Realities of the Financial Crisis

The fact that so many people are freaking out about the financial crisis is really starting to bother me. It's time to calm the masses and see if it's possible to get people to stop blindly following whatever the media says

Here's some banks that have gone out of business over the past year:
......
NONE

Here's some that have been "bought-out": meaning all their clients are taken care of...
Washington Mutual
Bear Stearns/JPMorgan Chase (forced merger)
Merrill Lynch

Banks(as in financial institutions) saved by the government:
Freddie Mac
Fannie Mae
American International Group

Banks that are now doing amazingly well:
TD Banknorth
Bank of America
Blackstone Group
Chase

I would also like you to know that the banks can save themselves. They do NOT need the government. When Merrill Lynch was told that the government wasn't going to help Lehman Brothers, guess what! They did some work for themselves! And guess what? They're not going bankrupt! They signed a deal with Bank of America.

For all the problems that are happening, Bank of America is picking up the slack and making a lot of money doing so. Ask yourself this... how many banks have gone out? Technically, not really any. A couple (two) have been bought, the rest are having issues, but not dying. That's... about five banks and institutions. How many do you think there are in the United States? Way more than 5.... "8,430 FDIC-insured commercial banks in the United States as of August 22, 2008"
And how many have gone out of business this year? ... hmm.... 3?
Ok...
So that leaves....
let's see....
8427!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh no!! How will we ever survive!?!? Only just under 8500 banks!

Please....


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banking_in_the_United_States#Active_banks_of_the_United_States
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/business/15lehman.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp&adxnnlx=1222956476-nQnkg9gAbPW5SogfI08j2Q