Amidst Generally Good Economic News, Still Reason for Concern

Home prices finally stopped slipping and the consumer confidence index finally broke 50, but it is this line in today's WSJ early market recap that caught my attention:

"Regional banks were especially hit hard amid concern about potential mounting losses from commercial real estate."

Regional banks have generally been the most stable of the lending community in a market that continues to have historically tight purse strings. Should regional bank losses continue to mount, our industry's already-challenged consumer finance market could face a steeper uphill climb towards recovery.