5eDJI,%5eGSPC

http://www.cnbc.com/id/26408785

Printing presses are cheap these days, another trillion $ won't take more that a day or two to produce.

[roamer]

My money is in nationwide B/s uk, biggest ib the uk. very usefull for moving money, no charge for foreign withdrawals at all.

I dont hear anything about them at the moment but wonder what exposure they have to the bad debts of banks, and mortgage defaults.

Solid as a rock ( not a northern rock thankfully). Much more prudent management, the Nationwide took a much more cautious approach about who it lent money too...witness the amount of whinging on this forum from people who couldn't even get a credit card from them

Mind you watching the news today you feel we are not at the end nor even the beginning of the end.

[flying]

Well as I write this Wed morning...... Gold just went up 80 bucks/ounce

So I guess many have decided a safe place for cash

[timekeeper]

My money is in nationwide B/s uk, biggest ib the uk. very usefull for moving money, no charge for foreign withdrawals at all.

I dont hear anything about them at the moment but wonder what exposure they have to the bad debts of banks, and mortgage defaults.

Solid as a rock ( not a northern rock thankfully). Much more prudent management, the Nationwide took a much more cautious approach about who it lent money too...witness the amount of whinging on this forum from people who couldn't even get a credit card from them

Mind you watching the news today you feel we are not at the end nor even the beginning of the end.

actually Northern Rock is the safest place in the UK to deposit now

its government owned and financed by the bank of england so if it goes, then the whole banking system in UK goes too

there were big queues of people applying to open deposit accounts at many branches last week.

the news reported it as reminiscant of those taking out money last year.

its a changing world....

[andyc2006]

Just curious................

With all the thrashing in the financial sectors & the fears of US banks having problems.

Is anyone worried about their cash savings?

What is the general consensus as to the best place for cash?

I know FDIC exists but wonder is the fit hits the shan is it enough?

Does one lean towards the biggest like BOA or???

Stick it in a safe/safety box & forget interest kidding

FDIC is nearly broke, from IndyMac, but the protocol when it busts (and it will, likely this year) is taxpayer backing short-term, higher premiums long term. So though bust, you can still count on FDIC insurance paying off.

Assuming you're a US citizen, safe places for money:

- treasurydirect.gov -- open an account, link it to your bank accounts so that you can move money back & forth

- any FDIC-insured bank account or CD, up to the FDIC-insured limits (usually $100,000 per person per bank)

- US treasuries, if you hold them to maturity (if you sell them prematurely, you can lose money on them)

- true money-market funds that invest only in vehicles backed with the full faith & credit of the US government. Not all brokers have these. I use Fidelity's, and the ticker symbol is FDLXX. I know that Vanguard has one too.

- another option for a slightly better return with only a little risk are Ginnie Maes -- FGMNX for Fidelity, and Vanguard also has a fund of these. These funds invest in mortgages that are written by Ginnie Mae (the one that didn't go bust, for a reason -- no liar loans, 20% down payments required, 2-1 income-to-debt ration required), which is explicitly backed by the US Govt. The fund's share prices will vary, based mostly on interest rates, but the underlying investments are backed by the full faith & credit of the US Govt.

FYI, I had some of my money spread out amongst 11 banks in the US. I picked them well -- 2 have already failed!

FDIC shows up Friday evenings to shut the insolvent banks. If you have a checking or savings account with a failed bank, your money is available the next Monday morning (usually in a new account with another member bank). If you have CDs with the bank, it takes a little longer.

[flying]

FDIC shows up Friday evenings to shut the insolvent banks. If you have a checking or savings account with a failed bank, your money is available the next Monday morning (usually in a new account with another member bank). If you have CDs with the bank, it takes a little longer.

That is at least reassuring.

Thanks

[meatball]

Thai Banks are pretty safe..

I asked Siam Com Bank, Thai Military Bank, UOB and Bangkok Bank.

They told me they dont have any exposure to CDOs in US

[sleepyjohn]

UBS has been suffering greatly. First $43B losses.

Second the share price of this huge bank lost as much as 80% now recovered a bit.

I am however happy to see:

They declared their losses first and quickly.

The share price is likely based on reduced future earnings rather than liquidity problems......and earnings will certainly be well down.....already are in fact.

A middle eastern consortium helped out UBS with about $20B after they declared their losses. Pretty impressive and I'm guessing they did their due dilly at that rather dark moment after both the losses and Bear/Fannie/Freddy etc.

The drop I mentioned, which is now about 70% was from the perhaps exuberant high of the bull market rather than the average of the last few years. If you said it is really a 50 or 60% drop from it's high area it is perfectly reasonable given earnings predictions.

Two bigwig regulators in Switzerland have clearly and publicly said UBS has no capital problems (yes I know one of them previously worked for UBS).

The UBS chairman just did the same thing.

As the statements were made publicly I tend to believe them. It would be a real malfeasance, with access to the figures, to misdeclare the position especially bearing in mind the bollocking the Bear Sterns chairman got for doing just that. I don't know the Swiss banking laws exactly but I do know they would make a pip squeak and those statements were made in Switzerland.

As for UBS's call rates, well you can do better.

cheers John

Edited September 24, 2008 by sleepyjohn

[chiang mai]

Thai Banks are pretty safe..

I asked Siam Com Bank, Thai Military Bank, UOB and Bangkok Bank.

