First Republic Bank's shares plunged 50 percent after a 'troubling' earnings call where company executives refused to answer questions. The stock dropped Tuesday after it emerged that customers withdrew more than $100 billion during last month's crisis, with fears swirling that it could be the third bank to fail in quick succession after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.Unfortunately for First Republic, the carnage continued on Wednesday. Shares of First Republic were down another 29.75 percent, and so far this year the stock price has fallen by a total of more than 95 percent. Let me try to put this into perspective.
On February 2nd, First Republic stock closed at $147.00
Today, it closed at $5.69.
That is what a collapse looks like.
The reason why this is happening is because customers have been pulling their money out of First Republic at a pace that is absolutely staggering. In fact, it is being reported that First Republic lost 40 percent of their total deposits in the first quarter alone...
This week's drop for First Republic comes after the San Francisco-based lender late Monday said it lost roughly 40% of its deposits in the first quarter. First Republic was seen by customers and investors alike as a risky bank after the collapse last month of Silicon Valley Bank, which had a similar financial profile. And if 11 of the largest banks in the country had not agreed to collectively deposit 30 billion dollars of their own money in First Republic last month, that figure would have been closer to 50 percent...
But those deposits include the $30 billion that 11 large banks deposited at the bank in March to prop it up and keep contagion from spreading. Without this influx of $30 billion, deposits would have dropped by 50%. So this was really nip and tuck.Unfortunately, that rescue plan was not nearly large enough, and so now First Republic plans to beg those banks for even more help...
The best hope for avoiding a collapse of ailing lender First Republic hinges on how persuasive one group of bankers can be with another group of bankers.Ouch.
Advisors to First Republic will attempt to cajole the big U.S. banks who've already propped it up into doing one more favor, CNBC has learned.
The pitch will go something like this, according to bankers with knowledge of the situation: Purchase bonds from First Republic at above-market rates for a total loss of a few billion dollars - or face roughly $30 billion in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. fees when First Republic fails.
I think that those large banks would be quite foolish to throw more good money into the First Republic black hole, but we shall see what happens.
In addition to pleading for assistance, First Republic also plans to lay off thousands of employees...The bank says it plans to sell off unprofitable assets, including the low-interest mortgages that it provided to wealthy clients. It also announced plans to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, which totaled about 7,200 employees at the end of 2022.
Will all of this be enough to turn First Republic around?
Of course not.
Kathryn Judge, who works as an analyst at Columbia Law School, said that there is no easy solution for First Republic: 'If there were attractive options, they would have pursued them already,' she told the Times. Meanwhile, the overall economy continues to deteriorate all around us.
On Wednesday, Amazon conducted layoffs in their cloud computing and human resources divisions. Sadly, these new job cuts are just the latest wave in "the largest layoffs in Amazon's 29-year history".
The layoffs are part of the previously announced job cuts that are expected to affect 9,000 employees. Last week, Amazon laid off some employees in its advertising unit, and it has let go of staffers in its video games and Twitch livestreaming units in recent weeks.Amazon is one of the wealthiest and most prosperous companies in the entire country. If they have decided that it is necessary to conduct multiple mass layoffs because the economic outlook is so grim, what kind of signal does that send to everyone else?
Amazon wrapped up a separate round of cuts earlier this year that affected approximately 18,000 employees. Combined with the cuts this month, it marks the largest layoffs in Amazon's 29-year history.
In recent months, Google, Microsoft, Disney, Walmart and countless other large corporations have ruthlessly pruned their payrolls.
But don't worry. Joe Biden says that the economy is going to be just fine.
You believe him, don't you?
Don't let anyone fool you.
The economic meltdown that we have been waiting for is here, and it is going to be incredibly painful.
About the Author:
Michael Snyder is an author of several books including End Times, 7 Year Apocalypse, Lost Prophesies of the Future of America, The Beginning of the End and Living a Life That Really Matters.
Reader Comments
To that I would add...if you still have dollars in any bank, I would seriously consider taking them out and buying hard assets with them.... even if Uncle Scab bails you out if your bank fails...youll still get the nearly worthless clown bucks...
🤔🤕🤒
I agree BB👌
I would add another huge commodity....FOOD. Ya can't eat gold/silver last time I checked.
Resistant starch is a type of starch that is not digested in the stomach or small intestine, reaching the colon intact. Thus, it “resists” digestion. This explains why we don’t see spikes in either blood glucose or insulin after eating RS, and why we don’t obtain significant calories from RS - Chris Kresser
Along with strengthening the gut by feeding all that good bacteria, resistant starch has many other health benefits, including;
RESISTANT STARCH HEALTH BENEFITS
Increases absorption of important minerals like calcium and magnesium
Decreases absorption of toxic and carcinogenic compounds which can protect against bowel cancer
Affect positive changes in microflora, particularly increasing bifidobacterium
Decrease inflammation in the gut and other tissues
Better digestion - RS bulks and softens stool, helps regularity
Can help reduce fat stores as RS feeds bacteria not fat cells
helps you become more tolerant of the carbs you digest
Help improve insulin sensitivity
Improved blood sugar control
Preserve Vitamin D in the body
Protect probiotic bacteria
Increase feelings of satiety
Improved sleep
Sounds good to me! So how can you get more of it in your diet?
