Which Are the Weakest U.S. Banks ?

September 4, 2008 3:29pm by

I’ve been meaning to point to a fascinating part of TheStreet.com: Banks & Thrifts Screener. Its a pretty nifty tool that you can use to see if your bank is on the skids or not.  (Note: I don’t know what the basis of the ratings are — they are proprietary)

Excellent tool, and best of all its free.

For example: My neice and nephew live in Chicago, and asked me about a local bank. I popped in Illinois, and screened for all banks rated "D" or below. 

Voila! 137 Banks rated from D+ down to F. (see full list after the jump)

In NY, the same search generates 27 banks; In California, 83 banks. If I search all states, I get 1477 banks rated "D" or worse.

Bank_screener

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Source:
TSC Ratings Finds the Weakest U.S. Banks   
TheStreet.com, 9/2/08
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10435373/1/tsc-ratings-finds-the-weakest-us-banks.html

The Street.com Ratings, D or lower, Illinois

Allegiance
Community Bank, Tinley Park, ILD+
Amcore Bank,
Rockford, ILD+
Austin Bank,
Chicago, ILD+
Bank of Calhoun
County, Hardin, ILD+
Bank of
Modesto, Modesto, ILD+
Bank of
Springfield, Springfield, ILD+
Benchmark Bank,
Aurora, ILD+
Bridgeview Bank
Group, Bridgeview, ILD+
Campus State
Bank, Campus, ILD+
Central Bank,
Fulton, ILD+
Central State
Bank, Clayton, ILD+
Charter Bank,
Hoffman Estates, ILD+
Chicago
Community Bank, Chicago, ILD+
Citizens
Community Bank, Berwyn, ILD+
Citizens First
State Bank, Walnut, ILD+
Community
Banks, Cowden, ILD+
Corn Belt Bank
& Trust, Pittsfield, ILD+
Delaware Place
Bank, Chicago, ILD+
Devon Bank,
Chicago, ILD+
Elizabeth State
Bank, Elizabeth, ILD+
Evergreen
Private Bank, Oak Brook, ILD+
Farmers &
Traders State, Shabbona, ILD+
Farmers
National, Griggsville, ILD+
Farmers State
Bank, Elmwood, ILD+
Farmers State
Bank, Alto Pass, ILD+
First Bank
& Trust, Palatine, ILD+
First
Commercial Bank, Chicago, ILD+
First Community
Bank, Joliet, ILD+
First National,
Arenzville, ILD+
First National,
Danville, ILD+
First Savanna
Savings Bank, Savanna, ILD+
First Security
Bank, Mackinaw, ILD+
First State
Bank, Grand Chain, ILD+
First State
Bank, Red Bud, ILD+
Forreston State
Bank, Forreston, ILD+
Gateway
Community Bank, Roscoe, ILD+
Hardware State
Bank, Lovington, ILD+
Highland
Community Bank, Chicago, ILD+
Joy State Bank,
Joy, ILD+
Kent Bank,
Kent, ILD+
Leaders Bank,
Oak Brook, ILD+
Mazon State
Bank, Mazon, ILD+
Plaza Bank,
Norridge, ILD+
Pulaski
Savings, Chicago, ILD+
Rock River
Bank, Oregon, ILD+
Savanna-Thomson
State Bank, Thomson, ILD+
South End
Savings, Homewood, ILD+
STC Capital
Bank, St Charles, ILD+
Sumner
National, Sheldon, ILD+
Union Savings
Bank, Freeport, ILD+
Valley
Community Bank, St Charles, ILD+
Wheatland Bank,
Naperville, ILD+
All American
Bank, Des Plaines, ILD
Alpha Community
Bank, Toluca, ILD
American
Enterprise Bank, Buffalo Grove, ILD
Anchor State
Bank, Anchor, ILD
Arcola
Homestead, Arcola, ILD
Bank of
Shorewood, Shorewood, ILD
Beardstown
Savings, Beardstown, ILD
Centrust Bank,
Deerfield, ILD
Citizens State
Bank, Cropsey, ILD
Columbus
Savings, Chicago, ILD
Commercial
State Bank, Waterloo, ILD
Community Bank,
Chicago, ILD
Community First
Bank, Chicago, ILD
Corus Bank,
Chicago, ILD
DuPage
National, W Chicago, ILD
Farmers &
Merchants State Bank, Bushnell, ILD
First Choice
Bank, Geneva, ILD
First National,
Mulberry Grove, ILD
First National,
Catlin, ILD
First National,
Grant Park, ILD
First State
Bank, Winchester, ILD
Founders Bank,
Worth, ILD
Gold Coast
Bank, Chicago, ILD
Heritage Bank,
Trivoli, ILD
Inland Bank
& Trust, Hillside, ILD
Interstate
Bank, Oak Forest, ILD
Kinderhook
State Bank, Kinderhook, ILD
Lincoln Park
Savings Bank, Chicago, ILD
LincolnWay
Community Bank, New Lenox, ILD
Marine Bank,
Springfield, ILD
Marshall County
State Bank, Varna, ILD
Millennium
Bank, Des Plaines, ILD
Northside
Community Bank, Gurnee, ILD
PeopleFirst
Bank, Joliet, ILD
Premier Bank,
Wilmette, ILD
Royal Savings
Bank, Chicago, ILD
Sauk Valley
Bank & Trust, Sterling, ILD
Security Bank,
Springfield, ILD
Signature Bank,
Chicago, ILD
SouthernTrust
Bank, Goreville, ILD
Town Center
Bank, Frankfort, ILD
Town Community
Bank & Trust, Antioch, ILD
Tremont Savings
Bank, Tremont, ILD
Vermont State
Bank, Vermont, ILD
Winfield
Community Bank, Winfield, ILD
Allied First
Bank, Oswego, ILD-
AmeriMark Bank,
Villa Park, ILD-
AztecAmerica
Bank, Berwyn, ILD-
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What's been said:

Discussions found on the web:
  1. Eric commented on Sep 4

    Hopefully one of the criteria is not whether Cramer has it rated buy or sell.

  2. JS commented on Sep 4

    primero!

  3. David commented on Sep 4

    Now how many of those are publicly traded…I know Corus is, but that’s been an impossible short (too crowded) for..ever.

  4. leftback commented on Sep 4

    Very useful.

    Where is this going to end? NO way on earth FDIC can bail out all these turkeys. Consolidation, bailouts and ???

  5. Chief Tomahawk commented on Sep 4

    Illinois has more poorly rated banks than Cali?!? WTF. And to think I left WaMu for Citibank under the “too big to fail” idea.

  6. johnnyvee commented on Sep 4

    Was IndyMac on the list before it was taken over by the FDIC? NO. What does that tell you?

  7. Jason Stokes commented on Sep 4

    I’m from Springfield, IL. Seems like all the Springfield banks are the independents. I don’t see any independent banks of any size that aren’t on the list. Most of those are very conservative, well-run banks, too.

    Not sure where TheStreet is getting their info.

  8. Bigboy commented on Sep 4

    No Safari support. FAIL.

  9. Amos Newcombe commented on Sep 4

    Doesn’t work on any browser except IE; freezes on IE5 for Mac. Useless piece of junk for Mac owners.

  10. Bill commented on Sep 4

    Also, doesn’t work with Firefox 3.0.1

  11. Bryan Price commented on Sep 4

    Yean, that’s an IE only page.

  12. AGG commented on Sep 4

    I’m having trouble getting in. Has anybody checked KeyBank?

  13. Pat G. commented on Sep 4

    What credit driven economy?

  14. Palolo lolo commented on Sep 4

    can’t even get it to load on IE

  15. Mark commented on Sep 4

    TheStreet.com acquired Weiss Ratings some time back…that’s the source of the ratings.

    “…Weiss Ratings, based largely on the Weiss proprietary computer model, has won acclaim by the US General Accounting Office (GAO) for having beaten the competition by three to one in accuracy.”

    http://www.martinweiss.com/about/martinweiss.asp

    Robert Prechter has recommended him for quite some time. My recollection from reading Prechter’s comments is that Weiss’ ratings are very derivative sensitive — the more a bank carries, the lower their rating.

  16. frank commented on Sep 4

    Interesting –I also like the BankRate Safe and Sound ratings for individual banks/thrifts as well as credit unions–it offers a “memorandum” with an analysis of financial results for several quarters as well as financial statements, both in drop-down boxes. Its also free….have been using it for several years. I cross checked a few banks from the Street and BankRate Safe and Sound and their ratings are just about the same, adding considerable more detail about the evaluation.

    http://www.bankrate.com/brm/safesound/ss_home.asp

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