They told me they dont have any exposure to CDOs in US

I'm not trying to be flippant but your post reminds me of a conversation I overheard the other day in Bangkok. A youngish American lad was escorting his bargirl date out of the hotel when he turned to her and said, "everyone is concerned about the US Dollar and US markets, do you know about that and have you been following it". The young "lady" smiled and nodded so the lad continued with his remarks on the US financial system. It was clear from the body language that the only words the girl may have understood were "market" and "dollar" and neither would have been even remotely understood in the context the man intended - we howled with laughter.

Now non of the above is intended to imply that the people in the banks that you spoke to were lying when they answered your questions about CDO's, but, just a word of caution, you may not have received the entire answer.

[Naam]

UBS has been suffering greatly. First $43B losses.

Second the share price of this huge bank lost as much as 80% now recovered a bit.

I am however happy to see...

...that UBS' third quarter will be profitable again. what do you mean by "As for UBS's call rates, well you can do better" John? interest rates on cash?

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

According to Warren Buffet the best place for cash is to buy something, he said saving cash is like saving sex for your old age.

[midas]

BBC World websire today :-

Washington Mutual (WaMu) has been closed by its regulator, making it the biggest US bank to fail.

I dont come from the USA so is anyone able to comment on how does WaMu compare in size

to CITIGROUP ?

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Heres the top 50 US Banks

Institution Name

State

Headquartered No.

of

Offices Total

Deposits

June 30, 2007

Bank of America North Carolina 5,728 596,584,899

JPMorgan Chase Bank Ohio 3,108 439,996,000

Wachovia Bank North Carolina 3,103 314,850,000

Wells Fargo Bank South Dakota 3,255 263,664,999

Citibank Nevada 1,036 210,289,000

Washington Mutual Bank Washington 2,180 202,706,306

SunTrust Bank Georgia 1,747 114,579,848

U.S. Bank Ohio 2,590 113,097,080

Regions Bank Alabama 2,087 88,388,815

Branch Banking and Trust Company North Carolina 1,484 83,720,251

National City Bank Ohio 1,451 82,374,824

HSBC Bank USA Delaware 455 75,342,071

World Savings Bank, FSB California 287 73,247,967

Countrywide Bank Virginia 2 60,616,621

PNC Bank Pennsylvania 836 59,188,198

Keybank Ohio 965 57,286,597

ING Bank, fsb Delaware 1 54,161,553

Merrill Lynch Bank USA Utah 3 51,601,084

Sovereign Bank Pennsylvania 745 49,134,698

Comerica Bank Michigan 395 41,797,801

Union Bank of California California 331 40,650,535

Commerce Bank Pennsylvania 398 40,126,588

North Fork Bank New York 356 38,059,484

Fifth Third Bank Michigan 775 37,990,237

LaSalle Bank National Association Illinois 138 34,653,022

E*TRADE Bank Virginia 2 33,197,825

Bank of the West California

671

33,151,413

Citibank (South Dakota) N.A. South Dakota 4 32,892,908

Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company New York 673 32,811,138

Harris National Association Illinois 226 30,725,670

The Bank of New York New York 9 29,601,000

Chase Bank USA, Delaware 3 29,565,966

Marshall and Ilsley Bank Wisconsin 321 28,899,307

TD BankNorth Maine 626 28,092,910

Fifth Third Bank Ohio 415 27,054,097

USAA Federal Savings Bank Texas 1 25,267,329

Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 415 24,485,743

The Huntington National Bank Ohio 424 24,121,042

Citizens Bank of Massachusetts Massachusetts 262 23,713,359

LaSalle Bank Midwest Michigan 268 23,435,977

Compass Bank Alabama 420 23,405,240

First Tennessee Bank Tennessee 259 21,763,800

Charter One Bank Ohio 490 21,270,835

Capital One Louisiana 354 20,567,194

Discover Bank Delaware 2 20,343,620

UBSBank Utah 1 20,222,245

Morgan Stanley Bank Utah 1 19,535,000

Colonial Bank, National Association Alabama 321 16,663,063

Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Puerto Rico 202 15,269,000

TD Bank USA, National Association New York 1 15,246,862

[lannarebirth]

I grew up in Washington state. Washibgton Mutual used to be a super well run saving and loan/building society. It was conservative in it's corporate habits and always paid a nice dividend to it's depositors. The fact that it was so well run mad it an all too vulnerable company for the sharks operating on Wall Street. in the course of a decade they've turned a safe mom and pop establishment into histor's biggest financial failure.

[coolslider18]

I will put it in Gold and oil, not all of it, but hedge some of my money...

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

I grew up in Washington state. Washibgton Mutual used to be a super well run saving and loan/building society. It was conservative in it's corporate habits and always paid a nice dividend to it's depositors. The fact that it was so well run mad it an all too vulnerable company for the sharks operating on Wall Street. in the course of a decade they've turned a safe mom and pop establishment into histor's biggest financial failure.

Just heard on CNN that the CEO is getting $18,000,000 going away present. Do you suppose that is for doing such a good job?

[midas]

I grew up in Washington state. Washibgton Mutual used to be a super well run saving and loan/building society. It was conservative in it's corporate habits and always paid a nice dividend to it's depositors. The fact that it was so well run mad it an all too vulnerable company for the sharks operating on Wall Street. in the course of a decade they've turned a safe mom and pop establishment into histor's biggest financial failure.

Just heard on CNN that the CEO is getting $18,000,000 going away present. Do you suppose that is for doing such a good job?

Disgusting !

[Naam]

I will put it in Gold and oil, not all of it, but hedge some of my money...

behind what hedge?

[LaoPo]

I will put it in Gold and oil, not all of it, but hedge some of my money...

behind what hedge?

This one ? ...hiding a beautiful Bauern Hof.....

LaoPo