RESISTANT STARCH FOOD SOURCES
Cooked and cooled potatoes - in one study, cooking and then cooling potatoes overnight increased their resistant starch content by 280%
Cooked and cooled legumes
Cooked and cooled rice
Tigernuts and tigernut flour (you can read more info here)
Yams
Oats (this brand is gluten free)
Plantains
Green bananas
Raw green banana flour
Raw potato starch
Cassava flour
Green papaya and mango
SOME OF THE EASIEST (and yummiest) WAYS TO EAT THESE FORMS OF RS INCLUDE;
Cold potato salad
Frozen green bananas in a smoothie
Warm rice pudding (using cooked and cooled rice) made with coconut milk and blood-sugar-balancing ceylon cinnamon
My 3-ingredient cauliflower or spinach tortillas from my eBook GET SNACKED (gently reheated the following day)
Turmeric fried rice - using cooked and cooled rice
Plantain chips
Leftover rice and bean salad
Bircher muesli
Green papaya or mango salad
One of my favourite (and easiest) ways to eat resistant starch is by cooking and cooling white rice. But why white rice and not brown rice?
ARSENIC & RICE
Arsenic content in rice varies widely from country to country and by types of rice, but you can avoid higher levels of arsenic by choosing white rice. Why? Because rice bran holds most of its arsenic. The bran is stripped away to make white rice, so white rice has lower levels of arsenic than brown rice, it’s also easier to digest. I also recommend choosing organic rice varieties. While organically grown rice isn’t a guarantee to be lower in arsenic, it will have far less chemical residues.
Though there is arsenic in rice and arsenic exposure is a health risk, it’s not necessarily a reason to avoid rice all together. If you follow these 3 simple steps, you can upgrade your rice and feel better about consuming it.
3 SIMPLE WAYS TO MAKE RICE HEALTHIER & MORE GUT FRIENDLY
Soak Rice To Reduce Arsenic + Make It Easier To Digest
Studies show that a simple overnight soak reduces arsenic in the rice by up to 80%. As a bonus, grains are also easier to digest and anti-nutrients like phytic acid (a powerful blocker of mineral absorption in the gut) and lectins (particularly brown rice varieties), are reduced by soaking the grains as well. Discard water and rinse the rice well before cooking. This significantly reduces arsenic levels.
2. Cook The Rice In Bone Broth + Coconut Oil
Cooking the rice in homemade bone broth is a really easy way to incorporate more of the healing benefits bone broth has into your diet. If you’re vegan or vegetarian just use filtered water when cooking the rice. Include healthy fats, such as coconut oil, when cooking rice. When these are cooked together, the oil binds to the digestible starch in the rice (the starch that converts to glucose). Once bound with the coconut oil, the digestible starch begins to crystallise, creating resistant starch.
3. Cool The Rice To Create Resistant Starch
Also cooling the rice for 12-24 hours with the coconut oil allows the crystallisation process to occur. One study found this increased the amount of RS by 10-15x as well as reducing its calories by up to 50-60%. As a result, the rice produces a smaller spike in blood sugar because you get more resistant starch to take the place of digestible starch. Plus, the inherent qualities of the resistant starch decrease this smaller spike even further. The result is lower-carb rice.
HOW-TO MAKE COOKED & COOLED RICE
Dive into cooked and cooled white rice and enjoy the prebiotic benefits!
INSTRUCTIONS
Soak organic, white rice (I use basmati or medium grain rice) in filtered water. Add a dash of apple cider vinegar and a pinch of quality salt overnight (or for minimum 6 hours). The amount of rice you use will depend on the number of people in your family/ home, so follow the measurements on the back of the packet if you’re not sure how much to cook.
After soaking, rinse in fresh filtered water until the water runs clear.
Cook the rice in homemade chicken bone broth (for extra gut health benefits) or fresh filtered water using the absorption method (instructions on packet). Add 1 Tbsp of coconut or MCT oil while it’s cooking. Optional, add ½ - 1 tsp turmeric for it’s incredible anti-inflammatory benefits + it creates a beautiful yellow/ orange rice. Remove from the heat and allow to cool down a bit before placing it in the fridge overnight or up to 24 hours.
IS IT SAFE TO EAT COLD RICE?
Here are some tips on how to safely store and handle rice;
Place freshly cooked rice into the fridge within 1 hour of it being cooked.
Rice should be kept in an airtight container in the fridge. Refrigeration inhibits bacterial growth.
Rice can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days if stored properly. I personally make smaller batches and aim to eat it within 2-3 days.
I always think it’s always better to be on the safe side, and properly store and refrigerate the rice and dispose of it after 4 days if you didn’t get to eat it in time (if in doubt throw it out).
HOW-TO USE COOKED & COOLED RICE
You can gently reheat the rice after the cooking/ cooling process, but to maintain the benefits of RS, it shouldn’t be heated above 80°C (175°F)
I find the easiest way to enjoy cooked and cooled rice is to gently reheat the rice until it’s just warmed. I’ll serve the hot curry, butter chicken or slow cooked meat over the top of the rice.
Curries
Sushi (eBook GET SNACKED has a simple recipe for this)
Fried rice
Rice pudding
Serve with slow cooked meats and veggies
Cookbook GUTALICIOUS also has a butter chicken and a gut loving brownie recipe that uses cooked and cooled rice
Crunchy rice - this is very similar to Persian rice (Tahdig)
HERE’S HOW I MAKE MY CRUNCHY RICE
Heat a good quality frying pan on a low-medium heat and add a generous amount of either butter or ghee and allow to melt.
Remove your cooked and cooled rice from the fridge. Spread the rice on top of the melted butter or ghee evenly.
Cook on low-medium heat (I try not to heat on high as to not destroy the beneficial RS) until the bottom of the rice is crunchy and golden brown.
Serve with slow cooked meats and veggies, curries, butter chicken, mix with veggies to create a yummy, textured fried rice and more.
Peter Dadamo
(Not full-proof however EXCELLENT)
And it seems they go for the $$$.
Painful it will be anyway. Not only for the US, but also the attached currencies like €, £, and ¥.
For us peons the key is having enough cash and gold/silver on hand to survive a few years. Work on learning real skills and acquiring tools to do them.
Prepare accordingly and you won't care what bank goes tits up next.